- Withdrawn

Lot details
Registration No: WKV 200
Chassis No: 330109
Mot Expiry: Exempt

PLEASE NOTE: This vehicle is withdrawn from our 28th July 2016 auction.

- Reportedly first owned by Sir Thomas (Tommy) Sopwith, the chairman of Hawker Siddeley

- Still retaining what is believed to be its original Coventry issued number plate

- Thought to have been restored in the 1980's and engine refreshed during present ownership

The Armstrong Siddeley Star Sapphire is a charming and stately motor-car of a rarely seen product of Britain's rich Motoring Heritage. A sporting car in its day, the Star Sapphire was significantly more expensive than its competitors from Jaguar and Humber and despite the performance advantage over its rivals, the high purchase price kept production limited to just 902 examples.

Survivors are now rare and few would have the interesting ownership history of the car offered for sale here. WKV 200 is a Coventry issued number plate, the city in which this marque produced its motor cars until the factory closed in 1960. First registered in January 1959, it is believed to have been originally delivered to Sir Thomas (Tommy) Sopwith who was Chairman of the Hawker Siddeley aircraft company. Thought to have been restored in the 1980's, the vendor informs us that the car then resided in Switzerland between 1994 and when he acquired it in 2012.

We are informed that the engine has been refreshed during the current ownership, and a replacement engine block was utilised as frost had damaged the original one. Unused for the past year, the English vendor has stored the car at his home in France, but upon extraction from its storage recently he found that the headlining has been damaged and the "3rd gear band in the auto box slips under full torque acceleration."

Described by the vendor as having "good" bodywork and interior trim and "very good" paintwork and electrical equipment, he finishes by describing the engine as "excellent". With a largely complete tool kit and an interesting history, this most agreeably coloured Star Sapphire is an attractive proposition as it is being sold without a reserve price.