WO at Armstrong Siddley

Stephen Blakey · Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 11:27 am Post subject: WO at Armstrong Siddley

For anyone with a few minutes to kill, there is an interesting and quite upbeat piece by Bill Boddy on the Bentley/Bastow era at Armstrong Siddley here;

http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/january-1997/60/bentleys-lost-last-sportscar

Seems there were the usual ego problems that bedevil automotive (and for all I know, every other form of) engineering and it is to WO's credit that he rose above all that in his autobiographies.

Christopher Carnley · Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 1:17 pm Post subject:

When you read Bastow,s book you will discover that he and WO were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Armstrong Siddeley and their parts makers were very different from BM or Lagonda.

Stephen Blakey · Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 1:41 pm Post subject:

It's a long time since I read that but my memory of it is that it concentrates on the engineering, as you would expect from a former president of the IMechE.

Christopher Carnley · Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2016 7:53 am Post subject:

However the book was first published in 1978, 25 years after the events, by an old man.
The consultancy with AS was to keep them quiet, just as Rolls-Royce had tied up WO from 1931 to 1936.

History is made by revisionists, however well qualified they were, and Bastow was on top of that.

Business is about making money,and Motor Sport is just another comic.

DavidThompson · Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2016 3:29 pm Post subject:

Well I found it interesting, so thank you for posting it. I always looked forward to Motor Sport in the 60's and 70's, and remember Bill Body often mentioned Armstrong Sids, commenting how cheap they were by comparison with other pre war quality cars, and saying how he was surprised so few were interested in them.

Andy Snell · Joined: 22 Sep 2016 Posts: 12

Just for pure interest I have attached a picture of my other car - a 1932 Armstrong Siddeley Burlington Sport Special. This one had a higher ratio axle than normal and was one of 2 built. Hopefully this will be on the road before my Bentley! One thing I have noted whilst restoring the 2 cars is the quality of build - the Armstrong chassis construction is just superb as well and no doubt will last well beyond me!

By the way I am after an original Bentley 4 1/2 litre front axle and also a valve chest/turret for a 3 litre engine if anyone has any leads!

Christopher Carnley · Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2016 6:29 pm Post subject:

An Armstrong Siddeley special in a fairly local carrosserie, with a Jaguar V12 5.3 litre engine, very special, and as always with a good contact, I never argue,(much).