Ownership of WG 7957 Alvis 12/70 Mulliner drop head coupe registered November 1938 – Arthur Brown, July 2026
I suspect that most Alvis owners take a history of their car from mechanical and touring perspectives. The social history relating to the ownership of cars is just as interesting and casts a spotlight on the vast changes in our society over two or three generations. Delving into the ownership of my Alvis 12/70 has done that, and I think might be of interest to others.
I purchased my 12/70 Mulliner drop head coupe in 1995 from Christopher Hopton. It came with some paperwork most of which went in the file while I got on with enjoying the driving and tackling the inevitable snags such as overheating and intermittent death of the engine usually at a busy junction.
All sorted, but that is another story. After retirement from full time work and other obligations I opened the file again. What struck me first of all was that there had been so many lady owners, including Christopher’s mother in the late 1980s before she transferred ownership to her son.
The Alvis Guarantee Card for this Alvis 12/70 offers minimal information about the first registered owner. It records that Miss S E Salvesen of Lathallan, Polmont, Stirlingshire purchased the car from James H Galt of Glasgow in November 1938. It also records without a date “now Mrs R B Rathbone of Arreton, Blockley, Gloucestershire”.
So I thought I would try to research a little. I had this romantic notion that a young lady, daughter of a prominent businessman had been gifted a new car perhaps on her 21st birthday. Did she sell it on perhaps after the war to another lady, Mrs R B Rathbone?
I am grateful to Robin Gilbert for sharing some of his vast knowledge of 12/70 and prompting me to dig a little deeper into the early ownership of the car in Scotland. The research, as with much genealogy, took me in a different direction, but no less interesting. Basic information on births, deaths and marriages comes from Scottish People and newspaper reports. Additional information on the Salvesen trading interests and Lathallan is accessible through Google search and a local history society in Falkirk.
There is no record of a Miss S E Salvesen, not even a sibling or cousin of that name, so the Alvis handwritten record is most likely a transcription error. (“MIs S E Salvesen”?). Miss Eileen Rosamund Salvesen was the youngest of seven children. Her father was Henry Adolph Salvesen and her mother Dagmar Marie nee Backer. She was born in 1909 and was only 15 when her father died at the age of 64 in 1924. What becomes apparent from this research was that Eileen was born into a large family of standing, offering an environment that allowed a range of interests to flourish including motoring. Before buying the 12/70 Eileen rode for many years with the Linlithgow and Stirlingshire Hunt and was District Commissioner for its branch of the Pony Club. There is no evidence, but it is almost certain that she will have driven other cars before buying the 12/70, given the family’s involvement in pioneering motoring. Let me explain.
Eileen’s father was the third son of J T Salvesen, who had established his firm in 1843. The Salvesen family, originally from Norway, had became a major player in 19th and early 20th century Scotland, with extensive interests in whaling, coal mining, shipping, transport and related business affairs. The name lived on in Christian Salvesen haulage and logistics, but this company was bought in 2007 by French listed transport group Norbert Dentressangle and nose-dived. Christian Salvesen still operates as a major frozen food processor based in Grimsby. Other Salvesen commercial interests still include the automotive industry.
Henry Adolph Salvesen became an engineer, joining the family firm as a senior partner in 1882. He was a naval architect with an impressive record of designing ships many of them commissioned into the family’s shipping line. He bought Laurence Park at Polmont in May 1896 and renamed it Lathallan. He was also a managing partner in Redding Colliery and took an active interest in the community, leading water and drainage improvement schemes, becoming Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Stirlingshire, Chairman of Polmont School Board and a JP.
He was the first possessor of a motor car in Stirlingshire, the third motor car in all of Scotland. He designed and built in his garage/workshop at Lathallan his first steam car; it is described as more like a wagonette, working around the family’s Lathallan estate, sufficiently large to accommodate a 10HP coal powered steam engine with 40 gallon water tank not to mention the coal bunker. It consumed 5 gallons of water per mile, needing filling up every 8 miles. His second attempt in 1896 was much more recognisable as a car; BS 8399 is still on the road and is occasionally seen in the London to Brighton Run. Henry was closely involved in the inauguration of the Royal Scottish Automobile Club in 1899, organising meetings and rallies at Lathallan. He acquired a Daimler 6hp in 1904 and later a Benz 12hp. In the first world war Henry was adviser to the Admiralty on engineering.
For her part, during the second world war Eileen helped to organise the local Women’s Land Army and became a motor driver in the Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS). Now are you perhaps thinking, how can you reconcile this narrative with the Alvis guarantee record’s next entry, “Mrs R B Rathbone”? In March 1940, still owning the 12/70 and doing good works for the war effort, Eileen Rosamund Salvesen married Lieutenant-Colonel Reginald Blythe Rathbone of Edinburgh at St Michael’s Church Linlithgow and held the reception at Lathallan. The Alvis guarantee card gives a new address as Arreton, Blockley, Gloucestershire. Her mother died at Lathallan House in 1948, 24 years after the loss of her husband and seeing all her children established in their own careers and families; the house was sold in 1949 in fine condition but became derelict by 1964 and was set on fire in 2006. Those motoring in the vicinity these days will have negotiated the Lathallan interchange on the M9. Today much of the estate is a vast housing development shared between Cala Homes and Taylor Wimpey.
Little is known of Eileen’s life in Gloucestershire. She sold the 12/70 to Miss Felicity Alexandra Close of Boden House, Shrewsbury on 8 January 1963, and died in 1988. Miss Close sold it a year later to Mr Noel E G Wild of Shrewsbury (AOC member 1350 – 1928-2017). He accumulated a sheaf of bills for engine repairs and sold it on after a year to Mr John Cornwall Beers, West Felton Motors, Oswestry (AOC member 3385). He sold the 12/70 in July 1978 to Mr William James E Pearce at West Felton, Oswestry who had the car for five years. It was purchased in July 1983 by Peter Merrill Jones of Oakham who later moved to Huffington, Stanford with the car. Mrs Elizabeth Hopton bought it in August 1989 and passed it to her son Christopher (AOC member 8290) in 1992. They presented the 12/70 in the Alvis jubilee celebrations held in Coventry then sold the car to the present owner, Arthur Brown (AOC member 8700).
So, WG 7957 is a survivor when so many pre-war cars would not make it. The length of its ownership ranges from 25 years with the first owner and over 30 years with the present owner to as little as one year. The history of ownership suggests that the car enjoyed at least three owners in its middle age prepared to look after it when the trend was to abandon old relics. The weight of the bills for repairs and refurbishment illustrates a commitment to give TLC beyond economic reason.
The beauty of the Alvis is that all the engineering is accessible, compared with modern cars. Even if an owner does much of the maintenance to keep the car in good condition, the cost of buying or making replacement parts mounts up. Major works over the years by the succession of owners have included an engine rebuild, running gear, replacement hood and carpets, resprays (from original black to BRG then to two tone green, to the present black and ivory cream), rear end rebuild of the mild steel arch brackets and boot (a common complaint), replacement seat springs (still original upholstery), rear leaf springs, wheel and spokes rebuild and rear axle rebuild. But it has never had off-the-road major restoration and is essentially original with matching car, engine and chassis numbers. Car no. 19853; Chassis 15459; Engine no. 15944; Body no. 44165
The car is a delight to drive. Meantime, research into the almost 90 years on the road is far from complete and further enquiries may bring further rewards and insights. If any reader can offer further information on ownership it will be welcomed and archived.
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