Photographic archive – how you can help

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As we enter 2013 we plan to add to the published historical photographs. In the age of digital camera adding to the stock of contemporary photos is cheap and easy and we welcome receiving such Alvis photos from you by email (alvisarchive@btinternet.com) preferably with a file size of no more than 3Mb. What we would also really appreciate is .jpg files of scanned period photos of cars like the ones already published, scanned at preferably 300dpi or more. In each case please give the file a title which includes the chassis and registration number and the date it was taken. Our archives include several albums of colour photos taken by Clive Taylor and Bill Fryer which were only published in the Bulletin in black and white.

Further photos of AXA 137 have been added to the Speed Models page.

…..and this is the first contribution

Chris Harding offered a link to his TA21 restoration….in Dubai

http://ta-21-in-dubai.blogspot.com/2012/12/arthur-alvis-ta21-restored-to-full.html

Charles Zealey sent various photos of his Duncan TA14, 12/60 and TD21.

Wayne sent several more pictures of 4.3s some of which are now on his page

And these were all on 1st January!

Jamie Davis emailed in with some video links….

“I identified an Alvis 12/50 for British Pathe, which was taking part in a vintage car rally event that they filmed in 1957.  It appears at the 02:23 timepoint….

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/vintage-cars-leave-for-contest-with-usa

I have also identified an Alvis TA14 for Pathe in this clip…..

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/geneva-motor-show/query/alvis

You can also spot footage of other Alvis cars in the following clips;

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/motor-show-on-time-despite-strike/query/alvis

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/earls-court-motor-show/query/alvis\

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/veteran-car-show/query/alvis

Finally, in case Alvis military vehicles are of any use to you, here’s some more newsreel footage;

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/1964-commercial-motor-show-aka-commercial-motor-sh/query/alvis

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/alvis-stalwart-amphibian/query/alvis

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/truck-for-land-and-sea/query/alvis

Hope that’s of some interest to you.

Best wishes,
Jamie Davis”

Dear Alvis-friends,

In my search for old Alvis archives, in 2003 I got in touch with Mr. Frits van Genderingen, who worked for 45 years for Sieberg, the last Dutch Alvis importer.

During our telephone conversation he asked me where I got my Alvis knowledge. I told him that as a baby I was baptized in an open Auburn 851 and I was lucky to have a father who was mad about Alvis. After he heard the word Auburn, there was silence. Mr. Frits van Genderingen told me his father was the Auburn importer in the Netherlands and my late Father’s name Henk van der Weiden indeed rang a bell. This coincidence made him say I could borrow a picture from his private collection, from which I enclose a copy.

Two LHD TC21’s standing on Dutch Vredestein tyres (until this day popular on 3 litres) are both still in the Dutch Alvis Owner Club.

TC 21 DHC: chassis 25443, Original Dutch reg.no: NG-43-84

This lovely Alvis belonged for 34 years to Mr. Jan Blankespoor, former Jaguar dealer in Wassenaar near The Hague, who in the early eighties has joined AOC (5501 NL) and AOCN for many years.

The Alvis was often to be seen in his Jaguar showroom.

TC 21 Saloon:  chassis 25695, sold new to Mr. Van der Kieft, inherited by his son Mr. Bas van de Kieft, actual member of AOCN.

Attached is also a snippet of the 1954 RAI Catalogue with details on the Alvis (in Dutch). RAI folder 1954 Alvis With 18.000 Dutch guilders the Alvis was an extremely expensive car. To put it in context: in 1954 a university educated technical engineer earned on average a year salary of 4.000 guilders. For 18.000 guilders one could also buy a free standing house.

Kind regards,

Coen van der Weiden

Photos from Coen van der Weiden of the 1947 Geneva show also appear on The Fourteen page where the new Worblaufen was shown alongside the factory cars.