Meet the Alvis continuation sequence – a storied title in British motoring historical past is again

‘The Alvis title is understood principally solely to automotive nerds. Individuals beneath 50 could have heard of it however received’t know a lot about it,’ concedes Alan Stote, the present custodian of the Alvis title and the person behind its revival. ‘I don’t suppose that’s a nasty factor,’ he provides. ‘Persons are searching for distinction now. They need to be seen to have made an uncommon alternative.’

An Alvis is definitely an uncommon alternative given trendy sensibilities. Nevertheless, it’s greater than this fabled distinction that explains a readiness to spend upwards of £325,000 on a hand-built ‘trendy’ Alvis. The newly revived firm – which final constructed a automotive in 1967 – has to date made ten, with two beneath development and a 3rd on order, sufficient to maintain it busy till someday in 2026.

Established in 1919 by Thomas George John and renamed the Alvis Automotive and Engineering Firm in 1921, the agency advanced from making engines and elements to turn out to be an opulent automotive maker, counting on coachbuilders to create the bodywork for its progressive underpinnings. In its heyday, it was stated to rival the opposite main British luxurious carmaker of the time, Rolls-Royce. Amongst its most well-known fashions within the Thirties had been the unique artwork seco-era Bertelli Sports activities Coupe, the Vanden Plas Tourer and the Lancefield Hid Hood.

Within the post-war period, the corporate additionally had an unique association with the acclaimed mid-Twentieth-century Swiss automotive designer Hermann Graber, who constructed and bodied a handful of chic coupés. These fashions belonged to the rarefied and costly period earlier than factory-made luxurious vehicles, after which ‘the price of tooling meant that vehicles all began to look the identical’, in line with Stote.

It was Alvis that invented the primary unbiased entrance suspension, the primary front-wheel drive vehicles, and the primary all-synchromesh gearbox. The flying ace Douglas Bader drove an Alvis, as did Benjamin Britten and the Duke of Edinburgh. And so, extra not too long ago, did auto elements entrepreneur and pre-war automotive collector Stote.

After Alvis ceased manufacturing in 1967, there remained a small restore and servicing enterprise for its choose house owners. However what drew Stote to amass the title 30 years in the past was a love of historical past and a want to protect it: remarkably, Alvis’ archive was full since inception and remained in a single place, in Kenilworth, close to Coventry. That included not simply 25,000 unique engineering drawings however a big, mothballed stock of elements, together with over 30 full and unused engines. The rebirth of Alvis was plotted.

‘As restore and servicing jobs regularly received tougher and extra complicated [depending on what other mechanics had done to the cars over the years], constructing a brand new automotive was in some ways simpler and extra predictable, particularly when you’ve got all of the elements,’ Stote explains. ‘Different firms have after all received into the enterprise of fully remodelling classic vehicles. I concluded it needed to be a greater job if it was performed by the unique OEM.’

Stote stresses that the ‘new’ Alvis vehicles are usually not rebuilds or replicas however are a part of a brand new form of ‘continuation sequence’, as he calls it. Simply don’t count on – like a brand new Rolls-Royce – probably the most high-tech of automobiles; a number of the new Alvis vehicles will nonetheless be powered by a 4.3 litre in-line six-cylinder engine designed by the corporate in 1936.

As we speak, consumers can specify certainly one of a number of continuation fashions, spanning many years of Alvis’ historical past. From the 4.3 litre-powered Vanden Plas Tourer to the sleek strains of the 1935 Bertelli Sports activities Coupe and the Lancefield ‘hid hood’ mannequin, to the post-war Park Ward Drop Head Coupe and Graber Coupe/Cabriolet, Alvis exists in a definite and rarefied place, hand-building new vehicles utilizing the identical strategies as they used 90 years in the past. ‘I’ve been very happy by the relaunch, however really Alvis actually made it simple for me, as a result of every thing was already there,’ says Stote. ‘I simply needed to take it on.’

For extra info, go to TheAlvisCarCompany.co.uk, @AlvisCarCo