Home from Australia...

Bob Chamberlain, who brought his meticulously-rebuilt Napier “Samson” here from Australia in 1983, and demonstrated it at Brooklands, Shelsley Walsh and other venues, is anxious to learn more about the 1910 competition Austro-Daimler engine which had five valves per cylinder (compared with the two of the production cars) and which beat the Prince Henry Benz — of which he has two examples in running order. If anyone has data, drawings or photographs they would be much appreciated.

. . . and India and South Africa

Armstrong Siddeley Owners Club reports the re-importation of two Siddeley Specials, one from South Africa and one from India, and the recovery of factory data on pre-war cars — this is highly encouraging, for it does not seem so long ago that we labelled this make as “the cars nobody wants” because good examples were being given away!

Indeed, the club has registered 2574 cars worldwide, 604 being pre-war (69 Fourteens, 6 Thirties, 80 in the 18hp-25hp bracket,196 in the 15hp-17hp category, 24 Siddeley Specials, 27 Twelves and 58 six-cylinder Sixteens), 700 post-war (Hurricane to Whitley class) and some 800 Sapphire and associated models.