Author: alvisarchive

Most Alvis cars were delivered with Lucas products to light the way and power the sparks. Some had elegant Marchal headlamps. The Three Litre models were Lucas equipped, except for some of the Swiss bodied versions by Graber. He fitted Marchal headlamps, which are slightly larger in diameter than the Lucas ones and look better for it. At the back, Graber was able to use the rather elegant Lucas light units first fitted to the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud.

He continued to use them while RR were building the Alvis Park Ward bodies from 1958 with a different Lucas unit, previously seen on Humbers, Aston Martins and Continental Bentleys. At some point, before the Silver Cloud III received larger units, whether by choice or necessity, Graber restyled the car to include a new set of lights which were also made in the UK.

The make is Yeadon, and was used as side markers and for trailers. The red lens came in two types, one with a reflector and the other plain like the amber one.

If you know a source of such lenses, please leave a reply.

you would of course like to go there in an Alvis.

For the series of destinations suggested in the 1950s, click on TA21 and start the gallery of 38 images.

The Speed 20 SA page has been updated to include photos of a rare Thrupp and Maberly saloon being conserved in Canada.

Nick Simpson kindly confirmed the new pricing of the various coachbuilders using the SA chassis:

Cross & Ellis 4 seater sports £695

Vanden Plas 4 seater sports £725

Vanden Plas 2 seater sports £895

Vanden Plas ‘straight-back’ saloon £865

Vanden Plas ‘large-boot’ saloon £895

Charlesworth saloon £850

Mayfair saloon £850

Thrupp & Maberly saloon £895

Click Speed 20 SA for a gallery of 109 images

Among the various design drawings held in the archives is this one which as far as we know was never built by New Avon on a Firefly chassis:

New Avon produced designs for Standard as well as work for Austin, Lanchester and Crossley Motors.

Back in 2010 this photo was published in the hope of tracing the car, without success until now. In the same ownership since 1971 it is now ready for a new custodian willing to complete the restoration. More information available on request.

In search of the history of his grandfather’s Alvis cars we received this photo of one of them which filled a gap in the Speed 25 Register as the registration number was not previously known. Does it survive somewhere?

The Speed 25 page has been updated, click Speed 25 for 166 images in the gallery.

The Offord Speed 25 of James Sprague has attracted a lot of interest, including a spread in Classic Cars penned by Nigel Boothman. As a result, the Trust has received a donation from Kelvin Price of two design drawings for the 4.3 model. For more on Offord and the drawings, click Offord

Ten years ago we published the digitised photo albums of the AOC and since then added several more. Three albums have been updated to add more photos and captions:

1950s – Album 2 300 photos

1950s – Album 3 133 photos

TC Series 60 photos

The Speed model was singled out by Hagerty as the pre-war car to buy in 2024 “cars that prioritised strong performance and confidence-inspiring handling in their day – qualities that today elevate them above more rudimentary alternatives from the era, and without the price tag of equivalents with more exotic nameplates.” Based on what must be not a great sample of data they conclude “average values of all Alvis models have risen from £43,077 to £56,867 in the past 12 months, a climb of 32 per cent.” and that a Speed 25 can be bought for £52,000–£99,400.

The biggest cost of motoring is depreciation and owners of new Alvis cars were not exempt from that, nor are those who have invested in professional restorations. In the context of modern motoring, and electric cars in particular, perhaps running an Alvis is a relatively frugal way of covering pleasure miles, with low insurance, no road tax, no electronics or driving aids. The latest YouTube from Harry’s Garage is an excellent summary of how modern motoring is changing, how costs have increased and likely to stay that way. Enjoy it while we can.

A recent addition to YouTube about the Alvis collection of Chris Prince will fascinate those who have never ventured into Shropshire to source parts for their Three Litre or Fourteen.

Martin Wickham writes “A fascinating film that I recall seeing in the Apprentice School back in the dark ages demonstrates the effective performance of Stalwart, on land, and in the water, and especially important, getting in and out of the water (the weak point of most amphibious vehicles) in Sweden.

I am reasonably sure that the success of that particular trial led to excessive celebration in the mess and the decision to have an unscheduled play with the vehicle after that.  When it started to sink it was realised that the hull drain plugs had not been refitted.  The Chief Engineer was recalled to Coventry and sacked.  That led to Mike Dunn’s appointment soon thereafter. “

This photo of PV1 is “the Beastie”. PV stands for Private Venture – if you would like to know more click on Sweden and the Stalwart to view the film.

The Stalwart also featured in this Bulletin from 1999