1936 Armstrong Siddeley 17hp Salmons & Sons Foursome Drophead Coupe
No Reserve

Registration No: T.B.A
Chassis No: 32436
MOT: Exempt

• Formerly part of the David Lucas collection from at least the late 1970s (if not earlier) until 2024
• Understood to have never been restored and therefore highly original
• Highly elegant three-position Drophead Coupe coachwork
• In need of recommissioning / renovation

PLEASE NOTE: Interested parties should note that this lot was purchased from a H&H sale in July 2024 by a German individual, but has been stored with EM Rogers in Northampton ever since. The car was erroneously marked for export with the DVLA, but the DVLA have been written too with proof the car has not been exported, but as of yet have not responded. We hope due to the above duty will not be owing, however, this cannot be guaranteed.

Introduced at the 1934 Olympia Motor Show, the 17hp was available in three wheelbase lengths to cater for the needs of the sporting motorist, owner-driver and carriage trade (though, the majority were bodied by Armstrong-Siddeley's in-house coachbuilder 'Burlington'). Based around a sturdy ladder frame chassis equipped with all-round semi-elliptic leaf-sprung suspension and four-wheel drum brakes, the newcomer was powered by a 2394cc OHV six-cylinder engine allied to four-speed Wilson pre-selector transmission. Marketed as "A Car of Aircraft Quality" (a nod to its parent company's vital role within the aero industry), the 17hp was notable for its stiff four-bearing crankshaft, integral block / crankcase casting and advanced water pump design. Credited with developing some 70hp @ 3,300rpm, it was reputedly capable of circa 70mph. Remaining in production until 1939, just 4,260 17hp cars are thought to have been made. However, survivors are comparatively scarce.

Bodied by Salmons & Sons as a ‘Foursome’ Drophead Coupe and first registered in Brecknockshire on 4^th November 1936 (or so its ‘EU 6160’ number plate would imply), chassis 32436 entered into the previous collection, that of the late Mr David Lucas, in 1978, if not before. An attendee at numerous classic car meetings that same decade, the Armstrong Siddeley appears to have never been restored. Believed but not warranted to have covered a mere 81,000 miles from new, the 17hp exudes originality. The ‘Tickford’ winding mechanism to take the soft-top roof from Sedanca to Open positions remains in situ as to a plethora of event plaques. Purchased by the vendor from our sale of the David Lucas collection in 2024, the vendor had planned to export the Armstrong to Germany and begin the recommissioning / restoration, however, this never materialised and is thus now re-offered to the market. A very rare and stylish motorcar that is surely worthy of recommissioning and a place in another collection.

David Lucas (1947 – 2023)

A motor engineer by profession, the late David Lucas amassed a collection of over forty vintage and classic cars, commercials and tractors between the 1970s and his death last year. A true petrolhead, he housed several of them in a private museum which was decorated with an amazing array of automobilia. Drawn to cars with original interiors, he also had a deep love of music and a quirky sense of humour. A champion of the underdog, he eschewed the more famous British marques such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Aston Martin in favour of Armstrong Siddeley, Singer and Standard Triumph. A stalwart member of various car clubs over the years, he exhibited at numerous events up and down the country. Summed-up by his loved ones as ‘one of the life’s true gentlemen’, David Lucas remains much missed.

For more information, please contact:
Paul Cheetham
paul.cheetham@handh.co.uk
07538 667452