Peter Wilding has really scored a coup with this Armstrong Siddeley Station Coupe. I assumed incorrectly that this body style, which seems so unlikely on a luxury brand chassis, was built or modified in Australia. Not so; although some 60% of the total of 1,022 of these built did end up there. Apparently even well-to-do Aussies wanted a utility coupe (“ute”).
Roger Carr has covered the A-S Whitley sedan here before, so I’m not going to replicate that effort except to tell you these were built between 1949 and 1952, and had a 2309cc six cylinder engine making 75 hp. Which was pretty good, for the times, in the UK.
Not exactly a very big bed, but then that was the case with most of these early utes. But it’s got a mighty long hood up front to more than make up for it.
I can see several reason why a luxury car maker would build utes. On the supply side, like most British car makers of the period A-S was probably desperate for export sales since their steel ration depended on it. This was a major reason why Rover produced the Land Rover because it was a strong export seller and aluminum was not rationed as tightly. so it was a win win for the parent car business. On the demand side I’m guessing a bit but there may be tax reasons for owning a ute instead of a car, as with the modern European tax dodges like the Range Rover “van” or the Camaro pickup. Finally there appears to have been a market for a more upscale ute for owners wanting either a nicer ride or a more prestigious look. Then again it may have been a question of pay the premium for Armstrong Siddely now or wait 6 months for a Holden.
The first Holden came out in ’48, and the ute wasn’t released till some time in ’51 and then the wait lists were extraordinary – a year wasn’t uncommon, I think – so this AS ute had a good free run till then. Probably wise they stopped making it after ’52.
There was some real money to be made from wool in this period of history (effectively pre-nylons) and some farmers did very well indeed. Armstrong-Siddeley utes were the least of it: they salted away Astons and Mercedes and all sorts of exotica in their tin sheds in the bush then.
Mind you, farmers are farmers, so when there was an alternative that was cheaper to buy and run, they got the Holden!
The curved top on the outline of the bed is a smart idea, forming up the covered wagon tarp that sheds snow and rain.
I was thinking the same thing that the curve is a great way to prevent a lake from forming.
An amazing survivor, and many thanks to Peter for sharing the picture.
Isn’t it fun that AS had an independent, torsion bar, ball-joint front suspension a decade before Chrysler?
I like it. Like other early utes, in my opinion it confirms the attraction of even a short bed as being useful for hauling some items, despite the criticism of today’s 5′ and 5.5′ beds. Plenty of room back there for some tall potted plants or a few sheep.
I realize it’s post-war, but it looks like it ought to be camouflaged and carting belts of .303 Browning around some RAF base full of Spitfires and Hurricanes. I like it!
that is a real beaute. I would happily get around in that as a daily driver.
Hey, thanks for featuring this, Paul! I just started posting on the Cohort about a week ago. I can’t get around much these days, but when the cars come to me (so to speak) it sure helps. I’m not sure whether this one is a ‘survivor’ or an older restoration. I’ve seen the bodyside two-tone treatment on unrestored ones, though I haven’t seen this colour scheme before. I found it at a small show eight years ago but never see it around the town.
Interesting that they made these with two different length cabs. Some pictures you’ll find on the internet show a shorter cab and longer bed – same chassis though. This is the four seat short-bed version – well, two-plus-two; it looks to be pretty tight. It’s amazing that they would go to the trouble to offer two cabs and beds for such a low-production vehicle, but I guess they already had the doors. From the number I’ve seen during my lifetime, these were probably Armstrong-Siddeley’s biggest seller in Australia during those years. I’ve seen about five of these, and only one Whitley.
On the Shannons site, it seems it was restored in the early 2000’s, and is owned by a Harley collector.
Apparently, Buckles in Sydney and Stokoe Motors in Melbourne – where my dad bought his ’37 Willys in about ’55! – lobbied AS in England to build these. Popular in wealthier sheep districts, probably a bit posh and pricey for Sth Gippsland or the Mallee!
I wonder, are these the first production dual-cab utes in the world?
Interesting question about whether they were the first dual-cab. Certainly none of the local big Three were offering anything like this in either their car or truck lines this early. I have vague recollections of a dual-cab Fargo later in the fifties.
That Harley collector might be a mate of our local Harley-riding hardware shop owner – I’d guess that’s how it came to be on display. For a small show in a country church car park, there sure was a wide range of stuff there – restored cars, vintage trucks, tractors, hot rods, speedway cars… The minister was a motorsport chaplain, and I think he must’ve had some very interesting contacts.
My uncle in Sydney is an AS devotee he had several but none this new some of these utes washed up in NZ there are one or two about, fun fact , Rootes got the new hemi head 3 litre six used in later Humber Super Snipes from Armstrong siddeley it was their design but not used in their cars production had stopped or was about to stop.