Armstrong Siddeley in Advertising
The advert above appeared in 'The Motor' magazine on 6th of June 1956, recording the introduction of the Sapphire 346 Limousine which set the Armstrong Siddeley car range for the following two years.
Both the 346 saloon and the limousine were winners in their class and offered the private or commercial owner, formal styling, performance and reliability at a modest cost.
Girling, our readers may remember, lost out to Lockhead in that for the first time Armstrong Siddeley found it necessary to use this competitor's braking system for the previous 18hp Limousine. Now Girling were back and produced what was commonly held to be the best drum braking system on any car of the time. The picture clearly shows one of the many detailed improvements to the car, in the move from trafficators to the then latest winking type indicators. Also of note was the introduction of the option of a four speed fully automatic transmission, in addition to the established pre-selector and manual versions.
Comment - the advert shows the car to be a Mark III but this is an error and it should read Mark II.
As cars became more powerful and greater demands were made on road holding and braking, thoughts were concentrated on the four small patches of contact which a vehicle has with the road. The coming prospect of high speed roads added to these concerns. Armstrong Siddeley cars were designed for the then standard tyres and also for the radial tyres which were being discussed and developed.