New photos have been added to the site covering some of the car models, coachbuilders and products together with some press cuttings of “Used Cars on the Road” and Road Tests.
The owner of this 1953 TA21 Tickford in the 1960s is keen to find if it still exists.
Our records only go up to 1974 when LER 834 was in Naples, Italy. Does anyone know where it is now?
Did you know Alvis manufactured colour printers?
A new page Printers has more photos and a video link.
To find the new photos and articles click on the following which all open on new tabs so you can return to this post:
Which Australian Speed 20 is this with wipers at the top of the screen and twin side mounts? On the reverse is written Gordon Nicol of Rose Bay, New South Wales but was he the owner?Wayne Brooks found this photo circa 1955, of 11993 with Roy Clement at the wheel of his father, Toby Clement’s car, registration FP 101Who is this with John Parkes?Who is driving what, where and when? And what is on the scuttle? Tony Cox thinks it is definitely Racing Car No. 1. See Hull & Johnson, 2nd Ed, page 89 Plate 41. You can match the bonnet handle, gear lever and handbrake, bonnet strap, the alignment of the exhaust pipe, and the seam in the offside panel of the scuttle. The fact that it has a windscreen in your pic does not rule this out. That could have been added or removed at any time, and the car was much modified in other ways during this early period. I do not recognise the driver, but he is most probably either Tommy Simister, an agent who Alvis used to promote the performance of Alvis cars and to whom they sold this one, or Jack Linnell, who bought the car from Simister in September 1924.
A couple of accessions this month have added greatly to our film and DVD library and our ability to show them at Bowcliffe. Over thirty films of Alvis events by the late Terry Poppelwell during his long ownership of his well known 12/60 have now been catalogued.
Terry Poppelwell’s 1931 12/60 TL Batley 4 seater owned from 1963-2010
The addition of another large screen TV also makes it easier to show the many VHS tapes we now hold. The first TeePee film we tried strangely started with the donor of the TV introducing the event.
Thank you, Colin NewbyTaking a break from scanning, Chris Bluer views some 1960s Alvis events
Last week we had a visit from Melanie Aspey, Director of the Rothschild Archive in London. Three trustees had an entertaining and informative day learning of the activities and procedures of a large and important archive and some insight into fund raising methods and record keeping. It was pleasing that our adoption of the FileMaker database was heartily endorsed.
Lincolnshire folk were treated to a fine display of coachwork on Alvis chassis at Doddington Hall last Sunday. No fewer than 24 immaculate models graced the courtyard and four of them had pride of place in front of the Hall.
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This replica Vickers Vimy was built for that enterprising and enthusiastic gentleman Steve Fossett, and was flown across the Atlantic as a tribute to the 1919 flight of Lt John Alcock and Lt Arthur Whitten Brown. The picture was taken at the 2005 Fly-in at Turweston Airfield in Northamptonshire – 1932 12/50 TJ Special by Peter Wright NG 3638, from The Alvis Register Bulletin No. 231, Summer 2007.
From the Consultant Historian – Another Centenary: It is one hundred years ago ( 14th/15th June 1919 ) that John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown made that epic first transatlantic air crossing. This was done in a converted Vickers Vimy bomber with extra fuel tanks in place of the bomb racks. It is not widely known that on 12th July 1921, the by then Sir Arthur Whitten Brown took delivery of an Alvis 10/30, chassis 6247, registered HP 1821. One would like to think that he made a bee-line to Alvis for engineering reasons. Actually the reason is probably more prosaic. Vickers were making the Alvis chassis at the time.
Neil Millington finds the price tag on this used Rolls parked outside Bowcliffe – it starts with a 3…..
The Bicester Super Scramble on Sunday June 23rd was the first of the new format of Scrambles to include Demonstration laps of specially invited cars.
