Author: alvisarchive

News from the FBHVC

Speaking on the virtual NEC show, David Whale, Chairman of the FBHVC said, “The significant value to the United Kingdom that the historic vehicle industry generates simply cannot be ignored by those in power. We face the most challenging times ahead over the next few years and these results give us the justification to ensure that our freedoms to enjoy our transport heritage continue unhindered. As a sector we cannot be ignored and will be instrumental in the recovery of our nation’s economy post-Brexit and post-COVID. The most heart-warming news was that there are more enthusiasts than ever who are immersing themselves in our community and that is really positive for the future.”

The number of historic vehicles on DVLA database has increased to 1.5 million

56% of historic vehicles are on SORN

The historic movement now worth over £7.2 billion to UK economy including over £0.9 billion from overseas

Nearly 4,000 businesses employ over 34,000 people

700,000 enthusiasts – up from 500,000 in 2016

Historic vehicles account for less than 0.2% of the total miles driven in the UK

35% of owners either already or are willing to contribute to a carbon reduction scheme

More detailed results will be announced next month but one snippet from the presentation was the fact that 12% of businesses have apprentices and 39% are planning to take them on. Hopefully Covid will not diminish these aspirations but one such project that is planned we mentioned in March in Correspondence

Shaun Matthews writes ” Unsurprisingly our heritage and skills project at the former Victoria Ironworks in Derby has stalled over the summer due to many middle ranking Rolls Royce staff being furloughed or made redundant due to the double whammy of Covid and the well-publicised Trent 1000 problems but things are coming back on track now and we are tantalisingly close to agreeing terms with RR.

To satisfy our funders, we have commissioned an independent Market Research company to undertake a Due Dilligence report of our business plan on their behalf.  We need some midlands based classic vehicle owners/enthusiasts for them to talk to from “the middle Tier” and some Alvis owners fit that demographic perfectly. Would any such volunteers please contact me via info@greatnorthernclassics.co.uk. Absolutely nothing in it for them other than knowing they are helping the cause – hopefully in a couple of years I’ll be able to repay them  with a coffee and a bacon sarnie once we are open! The site has been updated recently – www.greatnorthernclassics.co.uk“

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Meanwhile our section on coachbuilders has been expanded to include an article by Nick Walker on Charlesworth

Following the post about non-Alvis engines, Wayne Brooks spotted this TB14, chassis 23555, being offered for sale in the USA described as having a Chevrolet V8 engine. The big wheels and tyres are reassuring but one wonders how it drives. This model didn’t sell well as the Jaguar XK120 came out at the same time.

Adrian Padfield’s new book has arrived and reviewed by Dave Culshaw, click Adrian’s new book and other stories

Calling all Cars – we reveal more on the cars used by the Police in Crime and Punishment .

It was the evening of November 14th, 1940, and the German intruders had just watched the heaviest air raid yet seen in the war. There was virtually no opposition as the planes made their bombing runs in the crowded air space over the target. Down below was the object of it all, Coventry! Certainly Coventry was the heart of the British motor industry, also a major centre for machine tools and light engineering. It wasn’t a large city, either, with a population of only 125,000-odd in 1940. In fact, Coventry was so small that the raiders scarcely had to aim. They’d hit something for sure. The “something” included Alvis, Riley, Armstrong-Siddeley, Daimler & BSA, Lea-Francis, Humber/Hillman, SS Cars (Jaguar), Standard Triumph, also Morris Motors big engine and body plants. Alfred Herbert Limited was another, famed for its machine tools. Most were clustered within the city proper, which took some doing with a community as small as Coventry. “The Daimler” was a 10 minute walk from the central station, Morris Motors body plant was even closer, just next door to the depot. Coventry wasn’t big and spread out like an American city though it is now with the UK’s brand of urban development. Not all the plants were giants, carrying names of international fame. If Rover, Rootes and Riley took a pounding that night, so did many of the smaller outfits, older plants for the most part, unfamiliar as well but with origins back to the dawn of the British motor industry when Coventry was also a center for bicycles, machinery and carriages including Charlesworth Motor Bodies Limited.

(An extract from Bulletin 376, from Best of Old Car Weekly by Rolland Jerry)

For a current film by the Herbert on YouTube..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzo0KaQ3h9w

and clips from the BBC archive…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00c118v/clips

Alvis always made the engines for their cars but sometimes owners chose to try something with more power, like the 4.2 litre XK unit pictured here in a 4.3 but also in a TD21 and an earlier unit in a hot-rod TA14.

Neither the 4.3 or the TD21 has them installed now, having reverted to the Alvis unit. In the late sixties I used to drive 40 miles to Nottingham in my Grey Lady, then 14 years old, and change cars to drive my new employer to London in his nearly new Jaguar 420.  I never regretted getting back into the Grey Lady on the return trip – the sound, the feel, the style.

Jaguar, like Alvis and Rover ended up in British Leyland before being acquired by Ford and then Tata.

The XK unit was used in Alvis armoured vehicles – see VEHICLES – Armoured

In 2017 we published a piece by George Butlin on Lofty England, who worked for Alvis and Jaguar and Dave Culshaw wrote this in 2003….

Good news came this week of another Graber restoration being completed in Switzerland and of another being rescued after a long and neglected hibernation.

