Armstrong Siddeley

GB, 1919 – 1960

Armstrong Siddeley Motors Ltd, Coventry, Warwickshire

The Armstrong-Siddeley firm came into being through the fusion of Armstrong-Whitworth’s carmaking activities with Siddeley-Deasy of Coventry. Apart from the abortive Stoneleigh light car of 1922, their products were always solidly-built family vehicles emphasizing good workmanship, comfort and ease of driving rather than high high performance. Up to 1939 the Armstrong-Siddeley cars for sale were readily identifiable by their massive V-radiators (except on certain smaller and cheaper versions), multi-stud disc wheels (though wire was also used in the 1930s) and Sphinx mascots. The first Armstrong-Siddeley design was a 5-litre ohv bi-block six of 30hp. This was joined by a smaller but equally massive 2.3-litre ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 18’ in 1922, and by a 2-litre 4-cylinder ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 14’ – also ohv, but with the first of the flat radiators – late in 1923; this was quite cheap at £360. Front-wheel brakes were available on the 6-cylinder Armstrong-Siddeley cars in 1924, and these also had Monobloc engines by 1926. In 1928 a sv 1.9-litre 15hp six was introduced, followed by an even smaller one of 12hp and 1236cc in1929. Also in 1929 the Wilson preselector gearbox (already tried by Vauxhall) made its debut, first as an optional extra adding £35-£50 to the price, but as standard equipment on all types from 1933 on. The 1930 range consisted of the ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 12’, the ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 15’, a 2.9-litre ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 20’ in owner- and chauffeur-driven versions from £485, an the big ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 30’, now listed with formal coachwork only at £1450.
Armstrong Siddeley production was always on a modest scale, running at about 1.000 a year; one of the best seasons was 1932, at the height of the Depression. An interesting departure for 1933 was the sporting 5-litre Siddeley Special with hiduminium alloy engine. This 90mph machine was catalogued from £950 upward, and some 140 Armstrong-Siddeley cars were sold over the next four seasons, while in 1934 there was a handsome Armstrong-Siddeley sports coupé on the latter (1.4-litre) 12hp chassis for ‘daughters of gentlemen’. After the ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 12’ was dropped at the end of 1936, all Armstrong Siddeleys were ohv sixes and in 1939 these came in 1.7-litre, 2-litre, 2.4-litre, 2.9-litre and 3.7-litre sizes, generally with formal saloon or limousine bodywork. Despite the ‘unsporting’ character of the Armstrong-Siddeley cars, he company’s preselector boxes found many applications on competition machines, noted users being E.R.A., H.W.M. and Connaught. The last Burney Streamlines of 1932-33 used the 20hp Armstrong Siddeley engine.  
Armstrong Siddeley were among the first makers to announce a programme after World War 2. These Armstrong-Siddeley cars used the pre-war 16hp 2-litre (enlarged to 2.3 litres in 1949) engine in a new independent front suspension chassis with advanced and attractive styling. For the first time in many years a sliding-type gearbox (with synchromesh) was available as an alternative to the Wilson. The various models were named after famous aircraft produced during the war by the parent Hawker Siddeley Group: Armstrong-Siddeley Hurricane, Armstrong-Siddeley Lancaster, Armstrong-Siddeley Typhoon and, from 1949-1950, the Armstrong-Siddeley Whitley. In 1953 the firm went over to a square 3.4-litre engine with hemispherical head, the result being the Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphire with a choice of synchromesh or electrically-selected preselector. A twin-carburetor 100mph version followed in 1954, automatic transmission was optional on the 1955 Armstrong-Siddeley models for sale and power-assisted steering in 1956 when the range was extended by a brace of smaller Armstrong-Siddeley models. These were the ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 234’ for sale with a 4-cylinder 2.3-litre engine based on the Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphire, and the ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 236’ for sale using the old long-stroke six of similar capacity. Neither sold (or looked) well and they lasted only a couple of seasons. Last of all came the 4-litre Armstrong-Siddeley  Star Sapphire, made only with automatic gearbox, though like the latter 3.4-litre cars, it was offered as a limousine as well as a saloon. In the meantime, Hawker Siddeley had amalgamated with another aircraft group, Bristol. The Bristol cars were taken over by an independent company, but Armstrong Siddeley were less fortunate and the last Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphire left the works in the summer of 1960.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com

