Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire 234 & 236 1955 to 1958

A new, small saloon with either sporting or relaxing engines. Standard tyre fitment was a 600-15 for both models, with an optional size of 640-15. A comparable radial size would be 185R15.

Following the release of the Sapphire 346 large saloon, A/S had gained a reputation for fine engineering and speed. However, it's staid styling counted against it when competing for sales, and so its new, smaller saloon needed to keep the modern engineering and wrap it in something attractive and exciting. The 234 and 236 comprehensively failed to do this. The 234 had a 4-cylinder version of the bigger Sapphire's engine, which was actually pretty good. However, the 236 carried over the elderly 6-cylinder from the Whitley. Both cars had the same body, which had very odd and unexciting styling. The models both flopped, leaving A/S perilously exposed to an aggressive merger for its aerospace technology, and closed the car factory.