Topic: Barrett's #343 - Tommy Sopwith's Sphinx special

[barrett]

Full details of this car - what chassis did it use, what powered it, who built it and when  - for a point

[barrett]

Moving up a level

[D-type]

The Sphinx  - an Allard Chassis with an Armstrong Siddley engine built by Tommy Sopwith from about 1954

[barrett]

Yes, exactly right!

[D-type]

Apparently the Sphinx name came from the Armstrong Siddley emblem being a Sphinx.

I think I read somewhere that the original intention was to use a gas turbine engine but plans fell through.

[Otto Puzzell]

The caption of that photo reads:

"Taking the track for a practise run at Goodwood is new racing driver Tom Sopwith, son of the millionaire yachtsman and aeroplane manufacturer T.O.M. Sopwith. His car is an Allard powered by a Saphire engine, the latest product of his father's Hawker Siddeley works. April 5th 1954"

[nicanary]

The car ended up in the hands of amateur racer Brian Croot, who entered it as an Allard, presumably because the Sphinx name no longer meant anything if it was not being driven by a member of the Sopwith family.

He later raced a C-type Jaguar, and the Allard/Sphinx was put aside. I was in touch with his son Max a couple of years ago, but I can't remember whether they still had the car. I think not. They did still have its old transporter, a Commer Superpoise converted from an old ice-cream wholesaler's truck, and this was slowly rotting away on the family's farm.

(PS I have just found out that Croot fitted the car with a C-Type engine, which is probably why he stopped calling it a Sphinx - there was no Armstrong-Siddeley connection. The car is now in France.)

[Otto Puzzell]

Rear view:

[Allan L]

David Kinsella records chassis JR 3405 as the one that went to Sopwith.
A little bit of engine untangling may be possible. T.E.B. Sopwith, who was much more in the public eye racing a 3.4 Jaguar in saloon car races, could indeed have used an Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphire engine but there lies the possibility of confusion.
The top of the range of A-S cars was the Sapphire 346, a fine saloon powered by a 3.4 litre 6-cylinder engine which was good for 150 b.h.p. with twin carbs. in standard form and probably a lot more as a racer.
Like many companies in the 1950s, Armstrong-Siddeley also made aircraft gas turbines: having taken over the Metropolitan-Vickers designs they continued Metrovick's use of names of precious stones so there was a Sapphire turbo-jet which powered such aircraft as the HP Victor and the Gloster Javelin.
So someone saw the name of the engine and jumped to the wrong conclusion.

I remember Brian Croot racing an Allard but not what engine it had, although Jaguar does sound right.

[nicanary]

Just for the record - the Commer transporter has been saved by an enthusiast. It's the very same guy who restored the old ex-Dennis Poore Dodge, and if he does this old truck to the same standard, then it'll be a really good job. He obtained the truck through an intermediary, who shall remain nameless.  .

[dzima1985]

The car before and after restoration -

[nicanary]

I have just received my copy of the latest Classic & Sports Car, and there is a good-sized reference to this car. It was thought to be in France but turned up at an auction in Connecticut.

The magazine article is vague about what has happened to the car, but I hope in my heart that someone hasn't bought the car in order to use the XKC engine in some sort of "new" C-type. This car was regularly raced at Goodwood - I imagine the selection committee would love to have it back there at the Revival next year. Let's hope for the best.