ARMSTRONG SIDDELEY HURRICANE, Closed Top, Green

ABOUT ARMSTRONG SIDDELEY HURRICANE

The Armstrong Siddeley Hurricane is a two-door, four-seat drophead coupé automobile produced by the British company of Armstrong Siddeley, the famous Coventry company which has built outstanding aeroplane engines since the first World War. It was based on the Armstrong Siddeley Lancaster saloon.

Nineteen thirty-five saw the Armstrong Siddeley Development Co. Ltd. absorbed by Hawker Aircraft. With the advent of another World War, car production ceased and armament work was undertaken for the Admiralty, self-change tank gearboxes were constructed and the Cheetah aero-engine built in large numbers, the final Mk. 15 version giving 420 h.p.

With a return to peacetime conditions Armstrong Siddeley announced the first of the post-war British cars, in the form of the 2-litre Hurricane drophead coupe and the Lancaster saloon, the type names honouring the memory of those famous fighter and bomber aircraft. These new cars were then of advanced styling and had torsion-bar i.f.s.

Like the Lancaster, the chassis had independent wheel suspension with torsion bar springs at the front and a driven rigid axle at the rear that was suspended on longitudinal leaf springs. The model had a Girling semi-hydraulic braking system. The front brakes were hydraulically operated, while the rear axle used cable and linkage brakes. The vehicles were equipped with disc wheels as standard. The two-door body with four seats was created in mixed construction. Aluminum sheets were attached to a frame made of ash wood and aluminum. The cars had rear-hinged doors, also called suicide doors. There were only a few changes during the production period. The 1948 model had a slightly lower bonnet line and the rear fenders each received a stone guard.