Story of the Southern Sphinx

The July 2009 Southern Sphinx contained a copy of an invitation to the third monthly meeting of the newly formed Armstrong Siddeley Car Club. Dated 17th June 1960, it appears to be the earliest survivor of what became The Southern Sphinx.

By 1963, these early typewritten newsletters were copied using a Gestetner machine and usually comprised four single-sided pages. The printing technology meant that no photographs were able to be included. The formal language used in the newsletter reflected the times with members being referred to as Mr. or Mrs.

In February 1964 the magazine was named The Southern Sphinx, referring to our country's southern location and also to avoid confusion with its English counterpart. The Southern Sphinx (and its predecessor) has always reflected the changing times and interests but throughout its life it has always included details of new members, club events, cars for sale and technical articles. Irrespective of its size or format, The Southern Sphinx has been an important contributor to the cohesiveness of the Club and it still remains the most important communication channel for members.

Technology has allowed improvement in print quality and the inclusion of black & white and coloured photographs. Current (c2018) editions run to around thirty pages and in addition to the hard-copy mail-out, it is also available to members as a full-colour, downloadable, electronic document.

Editorship is a relentless and sometimes thankless task and the Armstrong Siddeley Car Club owes an enormous debt to the following editors for having given generously of their time to ensure continuation of the publication. Many editors have had willing helpers in the onerous task of packaging and mailing and they too are also owed our thanks.

A glance at this list demonstrates that Club stalwarts have always been prepared to step in when circumstances have resulted in the need to change editorship at short notice.

And what of the future? The Club appreciates the importance of The Southern Sphinx and further development, embracing new technology is ongoing. All editions from 1960, not already held in electronic form, have now been scanned. These are available to view in the Member's section.  An electronic index to allow members to look up items of interest is being developed. The technical committee is creating a database that will identify all technical articles. The Southern Sphinx is now part of our website - an interactive Southern Sphinx!