The Armstrong Siddeley Saphire certainly couldn’t look more different than an Olds Ninety-Eight from 1960. But in terms of the very highly structured class pecking order of British cars of the time, it might have been about right; or not. There were still an astonishing array of small independent manufacturers in the fifties in the UK, and Armstrong Siddeley pretty much perfectly represents their dilemma: old fashioned, frumpy, low-tech, where to stop?
Ultimately, it was the Jaguar that killed the Sapphire. Compared to many of the small upscale builders, Jaguar was as aggressive as its mascot, and its line of sedans quickly dominated the shrinking field. The Saphire was the last new car A-S built, appearing in 1958 with a four liter OHV six. By 1960, it was already history. 1940’s design wasn’t going to cut it in the sixties.
I have the Auto Industry new car price listing for 1960 NO Armstrong Siddeley listed this could have ended production by then.
These were priced with Jaguars but didnt have the performance to justify the price Many of these cars in NZ and usyually one or two for sale on Trademe in varying states of decay,
I remember the odd one of these thing being on the croads of my home town as a kid and a friends uncle once turned up in a 234 model with manumatic trans mission it was later scrapped due to the trans failing and lack of anyone game to try fixing it really there was nothing in these cars to justify the upscale price and the customers stopped coming they bought new Vauxhalls and Zodiacs and got cheaper luxury and per formance.
In 50’s Britain, if you were mega-rich you bought a Rolls-Royce but if you were only very rich you had to make do with an Armstrong Siddeley.(Jags were for people who were slightly rich and wanted to look like they were very rich.)
An uncle of mine bought one of these , to replace a Daimler, and I can remember riding in the front seat as a child. I remember a Jensen CV8 overtaking us and that was a really cool car whereas the Siddeley was a bit old-school and very square.
Armstrong tried making a smaller regular saloon to increase their sales.They somehow thought it a good idea to offer it with a choice of 4 or 6 cylinder 2.3 litre engines (234/236) so it came as no surprise that they went bust.
The 4banger went the best which made the 236 hard to sell it was more expensive
Armstrong Siddeley was definitely for the conservative old money crowd. But in England, it’s not always about the money, but about class. The choice of car reflects on the very stringent class system. Lets just say this car wasn’t for everybody, even if they could afford it. For some people a Rolls or Bentley was simply too ostentatious, a Jaguar too racy and noveau riche, and a Rover too much middle management. A Daimler would fit that crowd, and the Armstrong Siddeley was for the aspirational Daimler owner. Also, being so conservatively styled made it an anachronism already in its time. It’s an anti-car of choice, like Bristol. If Bristol had made bigger cars, this would be it. A car for those that wore their hats while driving, and were proud of the fact that no one else had a car where a hat could fit.
You’d have the Austin A125 Sheerline Saloon and the “Auntie” Rover models in the same bracket as well.
Sheerlines over here became mayoral cars and ambulances along with big Humbers Rover never made that far up the scale they were oldfashioned and fast if you had lots of road but if you did spear off a corner Rovers were a tank in light scrub and fences if you couldnt stop one neither would much else
I visited England as a kid with my family in 1959. A relative lent us his Armstrong Siddeley for the day, and my father drove us out into the country south of London on a beautiful summer afternoon. My memory is of soft leather, polished wood, and shining glass, my mother beaming with pride in the front seat, and the feeling of being inside something much more finely crafted than our rusting Nash back home. To a car crazy Canadian 9 year old, British cars (or British anything-else) had not yet become cool, but I was impressed nonetheless.
Here’s a B&W shot of the interior.
Next to the AS is another throw back to the 30s a RM series Riley but they got swept up in the BMC entourage becoming a badge engineered /Austin/Wolseley and then gone for good
I remember waaay back in the day seeing a photo of one of these in some “Cars of the World” magazine…I’m thinking about 1953. For some reason the name stuck with me, so a couple of years ago when I saw a couple of guys sitting in one at the Centralia Swap Meet, I identified it right away. I think they were surprised that someone knew what it was. It turned out that although there was a for sale sign on it they really just wanted a place to sit between forays through the swap meet.