The Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire is a large automobile which was produced by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

company,

Armstrong Siddeley Motors Limited 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 vehicles and aircraft engines. The company was created following t ...

, from 1952 to 1960. A distinctive element of the Sapphires was the traditional Armstrong Siddeley V-shaped radiator

grille Grill or grille may refer to: Food * Barbecue grill, a device or surface used for cooking food, usually fuelled by gas or charcoal, or the part of a cooker that performs this function * Flattop grill, a cooking device often used in restaurants ...

with the

Sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...

motif mounted on it. On some models the sphinx sported aircraft wings carrying tiny

Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire The Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire is a British turbojet engine that was produced by Armstrong Siddeley in the 1950s. It was the ultimate development of work that had started as the Metrovick F.2 in 1940, evolving into an advanced axial flow de ...

jet engines.

Sapphire 234

The Sapphire 234 and 236 were two cars identical in appearance but sold with different engines having different performance characteristics. The 234 could be purchased with wire wheels as an optional extra. The 234 was produced from 1955 to 1958 and used a four-cylinder 2,290 cc version of the 346 engine. The transmission was a manual four-speed gearbox with optional overdrive. A 100 mph car intended for the man who liked high performance.Britain's New Cars On Show At Earls Court. FROM OUR MOTORING CORRESPONDENT. ''The Times'', Oct 18, 1955; pg. 11; Issue 53354. 803 were produced.

Sapphire 236

The 236 was made between 1955 and 1957 and used the six-cylinder 2,310 cc engine previously seen in the Armstrong Siddeley Whitley. A conventional manual gearbox was available but many were fitted with a Lockheed

Manumatic The modern usage of the automotive term manumatic denotes an automatic transmission that allows the driver to select a specific gear, typically using paddle-shifters, steering wheel-mounted push-buttons, or "+" and "-" controls on the gear select ...

"clutchless" transmission. Overdrive was an option on either transmission. This car with an 85 mph maximum was intended to be a quiet, flexible, easy-to-drive saloon. 603 were produced.

Sapphire 346

The 346 was the first of the Sapphires introduced late in 1952 for sale in 1953 and continuing until 1958. The six-cylinder 3,435 cc engine had hemi-spherical combustion chambers and could have optional twin Stromberg carburettors(£25 extra) which increased the output from 125 to 150 bhp (93 to 112 kW) giving a top speed in excess of . The front suspension was independent coil springs with a rigid axle and leaf springs at the rear. The Girling hydraulic brakes used drums all round. The body was available as a four- or six-light (two or three windows on each side) at the same cost and with either a bench or individual front seats. The seats were finished in leather, with the dashboard and door-cappings in walnut veneer. A heater was standard. It was introduced with the choice of a Wilson electrically-controlled ''finger-tip'' four-speed

pre-selector gearbox A preselector gearbox is a type of manual transmission mostly used on passenger cars and racing cars in the 1930s, in buses from 1940-1960 and in armoured vehicles from the 1930s to the 1970s. The defining characteristic of a preselector gearbox ...

as a £30 option, or four-speed synchromesh gearbox. It became available with automatic transmission (a Rolls-Royce-made

Hydramatic Hydramatic (also known as Hydra-Matic) is an automatic transmission developed by both General Motors' Cadillac and Oldsmobile divisions. Introduced in 1939 for the 1940 model year vehicles, the ''Hydramatic'' was the first mass-produced fully-a ...

four-speed) with the introduction of the Mark II in 1954. A long-wheelbase model was launched in 1955 as a limousine version which had the pre-selector gearbox as standard, however, there was an optional four-speed manual column-change gearbox available. It featured a longer wheelbase (extended by 21 inches or 535 mm) chassis with a body incorporating a limousine division. Models for export to the U.S. were always delivered with twin carburettors. A saloon with the optional twin-carburettors and synchromesh transmission tested by the British magazine ''

The Motor ''The Motor'' (later, just ''Motor'') was a British weekly car magazine ''Car'' is a British automotive enthusiast magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. International editions are published by Bauer Automotive in Republi ...

'' in 1953 had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0– in 13.0 seconds. A fuel consumption of was recorded. The test car cost £1,757 including taxes. 7,697 were produced.

