Author: alvisarchive

My doormat was covered in some heavy post this week, all of it expected. The most eagerly awaited for over two years was the latest tome from Dave Culshaw, our Consultant Historian, finally published by Veloce in August 2022. The culmination of a lifetime of car spotting, number recording and diligent research in company archives, public libraries and registration offices this book is published 64 years after his first. His next book is already in preparation. More information from the publishers Veloce. Existing orders may take a while to filter through from other booksellers.

This website also benefits from his prodigious output over the years, including many of his PPS articles, P P S by Dave Culshaw and his invaluable contribution to the many Model Registers published in the 1980s and 1990s. These registers are constantly updated as errors are discovered.

For example, Clive Taylor tells us in AOC Bulletin 596 the registration of TE21 27111 was wrongly recorded in Dave’s 2003 book Alvis Three Litre in Detail. The correct number is recorded in this latest book which lists all the known original registration numbers on Alvis cars (at the date of compilation).

In contrast, the latest edition of Octane is dated October 2022, which gives it a long shelf life. Not much about Alvis this time but a good read about rare and interesting cars, not least an article by Mark Dixon on why the late 1960s is a good place to find a comfortable driving seat. He also sets the hare running about substituting the propulsion with electricity.

The July/August 2022 AOC Bulletin showed up just in time to be in August together the Annual Report and Accounts with the Chairman proclaiming the Club to be in fine fettle.

The Bulletin itself devotes space to the subject of Orginality and in particular the Club’s policy thereon. We devoted a page to this some years ago ORIGINALITY and Specials. Comments are welcome on that page. It should be noted that in response, we created the Preservation Class for Concours entrants – how did that turn out?

Also included was a note of correspondence between Adam Gilchrist and the Chairman on the subject of AAT funding which the trustees had not seen before. They will be considering their response and advising members accordingly.

Further photos from Pebble Beach and the results are now included in a new gallery on Graber.

News just received from Christoph Grohe is that in 2023 there will be an Alvis Class – anyone for a Alvis Tour of California?

Christoph Grohe was influential in the creation of a Graber Class at the 2022 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and four Three Litre Alvis are among the fourteen cars with Graber coachwork. Fabulous examples of Aston Martin, Bentley, Bugatti, Delahaye, Duesenburg, Packard and Voisin will compete in two classes, covering 1930-1946 and 1953-1964 on Sunday 21st August. See Graber for details.

In what was a perfect summer’s day in Lincolnshire six Three Litres took part in the Petwood Concours last Sunday.

– see Petwood-Concours

Our regular monthly lunch meetings have continued throughout the year and July saw “Betsy” make an appearance after media exposure from the NEC Restoration show, looking rather smart on newly painted wheels and new tyres.

Sadly, we had previously missed a visit to the Drivers Club from Lex Westoby who was belatedly celebrating the Alvis Centenary by travelling the world from New Zealand and presenting trophies to various people. He left one with the Drivers Club for the Trust and it is now on display in our archive cabinet.

Lex wrote “I’m still in Europe, and this is the first opportunity I’ve had to explain the trophy I left with you. My original plan was to go to as many Alvis Centenary celebrations as possible. First the Australian event in Albury, Then the New Zealand event in April. then cross over to UK for the International Event, travel on to The Crossing Borders event in The Netherlands and maybe stopping in USA on the way home. Sounds great, almost all was booked and paid for, but then after the Australian event Covid struck. In New Zealand we had a delayed event and I missed the opportunity to come over the Europe for their events.

My own personal effort for the Alvis Centenary was to make 100 Trophies like the one you now have, and to present or gift them to Alvis owners at each event I went to, i.e. one for each group of cars, Vintage, Post vintage and post 60 vintage, and also to the club or organization hosting the event.

I have now presented 100 trophies around the world. 4 in Australia, 4 in UK including the one you have, 4 in Europe at the Crossing Borders event, and the remainder in New Zealand for all the entrants in the event there. I hope you enjoy it, and I enjoy all your articles.”

Thank you Lex, a surprisingly weighty piece!

Buying and selling a car at auction has become a popular activity to watch both on TV and the internet. The fortunes of Alvis participants have been mixed in recent sales – several failing to reach their reserves but others finding new homes. Reports of last weekend’s Bonhams sale at Goodwood, with no Alvis, showed less than a third of the lots sold at or over their estimates and over a third were not sold. The upcoming Bonhams sale at Gstaad includes 57 interesting cars, many from static collections with no reserve https://www.bonhams.com/auction/27530/the-gstaad-sale-collectors-motor-cars/

More digitisation of archive photo collections has been completed this week and can be seen here 1979 – Knebworth

A good number of followers are past owners of Alvis cars. We are always pleased to receive their news and recollections which often shed light on the history of cars, some of them long gone. One such owner also sent us a box of transparencies of the 1961 and 1962 Crystal Palace Alvis Days including this :

A gallery of other pictures is here 1961 – Crystal Palace

Alan Bond, now living in Watchet, Somerset, wrote: An old friend of mine, Mike Pratt, who lived in Hendon and latterly Watford, passed away on 12th June. He owns a speed 20 Charlesworth saloon but hasn’t used it for years. It is safely stored and, hopefully, it will run again one day. He was well known in Alvis circles for many years and I had known him as a close friend for more than sixty years. His funeral is at Garston Crematorium, Watford on 4th July at 10.20 a.m. All welcome to give the old lad a hearty send off. I shall be going. We were close friends for over 60 years so I have to pay my respects in person.

Back in the 1960s I owned a TA21 Alvis EWH 310 (24105) bought off the late Jock Stephen through the good offices of the late Mick O’Callaghan (or it might have been the other way round). I used the car until about three months before I got married in February of 1967 and then it was laid up in the driveway of my family’s house at Colindale for about a year as I had then moved and was living in Bletchley. My late father asked me several times to remove the car but since I was not in a position to do anything with it at the time it was eventually taken away by a scrap dealer who had premises off Colindeep Lane. I did eventually make arrangements to have it transported to Bletchley but it had been broken up before I could put those plans into action. I was very disappointed as it could have lived in my garage in Bletchley while I got it ready to go back on the road. Under Jock Stephen’s ownership, the problem with excessive oil use had been sorted and the car was running beautifully when I took it off the road due to the lack of ‘pfennigs’ because of my impending marriage.

Jock also had a D type Silversone Healey which he had fitted with a 3.8 litre jaguar engine with triple SU carburettors as a commission for a friend. The owner used it a couple of times, frightened himself with it and then sold it to Jock at a price that was a snip. Jock put in a lot of work with that car to make it go and, boy, did it go. Mrs Jock eventually wouldn’t ride in it as it was so hairy.

I was ever grateful to Jock as his Met police connections enabled me to blag my way on to a police ‘Roadcraft’ driving course not long after I passed my car test and that was a revelation. Those police Wolseley 6/110s were no slouches either and that course was the only time I was able to legally break the speed limits, albeit in a limited way. Chiswick training school was a doddle after that.

Keep up the good work – the site holds a great deal if interest for me in my dotage.

TTFN – 007

Wayne Brooks was invited to and attended the Greenwich Concours, 30 miles from the heart of New York City and overlooking the Long Island Sound.

The Concours d’Elegance, held on Sunday 5th June, was the climax of the three days event. Wayne’s full report is here 2022 Greenwich Concours

If you own a TD21, TE or TF there is some useful information in your handbook about oil pressure and some help on what to do if it too low, see Oil pressure