Hotchkiss

France, 1903 – 1955

(1) Hotchkiss et Cie, St. Denis, Seine, 1903 – 1936

(2) Automobiles Hotchkiss, St. Denis, Seine, 1936 – 1955

The American Benjamin Berkeley Hotchkiss set up his ordnance Horchkiss car factory at St. Denis in 1867; the Hotchkiss cars were the result of an arm slump. The work of Terrasse, these first Hotchkiss cars were T-headed fours with pair-cast cylinders, 5-ball-bearing crankshafts, low-tension magneto ignition, round honeycomb radiators, 4-speed gearboxes, and the famous Hotchkiss drive by live axle and open propeller shaft. Initially cylinder capacities of Hotchkiss cars were 4.6-litres and 7.4-litres, but the Hotchkiss car company’s first racers of 1904 were 17.8-litre monsters notable for their aiv and chain drive. Though their 1905 successors conformed once more to touring-car practice, they were even bigger Hotchkiss cars, with 18.815cc and an alleged 130bhp. Hotchkiss’s last racing season was 1906 with their Grand Prix Hotchkiss cars had 16.3-litre L-head units and quick-detachable wire wheels. Though these Hotchkiss cars were unsuccessful, Hotchkiss sold 167 cars that year, with gate change standardized, and a choice of five Hotchkiss car models: a short-lived 4.2-litre petrol brougham, fours of 18, 30 and 42hp, and their first six. The last-mentioned Hotckiss car was the large V-type that evolved into a 9½-litre machine and was still being offered in 1912 as a Hotckiss car. Chassis price was £1.000 and it was capable of 60mph.

The slump following the Agadir crisis led to the abandonment of ball-bearing crankshafts on Hotchkiss cars; at the same time there was a move towards smaller Hotchkiss cars with the 3.1-litre T-type, with side valves in an L-head and high-tension magneto ignition. Two years later came something even smaller and more modern, the 12/16hp Hotchkiss X-type with 2-bearing crankshaft and three forward speeds at £390. Soon monobloc engines spread up the range to the 3.7-litre Hotckiss AB of 1912. From 1911 there were some smaller L-head sixes, the 4.678cc Hotchkiss X6 and the 5½-litre Hotchkiss AC6; 1912 sales were a record 598 Hotchkiss cars. Electric lighting was available from 1913, and all the 1914 Hotchkiss car models – the 2.6-litre Hotchkiss AG, the 4-litre Hotchkiss AF, the 5.7-litre Hotchkiss AC, and the 6-cylinder Hotchkiss AC6 – had semi-elliptic suspension all round.

The wartime demand for Hotchkiss machine guns led to the establishment of a branch factory under the Englishman Harry Ainsworth, this subsequently making engines for W.R. Morris until it was absorbed by him in 1923. At home Hotchkiss sold off their surplus works capacity at Lyons and concentrated on a revised Hotchkiss car again, the AF with full electrics and a horseshoe-shaped radiator in place of the traditional round one. Its successor, the Hotchkiss AH of 1921, had cantilever rear springs and torque tube drive, and a year later came the Hotchkiss AL with ohv, and a detachable head; front-wheel brakes were added for 1923. There was also a prototype luxury Hotchkiss car at the 1921 Paris Salon; this Hotchkiss AK had a 6.6-litre 6-cylinder ohc engine, dual ignition, 4-speed unit gearbox, servo-assisted 4-wheel brakes, and a cruciform-braced frame, but it never went into production.

The return of Ainsworth to St. Denis in 1923, coincided with the construction of a new Hotchkiss car factory and a more realistic type of car, the 2.4-litre 12CV Hotchkiss AM, with 4-cylinder sv engine, 4-speed unit box, four-wheel brakes, wire hwwls, and Hotchkiss drive once more. Between 1924 and 1928 it was the Hotchkiss car company’s staple product, selling at the rate of over a thousand a year and offering a 70mph performance at a modest outlay. It persisted until 1932, acquiring ohv in 1926 and rod-operated brakes in 1928, and its engine was used in some Morris-Léon Bollées. Even better was the Hotchkiss AM80 of 1929, largely the work of Bertarione. This was a short-stroke (80x100mm), 7-bearing ohv 3-litre six that owed a good deal to the AM2, though early cars featured torque tube drive; it was to be the basis from which all subsequent Hotchkisses were evolved. A silent 3rd gearbox featured on 1931 Hotchkiss car models, Hotchkiss drive reappeared in 1932, and 1933 improvements included Bendix brakes, cruciform-braked frames, down-draught carburetors and mechanical fuel pumps. Hotchkiss AM80 engines were also fitted to Sizaire Frères and Tracta cars.