For more on this TC108G go to Graber and also Rara Avis

On Saturday 14th November the NEC Classic Car Show goes virtual and at 12 noon David Whale, Chairman, and Paul Chasney, Director of Research for the FBHVC, reveal what the survey results mean for us preserving our heritage.  YouTube https://bit.ly/3nnrChQ

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As most of Europe goes into lockdown to fight Covid, most planned events have had to be cancelled, deferred or in some cases, prolonged. One such was the Graber Exhibition at the Pantheon Basel, which ran for a year instead of six months but has now finished. Meanwhile in Germany a fine collection of Alvis cars and educational material remains on show, but behind closed doors for the moment until the restrictions have eased.

Planned to run until February 2021 it is hoped it may be extended. In the meantime we are delighted to provide a virtual tour courtesy of Manfred Fleischmann who masterminded the exhibition, Click Frankfurt exhibition 2020

To be reminded of past displays at the NEC, click Alvis at the NEC

For a further amusing look back at the Alvis adventures of Bruce Earlin….

 A note from Peter Barratt questioned the description of the Stafford Pup on display at the Shuttleworth Collection. The National Motor Museum has had one on display for some time.

An early venture of T G John was involvement with Stafford Auto Scooters Ltd in the motor scooter, the Stafford Mobile Pup. Mr Stafford had a shop at the bottom end of the T G John works in Hertford St.

The frame was supplied by The Birmingham Motor Guild and the engine was built and fitted by T.G. John Ltd.

More information can be found in “The Vintage Alvis” (1995 edition) from page 8.

The Offord page has been updated to include these and changes of custodians on two others.

…and for these dark winter evenings another good read from Julian Collins in 2000…

Index

 

483 Alvivacity
487 South East Alvis Day
494 Lost And Found TA 21s In The U.S.A.
498 Ancestors
508 Our New Zealand Tour
520 Letters To The Editor
535 The Rebirth of A Speed 25 SC DHC – Part 1
543 Hot Air ln West Sussex
544 The Macmillan Cancer Relief Run ..
545 The AOC Web Site
547 Alvis Grey Lady Gearbox
553 “The Malvern Link”
558 Archive
565 Section Notes
574 Index 2000

click

BULLETIN 466 NOV 2000

 

 

 

Given the entirely justified obsession that most of us have about our cars, perhaps we occasionally forget that some of the remarkable individuals who have brought these pleasures to us and our predecessors over the last century, also had interests and experiences totally divorced from that of the cars.

  Just such an individual was that polymath: Captain George Thomas Smith-Clarke, the subject of Adrian Padfield’s scholarly biography. Writers up to now have, of necessity, covered his life story relatively lightly, as an accompaniment to the cars, which deficiency has now been more than adequately addressed.

   By way of illustration, I am minded to compare this exercise with the famous Carlsberg advertisement, since the author has clearly reached into hitherto  unexplored territory, producing on the one hand , refreshing new evidence, and on the other, elaboration upon what was partially known.  As of now, it’s clearly all here: from cradle to grave, a life of undiminished inventiveness, encompassing astronomy, radio communication, aircraft engines, military vehicles, firearms, numerous contributions to medical science, and even cars – especially the technically advanced Front Wheel Drive.

   Examples abound: The reviewer was impressed by the story of when GTS-C was about to undergo some nasal surgery. The operation was halted for lack of an appropriate pair of surgical scissors. The patient discharged himself so as to design and construct a suitable appliance (via the Alvis toolroom), then offering it to the surgeon upon returning to the operating table at a later date.

Also, on a personal level, as the one-time owner and restorer of  GTS-C’s last Alvis, JDU 674, I particularly warmed to the letter, reproduced verbatim, from the Company, awarding him the car, upon his retirement. Often I have thought that such a document must have existed, and here it is in confirmation, never before published. Just two pertinent examples: one typifying the character of the man, and the other showing the esteem in which he was held by others.

    Publication of this book is especially timely, coming as it does when Coventry becomes the ‘City of Culture’ for 2021.  I have no doubt that the organisers of suitable commemorative events will be quick to laud the achievements of such notable past city residents as Capel Bond, Sir Frank Whittle, Sir Frederick Gibberd, Dame Ellen Terry, and Philip Larkin.  It is abundantly clear that GTS-C should be recognised along such distinguished company, given the advocacy (and accuracy) within this most interesting book.

DAVE CULSHAW

208 pages; Price £20 plus £5 UK postage. To order a copy from the publisher, call 01386 803803 Email: hughescompany@btconnect.com

Working alongside Smith-Clarke was Arthur Varney..

Arthur’s grandson has sent us a note on the design of the all synchromesh gearbox, and in particular these words on the back of the patent….

A more complete story of Arthur’s contribution is set out in Ken Day’s Fourth Edition “ALVIS – The Story of the Red Triangle” which can be ordered from the Trust.

Proving it was possible to comply with Covid restrictions and enjoy Alvis motoring Chris Taylor took his Firebird to Velbert in Germany for a locksmiths weekend conference.

“The Firebird did 650 miles without a hiccup, I tanked it up 10 miles out of Velbert and that got me all the way home to Disley, very economical these Firebirds! We had to run through the Netherlands from Rotterdam without stopping to avoid self-isolating upon return and that was both outward on Friday and return on Monday. The meeting was also classed as educational so it could take place.”

Alex Simpson took to the track at Goodwood, click The Goodwin Special