We were delighted to receive ten further handbooks and spares catalogues – click donations
Our first visitors to Bowcliffe since March joined us for a celebration lunch in remembrance of Hermann Graber who died fifty years ago.
We were pleased to welcome David Withers, Chief Executive of the StarterMotor Historic Car Charity and hear of the work being done to encourage a new generation of old car enthusiasts.
Four faces of Graber design grace the Drivers Club Terrace Lawn for the Graber Treffen UKLisa and Paul Chasney of the FBHVC in their TF21 Graber coupe joined David and Louie Withers of the StarterMotor charity in Dan Geoghegan’s Park Ward dropheadThe TF21 coupe and Series II Park WardRobin Willmott’s TC108G coupeIn Swiss style, guests were treated to an Alvis themed box of luxury brownies
Robin Morgan sent this photo which unfortunately does not show the full registration number – it being ?B 3953, enquiring about his late father’s Alvis, known as Liz to the family who lived in Bushey, Herts in 1959.
More handbooks are now available in the digital library – click Silver Eagle
August should have seen 100s of Alvis gathering in Coventry for the centenary but social distancing put paid to that. Some have managed to meet in small groups including a few Alvis, Bristol and Bentley owners in a Lincolnshire “Open Garden” who were able to enjoy some unique coachbuilt motors in a compliant environment.
Three unique cars including a Silver Eagle by Selway
The Pantheon in Basel opened an exhibition last October which includes several Graber Alvis and because of Covid is still running. For more information and photographs, click here.
We are sad to report the passing of Ken Day, the saviour and President Emeritus of the Alvis Owner Club, official historian of the Alvis company and passionate researcher into the life of T G John.
FLP 75 in 1980 with Ken Day at the wheel in Lymington
An archive is an accumulation of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organisation’s lifetime, and are kept to show the function of that person or organisation.
Our archive is of no use until someone wants to know the history of an Alvis product or to contribute to it. Happily for us this happens fairly regularly and usually gives pleasure to all parties, the current and previous custodians and the archivists.
The news of a Graber bodied Alvis changing hands is of interest so when Ken Swanstrom got in touch in May to say he was the new custodian a TD21 Graber coupe the documents I received in the 1970s as a Graber Friend came in useful. For more on this story, click here.
This week a Swiss website mentioned Alvis in an article about classic car values, citing the TB14, TC21 / 100, TA21 and TA14 models as “big losers” over the last five years.
Valuation advice on classic cars and their investment potential can be useful but drawing conclusions from a small sample of sale prices should not be relied upon because not all sales are in the public domain. The older and rarer the car the more condition and history influences the value.
However, being armed with a detailed history of a car will help determine a fair price, so ask for the history before you buy and if one is provided by the vendor, check it for errors and omissions. “One careful lady owner for 28 years, (but six hooligans in the last ten)“.
13179 4.3 VDP DLU 444
This period photo has been identified as a 4.3 Vanden Plas saloon, chassis 13179, registration DLU 444 last heard of in the USA under restoration – do you know where The Village Inn is? If so, please let us know.
At Hershey in 2015
The 4.3 model has it own page and website, click here
The publication date of Dave Culshaw’s latest book now looks likely to be extended into 2021 because of furlough at the publishers Veloce.
Alvis Archive 