Does this radiator grille and/or its badge match a pre-war Aston Martin? Could it be from an Armstrong Siddeley? This isn't a trivia thing, I am genuinely trying to identify it, installed on a British stock car in approx 1962. The first link shows some more of the car (ignore the bodywork) and the second link enlarges the radiator detail a bit. There is something "neo- classical / neo-Egyptian" about the badge shape.
moneypenny gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
I think you're probably right.
But the second link's broken. A wild guess was successful - and it should be...
I don't think it's Armstrong Siddeley. We had a 20, a Sapphire and a Star Sapphire in the past. The bonnet badges were blue enamelled with "Armstrong Siddeley" on them. The Egyptian element was the Sphinx on later models.
They are, sadly, terrible photos. But the badge looks more Aston Martin to me.
Thank you --- so far, I've been shown a Hillman rad that looks quite close:
Methinks it looks like an Austin badge maybe? Don
I don't think it's Armstrong Siddeley. We had a 20, a Sapphire and a Star Sapphire in the past. The bonnet badges were blue enamelled with "Armstrong Siddeley" on them. The Egyptian element was the Sphinx on later models.
They are, sadly, terrible photos. But the badge looks more Aston Martin to me.
It looks as if the radiator tapers outwards, i.e. larger at the bottom than at the top. So I was inclined towards an Armstrong Siddeley of the thirties. Steve has rather shot me down in flames - I would have thought the 20 (obviously not the later Sapphire and Star) would have been a good bet. Perhaps a Siddeley Special? I am going from memory here - saw one a couple of years ago, but can't find any pictures on the interweb.
Just a thought - Jensen, of the immediate post war years? Again, going from memory not detailed research.
GeoffMacK
I don't mean to shoot anyone down in flames Geoff. I don't recall the 20 having a badge like that, but the radiator and filler cap look about right.
t.- Hide quoted text -
You guys have been very kind with your suggestions. I've done a close Google search of Austin, Aston, Lanchester, Jensen, and Standard grilles, but nothing quite matches that curious lower stem of the winged badge. The grille shell is also narrower than those cars. Sorry I don't have a better photo. I will keep trying. Certainly seems to be pre-war, though.
Shows how time blurs the memory as well. I'm convinced that it's not an Armstrong Siddeley 20 or 25 now. This is a 25:
And this gives a better idea of the early mascot and the blue badge - nothing like the winged affair on your car.
Shows how time blurs the memory as well. I'm convinced that it's not an Armstrong Siddeley 20 or 25 now. This is a 25:
And this gives a better idea of the early mascot and the blue badge - nothing like the winged affair on your car.
I can definitely rule out the Jaguar Mk IV. although wasn't that the post war model? My first ever Jaguar was a 1947 Mk IV and it was much more - er - statuesque than the one in the picture. You do have a point about the pre war Jaguars, though, when they were SS Jaguars. Everybody knows (well, perhaps not everybody, but I would hope the members of this NG!) the SS 100, but there were some very decent saloons which had radiator grilles much like the one in the pic. Not much help, I'm afraid, but might start a new line of enquiry!
G MacK
"Geoff Mackenzie" wrote: [snip]
No, you're probably thinking of the Mk V. The Mk IV wasn't really an official model designation, but it was used by Jaguar owners to describe Jaguar's new pre war model with their own six cylinder engine instead of the four pot Standard engines. The last Mk IV was made in 1939, I think.
That would have been a Mark V. The first post war saloon.
The badge is the thing that I think marks it out. It matches to a post SS but pre-war model.
"Geoff Mackenzie" wrote: [snip]
No, you're probably thinking of the Mk V. The Mk IV wasn't really an official model designation, but it was used by Jaguar owners to describe Jaguar's new pre war model with their own six cylinder engine instead of the four pot Standard engines. The last Mk IV was made in 1939, I think.
That would have been a Mark V. The first post war saloon.
Steve - close, but no cigar!
The last pre-war saloons were advertised under the name Jaguar SS and as far as I know were not known as anything else. In 1946 the same model with a few minor changes was introduced, with 3.5, 2.5 sixes and with a shorter bonnet a 1.5 four. These were properly known as the Jaguar Three-and-a-Half Litre Saloon (and 2.5, 1.5 etc), Jaguar having for obvious reasons dropped the "SS" bit, and it was this model which became known as the Mk lV although never officially. It continued until 1948, when the MK V came in; although broadly similar in appearance there were many changes - it was, I think, the first all-steel body, i.e. without an ash frame. The most obvious visual difference was the headlamps - great big Lucas P100 lamps out in the wind on the Mk lV, much smaller lamps in faired-in pods on the Mk V. Give me credit for knowing which one I actually owned o))!
The Mk V was only produced until 1949, when the Mk Vll with XK engine came along. The was never a Mk Vl, allegedly because Bentley had already bagged the name, although it has been applied retrospectively to two development cars - one run for some time as the personal transport of William Lyons - which were modified Mk V saloons fitted with the XK engine. But that's a whole nuther story, as they say.
Hope that helps.
Geoff MacK
You seem to have missed this part of my post:
The Mk IV wasn't really an official model designation, but it was used by Jaguar owners to describe Jaguar's new pre war model with their own six cylinder engine instead of the four pot Standard engines.
HTH.
You seem to have missed this part of my post:
The Mk IV wasn't really an official model designation, but it was used by Jaguar owners to describe Jaguar's new pre war model with their own six cylinder engine instead of the four pot Standard engines.
HTH.
No, I didn't miss that, but I didn't agree. I thought I'd covered that. I think that the unofficial Mk lV name was for the post-war up until 1948 cars which were essentially the same as the pre-war models; after all, why would you choose it until the Mk V came out in 1948? Not a name you would pick out of thin air pre-war!
My main point was your assertion that the Mk V was the first post-war saloon. It wasn't. And I repeat - the car I owned was a 1947 Jaguar Three-and-a-Half Litre, NOT a Mk V.
Geoff MacK
Or post war until after the Mk V. So errm your explanation doesn't really wash. As I said, owner referred to the cars that didn't have the Standard engines as the Mk IV, not the company. But the term was applied to the pre-war 3.5.
It was.
If you insist.
Or post war until after the Mk V. So errm your explanation doesn't really wash. As I said, owner referred to the cars that didn't have the Standard engines as the Mk IV, not the company. But the term was applied to the pre-war 3.5.
It was.
If you insist.
Steve - everything I have said in this thread is a matter of fact, not opinion. The Mk V didn't come out until 1948; Jaguar restarted car production after the war in 1946 with the essentially pre-war 3.5 litre "Mk lV". Have a look at:
Geoff MacK
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