1934 Armstrong Siddeley 17hp Sports Foursome

Description

From very long-term ownership; one of only 482 made; appealing sports coachwork offering decent performance

Armstrong Siddeley's most sporting model, the 17hp Sports Foursome short chassis was launched in 1934 and ran until 1938, a short production run during which time some 482 were made.

Fitted with an overhead-valve six-cylinder 2,184cc engine with Claudel-Hobson carburettor, it featured a pre-selector gearbox but was otherwise entirely conventional, albeit engineered to very high standards in the best Armstrong Siddeley tradition.

The elegant low-slung two-door coupe coachwork was the work of Burlington which had room for four (hence the name) and quirky front windows which both slid and went up and down.

This attractive example was in the hands of the previous owner for many years - at least from 1953 until 1985 - and has remained in the vendor's hands ever since.

During the late '80s and early '90s it was treated to a full body restoration and bare-metal respray according to invoices on file, the work being carried out by SMVR of Hereford for the sum of £4,500. This remains very presentable, with just a few areas showing signs of age. It also carries some nice pin-striping on the sides. The wiring loom looks to have been worked on/replaced at around this time too.

During the restoration, the engine was stripped and fully rebuilt, including a rebore, replacement pistons and rings, a crank regrind and new white metal. A much more recent bill from 2020 details Blue Diamond Services stripping the gearbox for inspection, although there is no follow-up invoice to show what they did. The exhaust and petrol tank were also attended to in 2022.

Running and driving since arrival onsite, with plenty of oil pressure, a working dynamo, lights, horn etc - there are a few jobs to attend to here and there such as a non-functioning drivers window and the interior, nice and original as it is, could do with a deep clean and feed.

All nice jobs to fiddle with during the dark evenings that are upon us. The car has lots of potential and is rare, attractive, distinctive and will offer a performance well able to keep abreast of modern traffic.

The paperwork file includes various invoices, a buff logbook back to 1953, an old style logbook and a current V5C. There is also a nice copy maintenance manual and various club magazines.

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