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The company was formed in 1897 as a merger of the engineering firms of William Armstrong and Joseph Whitworth . The company expanded into the manufacture of cars and trucks in 1902 , and created an "aerial department" in 1913 , which became the Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft subsidiary in 1920 . In 1927 , the defence business merged with Vickers to create a subsidiary company known as Vickers Armstrong . SHIPS
LOCOMOTIVES Armstrong Whitworth build numerous steam and diesel locomotives for mainline companies and industrial railways. AUTOMOBILES The Armstrong-Whitworth was manufactured from 1904 (when the company took over construction of the Wilson-Pilcher ) until 1919 (when the company merged with Siddeley-Deasy and began construction of the Armstrong-Siddeley ) in Coventry . The Wilson-Pilcher was an advanced car, originally with a 2.4 litre engine, that had been made in London from 1901 until 1904 when production moved to Newcastle. Two models were made, a 2.7 litre flat four and a 4 litre flat six. The engines had the flywheel at the front of the engine. Drive was to the rear wheels via a Preselector Gearbox and helical bevel axle. The cars were listed at £735 for the four and £900 for the six. They were still theoretically available until 1907. The first Armstrong-Whitworth car was the ''28/36'' of 1906 with a water cooled, four cylinder side valve engine of 4.5 litres which unusually had "oversquare" dimensions of 120 mm bore and 100 mm stroke. Drive was via a four speed gearbox and shaft to the rear wheels. A larger car was listed for 1908 with a choice of either 5 litre ''30'' or 7.6 litre ''40'' models sharing a 127 mm bore but with strokes of 100 mm and 152 mm respectively. The ''40'' was listed at £798 in bare chassis form for supplying to coachbuilders. These large cars were joined in 1909 by the 4.3 litre ''18/22'' and in 1910 by the 3.7 litre ''25'' which seems to have shared the same chassis as the ''30'' and ''40''. In 1911 a new small car appeared in the shape of the 2.4 litre ''12/14'', called the ''15.9'' in 1911 , featuring a monobloc engine with pressure lubrication to the crankshaft bearings. This model had an 88 inch wheelbase compared with the 120 inches of the ''40'' range. This was joined by four larger cars ranging from the 2.7 litre ''15/20'' to the 3.7 litre ''25.5''. The first six cylinder model, the ''30/50'' with 5.1 litre 90 mm bore by 135 mm stroke engine came in 1912 with the option of electric lighting. This grew to 5.7 litres in 1913 . At the outbreak of war, as well as the 30/50, the range consisted of the 3 litre ''17/25'' and the 3.8 litre ''30/40''. The cars were usually if not always bodied by external coach builders and had a reputation for reliability and solid workmanship. The company maintained a London sales outlet at New Bond Street. ''See also Armstrong (automobile) '' AIRCRAFT The Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Co was initially a subsidiary of Armstrong Whitworth until 1927 when it passed to J D Siddeley along with Armstrong-Siddeley
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