I was sent the following from a friend in Australia. I have no idea where it came from (and neither does he)…
Once upon a time, a long time ago, near the mythical village of Birmingham, there were two identical twin brothers – separated at birth – who were destined to shape the lives of many, many thousands of future British car owners.
Old Armstrong shockers.
One of these brothers was born “visually challenged” – and was called “Lucas”. Lucas became quite bitter, and dedicated himself to ensuring that everyone else should have some insight to his world of darkness. The story of Lucas is well documented (mostly in Braille).
The other brother – who exhibited large amounts of upper body strength – was known as “Armstrong”. This is part of the story of Armstrong – the younger, and stronger, brother – who went on to pioneer shock absorber damping to generations of British vehicles.
Armstrong – although credited with huge amounts of upper body strength – had little or no stamina (due, I think, to a genetic design defect). He was able to resist and contain huge forces – but generally only for a short period of time. Left under physical stress for any length of time, he would, without warning, spew copious amounts of a substance resembling light oil from his armpits.
It was this socially unacceptable personal behavior which I believe prevented him from attaining international acceptance in the motoring industry: this behavior remains a repeatable mystery to this day by all his siblings and descendants. This weakness – not unlike the fabled Achilles and his heel – is known in medical circles as an “Armstrong armpit”. (In actual fact it is known as Hyperhidrosis.
