Armstrong Siddeley Motors
Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury cars and aircraft engines.
See also -
- Armstrong Siddeley Motors: Cars
- Armstrong Siddeley Motors: Engines (Small)
- Armstrong Siddeley Motors: Aero Engines
1919 Siddeley-Deasy was bought out by Armstrong Whitworth of Newcastle upon Tyne; the motor, aircraft engine and aircraft business of Siddeley-Deasy was amalgamated with the motor department of Armstrong Whitworth to become the Armstrong Whitworth Development Co [1]. The principal activities were the Armstrong Siddeley activities, especially Armstrong Siddeley Motors subsidiary, which continued producing automobiles until 1960.
A major success was the Jaguar air-cooled aircraft engine, which attracted much government business. Siddeley exploited this by arranging for airframes, including the Siskin 3A, to be designed around the engine.
1920 November. Exhibited at the Motor Car Show at Olympia with a car having six-cylinders and coachwork by Burlington Carriage Co. [2]
1927 Armstrong Whitworth had financial difficulties and merged its heavy engineering interests with Vickers to form Vickers-Armstrongs. At this point, the holding company Armstrong Whitworth Development Co (chairman J. D. Siddeley) was sold by Armstrong Whitworth including subsidiaries Armstrong Siddeley Motors and Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft; the name was changed to Armstrong Siddeley Development Co Ltd. Armstrong Whitworth would not use the company for any future development work. Later additions were A.V. Roe, Peter Hooker and Improved Gears Ltd.
1933 Constructors of aero engines and motor cars. Head Office and Works: Park Side, Coventry. Showrooms: 10 Old Bond Street, London, W.1, and 35 King Street West Manchester.[3]
1935 Armstrong Siddeley Development Co was purchased by Hawker Aircraft to form Hawker Siddeley, which was to become a famous name in British aircraft production. Armstrong Siddeley Motors, manufacturer of luxury cars and aircraft engines, and Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Ltd became subsidiaries of Hawker Siddeley. The aviation pioneer, Sir Thomas Sopwith, became chairman of Hawker Siddeley and of its subsidiary Armstrong Siddeley Motors.
1947 The Ministry of Supply forced Metropolitan-Vickers to sell its jet engine division to Armstrong Siddeley Motors in order to concentrate efforts
1951 Exhibitor at the 1951 Motor Show in the Car Section.
1958 The aircraft engine business was merged with that of Bristol Aero-Engines to form Bristol Siddeley Engines as part of an ongoing rationalisation of the British aerospace sector. [4]
1960 Armstrong Siddeley produced their last cars.
1966 Bristol Siddeley and Rolls-Royce merged, the latter name subsuming the former.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times, 15 March 1927
- ↑ The Engineer of 5th November 1920 p476
- ↑ 1933 Who's Who in British Aviation
- ↑ The Times, Apr 29, 1958
- [1] Wikipedia
- AA. [2] Image courtesy of Aviation Ancestry
- British Motor Cars 1950/51