Armstrong Siddeley in Advertising
Continuing with our look at the development of the Armstrong Siddeley Company through the advertising of the time, we find that the Board, with the input of their distributors and dealers, happily made the correct decision to develop a low cost, high quality, medium sized car.
The day of the cycle car had passed and a public growing in affluence wanted what they considered to be a 'proper car' - a vehicle which bridged the gap between motor cycle technology and that of the automobile. This opinion was emphasised when at this time Austin with his finger on the public pulse produced the Austin seven, soon to be christened 'the baby Austin'. So it was in July of 1923 the Mk I version of the 'Four 14' was launched.
The Armstrong Siddeley Company now had a three model range, the 30hp, the 18hp and the 'Four 14', a situation which would remain till 1927 when the next new model would be introduced.
The 'Four 14' is today more often referred to as the 14/4. A confusion which harks back to the factory workers designation of 14/4 and the publicity department’s independent choice of the more grandiose label.
The 14/4 was the first Armstrong Siddeley to have a four cylinder engine and though very successful and a best seller for Armstrong Siddeley it would be twenty eight years before another Armstrong Siddeley car would sport a four cylinder engine.
The stirring descriptions of the Armstrong Siddeley cars and a nod, as in the advert below, towards the aero engine side of the business, came from the pen of W.G. McMinnies, in house publicist and part time rally driver.
