1904 Siddeley 12hp Twin-Cylinder Rear-Entrance Tonneau
Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | November 4, 2022
Siddeley is a fairly well-known name in the historical British car world. However, most of the time it is connected to other names, like Deasy, Wolseley, or, most famously, Armstrong. But the first Siddeleys were built by John Davenport Siddeley’s Siddeley Autocar Company, which was founded in 1902. The cars were actually built by Vickers and were based on Peugeots.
In 1905, J.D. Siddeley became the manager of Wolseley and then added his name to that brand. In 1909, he left Wolseley (and so did his name) and took over Deasy, again appending his name to that marque’s as well. In 1919, Siddeley-Deasy was bought by Armstrong Whitworth. Armstrong-Siddeley cars remained in production until 1960. The Siddeley name stuck around on various aircraft companies through a few mergers, eventually winding up as part of BAE Systems.
So that’s the history. Here’s this car. It is said that 31 examples of the 12hp model were built, with this being the only survivor. It’s powered by a vertical twin that can push the car to 28 mph, never exceeding 1,800 rpm (and dropping as low as 80 rpm!). The rear-entrance tonneau body was fabricated in the ’90s to replace a replacement two-seater (previously added in lieu of the original tonneau body).
A former London-to-Brighton participant, this car should sell in the $125,000-$155,000 range. Click here for more info.
Update: Sold $170,857.