Armstrong Siddeley Motors was a semi-independent business unit within the huge industrial conglomerate known as the Hawker Siddeley Group Co. Ltd. The decision by the board of directors to manufacture the Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire was a leap of faith into the unknown for the company. It was a leap characterized by several false starts and muddled thinking. The Sapphire represented a completely new direction, upmarket away from the buyers that the company had attracted with its early postwar offerings.

The Sapphire’s body design was characterized by a “modern” rendition of the prewar Armstrong Siddeley upright grille, as well as traditional styling elements for an upper-crust British saloon. In many ways the Sapphire was the very antithesis of the decidedly slinky Jaguar Mark VII. No proven attribution has ever been given to the body styling.

For Armstrong Siddeley, the design introduced the “Ponton” look that was largely slab-sided, although the Sapphire did relieve that by featuring distinct reminders of the fender era with lines that flowed across and down both doors and rose up over the spatted rear wheels. Unusually, it retained “suicide” front doors at a time when practically all new cars had front-hinged doors. Equally unusual was its availability in two forms: a four-light saloon and a six-light saloon.

During a time of continued rationing in England, the Sapphire was luxuriously equipped. Inside was a traditional burr-walnut dash with the large, round Smiths dials set directly in front of the driver, radio speaker in the center and a sizeable glove locker in front of the passenger. A heater/demister was standard. Leather upholstered bench seats provided seating capacity for up to six passengers (individual front seats were optional) while stitched Wilton carpet was on the floor. In addition to the glove box, there were enormous pockets in each front door.

Read more about the Sapphire & Star Sapphire in
Volume 45 Number 4