Armstrong Siddeley Long 15 Saloon

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One of the great Coventry marques, Armstrong Siddeley Motors was formed in 1919 by a merger between Armstrong Whitworth and the Siddeley Deasey Motor Company.

With a strong background in aircraft development which fed into the design of their cars, the company quickly gained a reputation for fine engineering, craftsmanship and meticulous attention to detail – ‘The Car of Aircraft Quality’ as the advertising slogan had it. Visitors to the Parkside works would find cars and aero-engines being assembled literally side by side, with Aeronautical Inspection Department standards applied throughout in a factory as clean as any race car assembly shop. On taking personal delivery of his new car at Parkside, if an owner enquired how long it would take to run-in the engine, he would famously be told: "as far as the factory gate."

Most cars had coachwork built in-house by the Burlington Carriage Co, which had been a subsidiary since 1913, and all had the same mythical mascot reflecting the refinement of the mainly six-cylinder engines: “As silent as the Sphinx”. The range had developed into a wide spread of models by the 1930s, from the small 12hp to the fabulous 5-litre Siddeley Special. They appealed to the middle classes and by the 1930s were regarded as on a par with Alvis and Rover, being more upmarket than Wolseley but not quite as prestigious as Daimler.

The six-cylinder 15hp model came out in October 1927 and was available as a Tourer or a Saloon in long and short wheelbase form, all with one-shot chassis lubrication and a choice of three-speed crash or four-speed ‘self-changing’ pre-selector gearboxes, although the crash ‘box was phased out in 1932. The Fifteen was quiet, smooth and flexible with a top speed of 55mph and soon proved its worth in endurance events like the RAC Rally and the Monte Carlo.

Copies of the original factory build sheets show that LJ 1931 was built in May 1930 and was one of the last cars to have the flat radiator which was replaced by a vee-shape across the range later that year. Despatched to Chine Motors of Bournemouth (their plaque is still on the dash), it was sold to its first owner, Mr Oldham, in October 1930. Pencilled notes in the original handbook state that the car had covered 2,709 miles when the next owner, Mr Evans, acquired it in March 1934, a total which had only risen to 6,084 miles when he apparently restored it in November 1949.

The next owner was a Mr Wakefield of Ness who appears to have kept it right up until 1981, although it must have been off the road for quite a while during his ownership as the V5C puts the date of first registration as November 1981 which is presumably when it was next back in circulation. It then had two more owners before our vendor acquired it in 2006. He has used it lightly in fine weather only, fitting a new set of tyres last year and also having it repainted in 2009 from its original all black to the black and light blue you see today.

Starting promptly and running sweetly as we moved it around for these photos, it appears to be in good and largely original condition throughout, with a charmingly patinated dark blue leather interior which retains its rear window blinds and smoker’s hatch in the roof. The history file is particularly pleasing with details of all previous owners, photos of the car in earlier years, original handbooks, assorted technical literature and even the original gear-changing instructions from Chine Motors. A most attractive package all round.