Author: alvisarchive

One hundred years ago Major Harvey won the 200 miles Race at Brooklands in a 12-50. Twenty five years ago Harvey’s grave was discovered in Cornwall and Alvis enthusiasts will once again commemorate his life and achievement on 11th October. The October 1998 AOC Bulletin article by Julian Collins describes the events. The pages Major Harvey describe the discovery of his grave and subsequent gatherings.

Hermann Graber, the Swiss coachbuilder, was the saviour of Alvis cars with his elegant designs for the Three Litre. Two years after his death in 1972 the first Graber Treffen was held in Interlaken attended by Madame Graber and many owners who had bought their cars from the Graber garage in Wichtrach.  It was decided there should be no formal club or organisation and that each year someone would volunteer to organise a meeting for the Graber Freunde.

Covid prevented the annual meetings continuing until this September, now reported in Swiss Meetings

Five years since the Alvis Archive Trust became an independent charity this is the 300th post on the website designed to showcase the accumulated photographic collection. Enthusiasts of the Alvis recorded numbers, wrote about them and photographed them. Because of obsessions with numbers, registers were published in the 1980s of the Alvis cars produced and have since been kept updated. The website now extends coverage to all Alvis products, including aero engines and fighting vehicles which you can find in QUICK INDEX.

You can find the answers to many questions within the website, use the Search box, and if it is not there ASK A QUESTION

You can help maintain the activities of the Trust and become involved, just click MEMBERSHIP

We endeavour to identify each photo with a chassis number which appears first in the caption. Click on any of the blue underlined links to find the source information. September news…..

There are several auctions in September including Brightwells offering this:

There are five Alvis from 12/60 to TA21 Tickford on 20th September at H & H including:

Another Speed 20 is at auction next month in Switzerland – details on the newly reintroduced page Cars seeking new custodians

Further additions have been made to the page on TD21 : 1958-1963 to include this newly restored car in Switzerland

New old photos have occupied our time recently with questions to answer. A note from Tim Hart asks for details of his father’s Crested Eagle. “1937 Alvis Crested Eagle Chassis No 13756, Engine No 14115, Reg No MG5065. My father, Alan Hart (a passionate motoring “man”) passed away last year, aged 96 and whilst we have located a level of documentation evidencing his close involvement with and ownership of the car, we know very little about the car’s history etc. and/or its current whereabouts and, following in my Fathers footsteps I am interested to find out as much as I can as I am trying to piece together my fathers involvement in motor sport and motoring generally over many decades.“

The car is on the DVLA database – where is it now?

One car we know does exist is this 1930 12-50 Cross & Ellis tourer SC 8910

The last post about Diana Russell generated some interest from another charity www.maggies.org wanting some pictures of Diana and her racing career. They are currently creating a video on the legacy of Diana Russell. Jim Gregory was able to help and came up with more photos which are shown below. We are not sure of the dates or places and some of the people but if you know do please leave a comment.

If you can add any information to these photos, please leave a comment

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Thanks to a donation from Martin Wickham we are expanding our pages on Fighting Vehicles to include some of the hundreds of photos and documents which he has catalogued. This photo taken in the month the last Alvis car was delivered shows how the Company treated its potential customers for the Stalwart.

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Thanks to the generosity of some Register members we have a complete set of pristine Bulletins and Circulars from 1948 and various documents, such as….

We always enjoy welcoming visitors to Bowcliffe to view the archives and dine in the Drivers Club. This month “Crossing Borders Tour of Yorkshire” called in en route to North Sea Ferries on their return leg. Arriving before the heavens opened four Alvis were among the visitors, including a TD21 driven by the AOC’s International Director Jan-Peter Eichhorn.

Also present were old friends organiser Manfred Fleischmann and the Graber 1955 Show car formerly TDU 810.

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We were saddened to learn that John Burnell, a Life Member of the Trust, former Registrar of the Alvis Register and AOC member has died.

We first met on the 1970 Tour of Britain which he co-organised. He was the owner of more than a dozen Alvis from the 1920s to 1960s and responsible for producing regular Membership Lists for the Register with comprehensive data on surviving cars.

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Another serial owner and former Chairman of the AOC in the 1960s was Laurie Halliwell. His son Miles has forwarded some photos of the cars he owned including a TD21 we had not previously recorded. It is not known to survive, unless someone knows better?

He also owned this Speed 20SD Cross & Ellis tourer chassis 13056, last heard of with an AOC member. The photo was taken in 1962.

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The Le Mans post prompted Jim Gregory to write about the late Diana Russell (1922-2020) who owned more than a dozen Alvis including his Speed 25 in the 1960s, two front wheel drives and the last TF21 demonstrator.

“She owned the Rooper front wheel drive YX 6424 which she donated to Brooklands Museum. Diana told me that the driver shown in the car is Lt. Cdr Clinkard; he apparently enthused about the FWD enough to build his own special in the early ‘50s. Diana gave me permission to use the images when I took the Speed 25 to remind her of younger days; she loved it.

I think the other two pictures are of a FWD racing; perhaps you know the car? 

Diana hosted me, Dan Geoghegan and Stuart Nell. She gave me a rundown of the holes she drilled on the Speed 25, some rare items to go with the car (e.g. the barometer, bonnet oiler, grease gun and the original Alvis showroom brochure). She also showed us old pics of her with W O Bentley, Barbara Cartland the Urquhart Dykes, Rivers Fletcher etc. including many documents and brown log books and finally gave us some fruit from her orchards. The Alvis ones I have distributed FOC to various club members. Diana was an interesting woman who seemed to know everybody in the racing game.

George Butlin knew her when he was a young chap and told me she was a kind but fiery girl in those days. I last saw her around 2010 and she was just the same. She had all of her ‘marbles’, instant recall and still a formidable woman.

She had the very last demo TF21 from the factory JRW446E along with an Alvis letter confirming such. Alvis used the car for the factory publicity hence the picture with the two female models they used at the time.“

“With her permission, I put her in touch with Brian Neale, the then owner of JRW in touch. Brian sent me a very nice thank-you letter stating that Diana was delighted to see the car again and had given him lots of ‘goodies’ to go with it. So that car should have lots of ‘paper candy’ with it.”

Nick Simpson wrote: “How nice to see a tribute to Diana Russell; I knew her when I was in Northampton around 1970. Vintage Racing Cars was a regular visit where sometimes we had a chat whilst examining a smart pre-war Alvis in the showroom; her Peony TF21 was usually parked in the side-street with a trailer behind. I traded a few Alvises with Diana; I recall a 12/70 SC 15887, (FOL208), a Three Litre 25951, (XDA500) and I purchased an Alvis Twenty-five limousine (TA25.63, 13747, CRO689). She was a huge Alvis enthusiast and always a pleasure to make deal with.

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Back to 2023 and more TD21 photos are flowing in including this from Charles van Ingen of two 1959 dropheads taken at IAW 2023 in Crieff

XLE 45 is a well documented car now with Stephen Leckie. Why it looks like a Series II……..

We always appreciate receiving photos old and new by email or WeTransfer to alvisarchive@btinternet.com

Once again two front wheel drive Alvis have raced at Le Mans in 2023 and caught on camera by Edmund Waterhouse.

A new custodian is being sought for this one…..

For more on the front wheel drive click fwd and Sammy Davis