Star Sapphire

The Star Sapphire saloon was announced on 17 October 1958New Armstrong Siddeley Car. ''The Times'', Friday, Oct 17, 1958; pg. 4; Issue 54284. and production continued through to the summer of 1960. It retained the previous model's commanding driving position. Though little changed externally, the radiator grille no longer rose to the top of the bonnet, many refinements were incorporated. The six-cylinder engine was enlarged more than 16% to 3,990 cc with larger twin Stromberg carburettors as standard and power output increased to AE165 bhp (167 hp, 123 kW), or IN145 bhp (147 hp, 108 kW). Perhaps more important was an increase of nearly 30% in torque at 50 m.p.h. Big end and main bearings were now made of lead indium and a vibration damper fitted to the nose of the crankshaft. The compression ratio was raised to 7.5 to 1. The car could now lap the Lindley high speed track at 104 m.p.h. Armstrong Siddeley Star Sapphire - Flickr - exfordy (2)

Various suspension modifications had been carried out. Servo-assisted Girling disc brakes were now installed on the front wheels and Burman recirculating ball power steering was standardised with a turning circle reduced by 4'6". A

BorgWarner BorgWarner Inc. is an American automotive supplier headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The company maintains production facilities and technical systems at 93 sites (as of June 6, 2022) in 22 countries worldwide and has around 49,000 emplo ...

type DG automatic gearbox was fitted which incorporated a lever on the facia to hold intermediate gear at 35, 45, 55, and 65 m.p.h. Door hinges were now concealed and the front doors now hinged at their leading edge. There was an independent heater for the rear passengers and demisting slots for the rear window. All features were standard, the provision of alternatives being believed to lead to an unsatisfactory compromise. 902 saloons were produced, as well as 77 long-wheelbase cars, 73 of which were built as limousines (including 2 prototypes). The limousine version was made in 1960 only and had a single-carburettor engine and manual gearbox (the automatic gearbox was fitted to 12 examples). The remaining 4 chassis were used for 3 hearses and an ambulance. 980 Star Sapphires were produced. The Star Sapphire won the £4,000 four-door coachwork class at the 1958 Earls Court Motor Show ahead of a Princess limousine and a Jaguar Mark IX. A Star Sapphire saloon with automatic transmission was tested by the British magazine ''The Motor'' in 1959. It had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0– in 14.8 seconds. A fuel consumption of was recorded. The test car cost £2,498 including taxes of £735. By then purchase tax had been reduced by one-sixth on 8 April 1959.

Market sector

Prices including tax October 1958 * £2,646 Star Sapphire * £2,492 Daimler Majestic * £2,163 Jaguar Mark IX with automatic transmission * £1,939 Jaguar XK150 * £1,666 Humber Super Snipe with automatic transmission

Star Sapphire Mk. II

The Mk II version did not get beyond prototype stage in 1960 and only one was produced.

In Film and Books

* Diamonds Are Forever by

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...

*: In chapter 6, 'In Transit',

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

gets picked up at the Ritz Hotel in London by a chauffeur-driven black Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire. The year and mark of the car are not noted but the novel was published in 1956. The car has red dealer plates. * 1956 British film

Wicked as They Come ''Wicked as They Come'' (''Portrait in Smoke'' in the United States) is a 1956 British film noir directed by Ken Hughes and starring Arlene Dahl, Philip Carey and Herbert Marshall. Plot Poor girl from the slums Katherine Allenbourg trades on h ...

*: Kathy Allen, played by

Arlene Dahl Arlene Carol Dahl (August 11, 1925 – November 29, 2021) was an American actress active in films from the late 1940s. She was one of the last surviving stars from the Classical Hollywood cinema era. She was also an author and entrepreneur. Sh ...

is picked at the London Airport and dropped of at

The May Fair The May Fair Hotel is a luxury hotel on Stratton Street in Mayfair, London, near the site of Devonshire House in Piccadilly. It opened in 1927 with King George V and Queen Mary in attendance. The hotel is now owned by Edwardian Hotels, and In ...

Hotel in a black Armstrong Siddeley Limousine.Long wheelbase Sapphire limo has Arlene Dahl as passenger (at 3:05)
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References

External links

* A-Z of Cars 1945–1970. Bay View Books 1986. Michael Sedgwick and Mark Gillies. {{ISBN, 1-870979-39-7

Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sapphir ...

1950s cars 1960s cars Limousines