Mark Hargreaves’ TC21/100 Graber cabriolet takes to the track
Alvisianado Dan Geoghegan, serial Alvis driver and Graber connoisseur, sought to gather the largest selection of Grabers ever seen for the event since the AOC 2001 Jubilee at Blenheim when several Swiss owners brought their cars to Oxfordshire. Since then some cars have found new UK custodians so that some eight Alvis Grabers, a Bentley R Type and a Rolls-Royce 20/25 joined a Park Ward drophead in a woodland setting to demonstrate the diversity of Alvis styling from 1953 to 1966. A photo selection can be found in Graber.
We were delighted that so many of the Alvis owners attending the International Weekend chose to visit us with their cars.
First in from the Netherlands was Coen van der Weiden in his TE21 drophead who helped guide visitors into Hycilla
Vital signs all good en route to Bowcliffe – TE21 dhcTE21 dhc, 27100 in front of Bowcliffe HallArchivists proudly installing our new signage for the day, on ladders sinking into the soft ground
Our next visitor – a 4.3 short chassis Vanden Plas saloon, 14870 EVC 240, originally Ultramarine Blue…..followed by another 4.3 Charlesworth saloon now with Paul Chasney. AOC President Frank Kay’s Speed 20 in the background.
Some 65 visitors from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, France (Patrick Rollet, President of FIVA), Germany, Austria, Norway, Florida and New Zealand then kept us busy answering questions for the rest of the day.
Ash McKenzie’s TA21 in New ZealandSpeed 20 SA, TE21 dhc, TA14 drophead (in the same family for 60 years) and Speed 20 SB CharlesworthTC108G and Speed 20 SA13668 Speed 25 SB Charlesworth saloon from KentTA14 Carbodies from Cheshire and Speed 20 SB Vanden Plas 1089212125 Speed 20 SC Charlesworth from Northern Ireland27411 TF21 Radford Fisherman’s coupe27386 TF2127436 TF2127449 TF21The 4.3 shows off the razor edge design as it leaves Hycilla
Photos Coen van der Weiden, Chris Taylor, John Fox
We look forward to welcoming visitors to our Hycilla office at Bowcliffe Hall on Saturday 15th June. Our postcode is LS23 6LP and, just before Bowcliffe Hall gates, please follow Alvis Archive Trust signs turning right a few yards down the hill to our parking area in the direction of Bramham Park.
On Sunday 16th June the Alvis Owner Club will be displaying members’ cars at the Elvington Air Museum http://yorkshireairmuseum.org/events/ near York. Members who have not pre-booked can still attend either in their Alvis via the Alvis entrance, subject to sufficient space, otherwise by the public entrance as can non-Alvis cars.
If you have not visited alvis14 lately there is plenty of interest as Eileen travels the world in search of Fourteen stories. Enquiries continue for news of cars once owned such as this one, 22761
MUA 57 – where are you now? Acquired by William Frank Blatley from Peter Thorpe in about 1958
Steve Horne has reviewed a new Alvis book by Matthew Vale – see Book Review
Amongst some donated material were eleven early copies of “Alvibatics” – part of a copy is reproduced below:Thanks to Chris Bluer for scanning all eleven copies.
It is with great sadness that I have to report the death of Tony Phillips-Smith. He died on Sunday 26th May, in a nursing home at Mullion, Cornwall. His funeral will be held on Monday 10th June at :
Camborne Crematorium Puggis Hill, Reskadinmick,TR14 0BL at 2.00 pm.
Tony was perhaps better known as Apsley (APS…) and was a talented artist. His drawings and cartoons were a regular feature of the Calendar (of which he was an editor for many years), and he produced Christmas cards for both the Alvis Owner Cub and Coast Watch. He also authored several books. In October 1998 he co-organized the first Remembrance of Maurice Harvey event on the 75th anniversary of Harvey’s Brooklands victory, and this became an annual event that he organized up until last year. He organized an annual summer picnic and for many years organized the far South West Christmas lunch. When the SW Section hosted the IAW in 2013 Tony produced the programme, complete with his line drawings. For all his talents he was very modest and a delight to work with.
A gentle giant of a man, softly spoken, a mischievous sense of humour and such a broad smile.
I am sure that you join with me in sending our sympathies to his wife Jane.
The owner of this 1953 TA21 Tickford in the 1960s is keen to find if it still exists.
