Alvis Archive

Daffodils in bloom, warmth from the sun and the sound of an Alvis engine bursting into life after a winter of hibernation. The weather forecast for Geneva is sunny this week, ideal for visit to the Geneva Salon, but not this year. Seventy years ago Graber was exhibiting his first Alvis Three Litre at the Salon and the Alvis Owner Club had just been established and published the first “Alvistas”. From the archives we have created a new page AOC Alvistas 1951-3  of the very first AOC publications to download and read.  

It also includes a centre spread of a Bertelli bodied SA Speed 20, now in South Africa, pictured below in 2011, photo via Giles Lacey.

Ten years ago we were updating the arrangements for the Trust and setting out our aims, 2020 Vision, which were mostly achieved. 2020 had promised an exceptional programme of Alvis Centenary related events, most of which became Covid victims, but we were able to continue our programme of archiving and keeping in touch with other enthusiasts for the marque.

This website continued to attract new Followers around the world. The number of visitors increased to 25,856 (2019: 20,143) who viewed 124,831 pages (2019: 117,605). The most popular posts and pages and the countries viewing them were as follows:

We expanded the range of digital car handbooks available and emailed copies to enquirers on request. More historic AOC Bulletins were made available for immediate download. The process of digitising archive material continues to be the prime activity of the Trust together with constantly updating and verifying the data held which records the history of the cars and other products. Our other websites www.alvis14.com  and www.alvisfourpoint3.wordpress.com also continued to provide new information. 

A consequence of having few opportunities to entertain visitors at our Bowcliffe Hall offices meant that for the first time our expenses for the year exceeded our donations by over £1,600. Our basic annual outgoings are £6,000 to house and display the collection and if we are to continue providing this facility we need your support to supplement the annual donations of the Alvis Owner Club of £1,000 and those of the current Members.

You can make a simple one off donation here Becoming a Friend where you can request an application form if you would like to become a Member of the Trust .

The Trustees are meeting by Zoom to discuss the next stage of our development, with new trustees being appointed and a new Vision for 2030.

The last post, Eagle Eyed, created some positive responses including two photos of a Crested Eagle from Dan Geoghegan

…and finally, to Chris Prince where it remains as a spares car.

A donation of some TE21 related material came from a former owner of another TE21, which is currently licensed and Motd but the current owner is unknown to us. If this is your car, please get in touch.

27248 TE21 Dhc seen at IAW with Earley Engineering

Colin Newby passed on some photos of early Three Litre rallying, some of which appeared in the 50^th Anniversary Three Litre Collection he compiled with Mick Fletcher.

Wayne Brooks has also completed a major exercise in producing updated Model Registers in downloadable pdf format which we will continue rolling out over the coming year. The issue of these by the AOC stopped in 2009 when it was decided to set up an on line database.

We have a limited number of the original Registers which also included historic owner information in the form of membership numbers. This information is still recorded but is available only on request.

The Crested Eagle has come under scrutiny this week following enquiries from once young boys who grew up with them in the family. Alastair Birch spotted ALE 850 on the website, now in concours condition in the custody of Eric Ody, and sent several pictures of his late father’s Alvis cars. “From my records Dad (a founder member of Pembrokeshire Vintage car club ) owned ALE approx from 1957 to 1967 and then two subsequent Alvis cars TA21 OUM 167 and a TE21 6951 HP. He was a brilliant mechanic ( teacher and musician ) and looked after these cars by himself. He passed away In 1990.”

6951 HP is a mystery car, believed originally metallic beige when owned by Mrs Parker in Cumbria, and blue with Colin’s ownerhip. Has anyone seen it since?

Next, we heard from Tony Dodd, “Following a recent google search by my son, he was delighted to discover some old photos stored in your archive.”

An enquiry to Wayne Brooks showed that the car was alive and well in 1997 in Belgium. Has anyone seen it?

The third one is on offer for sale at Hubert Kranz, believed to be:

Last year, Crested Eagle owner and Archive Trust volunteer Chris Bluer scanned all the factory record cards for the model. Since then Wayne Brooks has compiled a Model Register of the cars as they left the factory. This Model Register is available for download on the Crested Eagle page.

With more time to watch daytime TV, several people saw “Bargain Hunt” yesterday at Alvis. Here is the link.. Alvis on the telly

Another older film about the Dragonfly helicopter was also spotted by Colin Newby on YouTube. In 1949 Westland Helicopters licence build the Sikorsky S-51, re-engined with the Alvis Leonides. 149 Dragonflies were built for duties by the Royal Navy and RAF. https://youtu.be/jEWGq6z_czg?t=351

The name of Rowland Simmons pops up quite frequently in connection with the post war cars, and in particular his enthusiastic participation in rallying 3-litres that were wolves in sheeps clothing. A new page looks at some of his exploits, click Rowland Simmons

More recently, rallying by Alvis has been more likely to be of the gentle touring kind, such as the 2005 Swiss Tours.

We are looking forward to being able to rally forth again.

AOC members may have read the article in the latest Bulletin by Roy Probert about his time at the Alvis from the viewpoint of someone who came from Rover. Roy has kindly donated his collection of “Rover News” to the archive which covers the period from 1962 to 1971 and so chronicles the time when Rover merged with Alvis and then was subsumed into British Leyland. As a company and social history it makes fascinating reading sixty years later.

Adrian Padfield sent me this photo of some bolts he discovered in a garage clear out and hoped someone might recognise their application – please leave a reply if you know

For a bit of fun, there is a new page where your imagination can be exercised, click Alvisaurus

The next instalment of the FBHVC survey was published recently including

which confirms the perception that some Clubs are in decline and the average age of members continues to rise. It is sad that the opportunities afforded the now seventy plus year old Alvis owner in their youth to own a fine motor car to use every day at modest cost no longer exist. However, looking back at my first foray into continental motoring might just give a hint of what could be done to attract younger enthusiasts, but only if the trend to ever more costly events is reversed. First published in 1971, the story of my “Youngtimer” Alvis is told in 1971 Rallye Haute Savoie

While social activities are on hold, we look back 20 years to appreciate what was enjoyed then for inspiration of what we might do in 2021.

Looking further back we have published a new page AOC Alvistas 1951-3 recording the first publications of the AOC.