Armstrong Siddeley Matters

• Armstrong Siddeley Matters

Sir,

Re Mr. Bilwell’s t2-h.p. Armstrong Siddeley fabric saloon. I hope I may be allowed to correct some of his data, as I remember these and earlier models when they were to be seen in numbers on the roads : my father had a 1926 4/14 Broadway saloon.

The 312-h.p. 6-cylinder car was introduced late in 1928 for the 1929 season. Mr. Bilwell’s car is probably a 1931 model, as in this smallest of Armstrongs the preselector was not available before about September 1930 and even then only as an alternative to the usual crash box, which latter was given up entirely for the 1932 models. The 1930 and all newer Armstrongs had the radiator shell cellulosed to match the body colour, having a plated band at the back edge and another surrounding the honeycomb. Often, as in Mr. Bilwell’s car, the paint on the shell was removed when it became chipped, thus showing the white metal beneath. Only the 1929 and earlier Armstrongs had a nickel-plated shell. These, of course, did not have raised relief bands at back and front.

Liverpool. MtcRAa. R. B. TAYLOR.