The ongoing work to revive the 1906 Armstrong Whitworth open tourer continues.

With the garage shuffle to release it from the showroom complete, it has been on display in the rear of the garage.  In this location, it was inspected and successfully started last week.

I can now include a bit more information on the car too (put together from the inventory record on the museum’s database for this vehicle)

This very fine motorcar, dating from 1906,  was built in the Tyneside works of Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd, is typical of the middle range touring cars of the Edwardian era, built to high engineering standards and comparable with Rolls Royce, Napier, Wolseley ( Vickers ) and Crossley cars of the same era.  It has been carefully kept in the condition in which it was purchased by Beamish in 1998, and has the mellowed appearance of an early restoration which greatly adds to its visual appeal.

Fitted with Zenith carburettor and Simms magneto (built under licence to a Bosch design), the car is recorded with the Veteran Club of Great Britain, the authoritative body on cars of this era and is recorded as having an engine bore and stroke of 95mm x 120 mm, consistent with the 18/22 H.P. model. The engine number is 478.

Various other features that indicate that it is an 18/22 H.P. model include the front axle design, the cylinder design and spring closing radiator cap.  Although a plate on the dashboard refers to a 28/36 H.P. model there is no evidence that this plate ( which also bears the car number 20/627 ) is original to this chassis. The car was restored in around 1970, having been discovered with a utility body.  This was replaced by the present body, itself believed to be substantially original was which fitted to the car during its restoration.

There have been minor updates, including the fitting of a Zenith- type carburettor not uncommon in the 1910/20 era, and the car is no longer fitted with a duel ignition system.  The five seater tourer coachwork, which is stamped with body number 275, is finished in dark green livery, coach-lined in gold and upholstered in red leather. It is comprehensively equipped with hood, Perfecta ( Austin type ) rear screen, Lucas self contained acetylene headlamps, Lucas oil sidelamps, a Boa Constrictor bulb horn, Pratts running board mounted petrol can, a Stepney spare wheel with tyre and a running board mounted cantilever tray tool box.

Another example of an Armstrong Whitworth car has been on display the Discovery Museum in Newcastle, this being a 15/20 H.P. example, believed to date from 1911.

Below: With confidence growing, the car was taken to Foulbridge to give it shakedown run (nobody at Beamish having ever driven it, and only a very small number having ever seen it running).

Below: This view shows the effectiveness of the water pump, and the strong flow of water through the cooling circuit.  There are a few leaks to attend to, but this was in the first hour or so of it having been started for the first time in (I think) over 25 years.

The AW has now been temporarily relocated to the tram depot in order for some further work to be undertaken.  This will include adjustment/repair of the carburettor, treating the hood to a waterproof wax, a deep clean and polish and giving the leather seats some attention after being nothing more than cleaned over the last two decades.

I’ll try and get a video uploaded in due course…

Some views taken by the museum’s comms team, for inclusion in a future Beamish Magazine feature:

So, with the car on its way to becoming a usable component in the transport collection, thoughts inevitably turn to how to show off this, and several other items within the collection, that aren’t in the pool of everyday-use vehicles (such as the buses, trams and the Cub tipper).  We’re going to look at some options for running days in the summer – because of the nature of the vehicles, they tend to be operated by people who are based in the engineering/workshop team – so we can’t do too much as it impacts this resource, however I think we’ll try and commit to some day this summer when we can advertise dates on which we’ll get some of the vehicles out and for demonstration.  These will probably include those we consider category B and C, which aren’t otherwise seen very often by visitors in operation and which include Coffee Pot No.1, SCT 2, the Newcastle Corporation fire engine, the Armstrong Whitworth, veteran motorcycles and some of the vintage vehicles as well.  Watch this space for more on this development…