In the world of classic car auctions, it’s not often that a vehicle changes hands for a four-figure sum, which is why this 1955 Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire 346 caught our eye.
Built by Armstrong Siddeley, a British engineering group best known for producing luxury vehicles and aircraft engines during the first half of the 20th century, the Sapphire was introduced in 1952 and came with a novelty for locally made cars: power steering.
It remained in production until 1960 and even though it could have flown under the radar as a pre-war model, underneath the skin, it was entirely new, with coil springs on the front and leaf springs on the rear, powered by a new 3.4-liter six-cylinder engine, capable of pushing it up to a top speed of 95 mph (153 km/h), which was not bad for that era.
Its previous owner had this Sapphire 346 in mind ever since he was a child, as his parents used to own such a car, and later in life, he went on a hunt to purchase the best example he could find. His search took him to Romania, from where he bought this right-hand drive example, which is said to have been “improved and enhanced”. It was occasionally used as a wedding car by the vendor, who eventually listed it up for auction at no reserve. SilverstoneAuctions were in charge of finding it a new home, where it sold for just £5,400 or $7,892 at today’s exchange rates.
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