The 1933 Hotchkiss car range was expanded both up and down, with new Hotchkiss 12CV (2-litre) and 13CV (1.3-litre) fours for the economy market, and an 85mph fast tourer, the 100bhp 3½-litre Hotckiss AM80S, for the enthusiast. This Hotchkiss car was based on the car with which Vasselle won the 1932 Monte Carlo Rally. Hotchkiss cars repeated this success in 1933 and 1934: in the latter year the Hotchkiss cars collected two Glazier Cups in the Alpine Trial. There were further wins in the Monte Carlo in 1938 and 1939; on the latter occasion a Grand Sport Hotchkiss car tied with a 3½-litre Delahaye. Radiators were moved forward on the 1934 Hotchkiss cars, and the 3-litre gave way to a 2.650cc 15CV that was not a success and lasted only one season. The 1935 Hotchkiss cars had synchromesh and integral boots, and at the top of the 3½-litre 20CV range was the twin-carburettor Hotckiss Paris-Nice, a 115bhp sports car capable of 95mph. Hydraulic brakes appeared in 1936 on Hotchkiss cars (to be quietly dropped halfway through 1937). The sports 20CV engine was now giving 125-130bhp and when allied to a short 9ft 2in wheelbase resulted in the Hotchkiss Grand Sport, a true 100mph saloon.

By 1938 the horseshoe radiator on the Hotchkiss car was now a wire-mesh grille, but despite the exigencies of French rearmament programmes the Hotchkiss car company managed to deliver 2.751 Hotchkiss cars that year, made up of the two fours, the reinstated 3-litre Hotchkiss 680, and the 3½-litre Hotchkiss 686 in various forms, including seven-seater limousines with the single-carburettor 100bhp engine. Hotchkiss also came to the rescue of the ailing Amilcar concern, helping to make the Grégoire-inspired 1.185cc Compound, a small fwd saloon with unitary construction in Alpax; this was sold in England, though not in France, as a Hotchkiss car. A 1.3-litre ohv development, the Hotchkiss B67, was ready for production when France collapsed in the summer of 1940.

Hotchkiss never really recovered from World War 2, though Peugeot were briefly interested in the Hotchkiss car company and Hotchkiss 686 cars won the first two post-war Monte Carlo Rallies of 1949 and 1950. The Hotchkiss 12CV and Hotchkiss 20CV were back in production, unchanged, by 1946, but the first year’s output was a miserable 117 Hotchkiss cars. Hydraulic brakes and independent front suspension did not appear until 1949 on Hotchkiss cars (though Hotchkiss had experimented with the latter in 1937), and a Cotal electric gearbox became a factory option. The 1951 Hotchkiss car models were ‘facelifted’ with V-screens, recessed headlamps and auxiliary coil rear suspension, but in the meantime there had been an expensive mistake: the acquisition by Hotchkiss of the rights to the Grégoire flat-4. This ingenious device was a development of the 1938 Amilcar theme featuring all-round independent suspension and a 4-speed overdrive gearbox, as well as front wheel drive. Production Hotchkiss car models with 2.2-litre engines were said to achieve 95mph and 30mpg, but the teething troubles were endless, and Hotchkiss only managed to make 250 Hotchkiss cars in the end. There was a shutdown in 1952 and the price of recovery was a merger with Delahaye that led inevitably to concentration on commercial vehicles. The old Hotchkiss cars 13CV and 20CV received another facelift in time for the 1954 Paris Salon, but his was their swansong, though medium-powered trucks continued to be made until 1970, along with a version of the American Jeep built under licence.

GB, 1920

Hotchkiss et Cie, Coventry, Warwickshire

Hotchkiss of Coventry, a British offshoot of the famous French Hotchkiss car firm, was set up during World War 1 to make engines in Britain. Their units became best known as the motive power for Morris and BSA light cars, but before they were taken over by William Morris, Hotchkiss experimented with a small car of their own. The Hotchkiss car consisted of their 1.080cc air-cooled V-twin ohv engine installed with a 3-speed gearbox in a pre-war Morris Oxford chassis. It never went into production.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS, TRN

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com