Armstrong Siddeley 14hp Saloon

Click Here for Full Screen Image - Click Here to Download Image

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

It proved a winning combination and the firm gained a reputation for fine engineering 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 side-by-side in a factory as clean as a clinic. On taking delivery of his new car at the works, an owner enquiring how long it would take to run-in the engine, 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 from 1933 all had the pre-selector gearbox pioneered by Walter Wilson who was a partner in the firm. The famous bonnet mascot reflected the refinement of the mainly six-cylinder engines: ‘As silent as the Sphinx’. By the 1930s a range of models were offered, from the small 12hp to the fabulous 5-litre Siddeley Special, all proving very popular with the discerning middle class motorist who might also have an Alvis or a Rover on the drive.

The six-cylinder 14hp model ran from October 1936 to December 1938 and was available as a Tourer or a six-light Saloon. Quiet, smooth and flexible with a top speed of 67mph and a price tag of £330, it was the car of choice for many top brass figures including the Earl of Cork (Admiral of the Fleet), Sir Frederick Bowhill (Air Chief Marshall) and the Earl of Munster (ADC to Field Marshall Lord Gort). Roy Chadwick, designer of the Avro Lancaster bomber also drove one, as did the author HG Wells. Of the 2,000 made, only around 70 are thought to survive today.

First registered in November 1938, FGH 588 was bought new from Armstrong Siddeley’s Bond Street showroom by a Mr Henderson of London. The second owner was another Londoner (reputedly Chairman of Penge UDC) who kept it until 1954 when it was acquired by Mr RH Blake of Pulborough who was to keep it for almost 50 years. A friend of our vendor acquired the car from Mr Blake in 2003 at which point it had been in storage for around 40 years and was in need of renovation.

Trailered down to Devon, over the next few years the car was gradually brought back to life. The engine was rebuilt, the gearbox overhauled, the radiator re-cored and a new wiring loom fitted. The bodywork was restored including new sections of ash frame where required, the brightwork was rechromed and the car was repainted in its original black (the latter being done to an indifferent standard, it must be said). The interior received new carpets, new back panels for the doorcards and a new headlining but is otherwise original with nicely patinated red leather upholstery.

The restoration then stalled due to health issues and in 2018 the car was handed over to our vendor in a bid to get it finished in time for the Armstrong Siddeley Centenary which was planned for the following year. A long-standing club member and fellow 14hp owner, our vendor got the car running properly, attended to numerous niggles (including getting the built-in jacking system working correctly) and was finally able to fulfil his friend’s ambition to get FGH 588 back to the town of its birth and join the Centenary celebrations in convoy with over 100 other Armstrong Siddeleys in July this year.

Starting promptly and running nicely when we were treated to a short test drive on the occasion of our visit, FGH 588 has only covered a dozen miles since the engine was rebuilt and would doubtless benefit from some gentle running-in before the performance is exploited to the full.

Documentation includes a V5C, sundry invoices and restoration photos, 14hp maintenance manual and a copy of a 1938 road test by The Motor.