Revived company
In 2012 Alvis announced it would offer five
variants of its cars.These included both 4.3 litre and 3 litre chassis
derivatives. In 2019, a sixth model was released to coincide with the agreement
for Meiji Sangyo to be the distributor for Asia.
In 2021, the firm was featured in the BBC Four
documentary Classic British Cars: Made in Coventry and released its Graber
Super Coupe continuation car, with a convertible version due out in 2022.
Historic British brand Alvis returns with continuation cars
Viknesh Vijayenthiran Viknesh Vijayenthiran July 25, 2019
Historic
British brand Alvis, founded in 1919 and at one point the employer of Alec
Issigonis, the designer of the original Mini, is back building beauties as part
of a continuation series of cars.
The original
passenger arm of Alvis (there was also production of military vehicles and race
cars) ceased production in 1967 and transferred all assets the following year
to a company known as Red Triangle, which was started by several former
employees and to this day is focused on parts, servicing and restoration of
existing Alvis cars.
However, Red
Triangle in 2009 sold the rights to the Alvis name and some of the intellectual
property to a new entity, the Alvis Car Company, which the following year
started churning out Alvis continuation cars, in some cases using original
chassis and engines stored safely for over 50 years.
The modern
Alvis has now extended its range of continuation cars. It is offering six body
styles based on two chassis, known as the 3-Litre and 4.3-Litre, with the cars
built according to original factory blueprints. The chassis names refer to the
engines they feature, in both cases naturally aspirated inline-6 units.
The cars
include both pre- and post-World War II cars, though only the post-war cars
feature original chassis. Those based on the 3-Litre chassis include the Park
Ward Drop Head, Graber Super Coupe and Graber Super Cabriolet, while those
based on the 4.3-Liter chassis include the Vanden Plas Tourer, Bertelli Coupe
and Lancefield Concealed Hood. The time it takes to build one of the cars can
stretch up to 5,000 hours.
“Our models
are, literally, what Alvis would have created had it not halted production for
over 50 years,” said Alan Stote, owner of the modern Alvis. “The factory had
planned to build 150 4.3-Litre chassis in 1938. As the site suffered serious
damage by bombing in 1940, only 73 chassis were completed so we will continue
that series, with new chassis, built to the original drawings.”
We should
point out that some changes have been implemented to meet modern emissions and
crash safety regulations. Some of the cars can also be ordered with automatic
transmissions, power steering, climate control, and audio systems. Buyers can
also opt for a three-piece Alvis luggage set lined in Connolly leather.
In an
interesting twist, Alvis has just signed a deal with Meiji Sangyo for
distribution of its continuation cars in Japan. The Tokyo-based company was the
same distributor for Alvis cars back in the 1950s.
https://thealviscarcompany.co.uk/
The Continuation Series
The Alvis Car Company are manufacturing to
special order a limited number of famous Alvis models. They are faithful to the
original design and by using our Works Drawings from the period they retain all
their traditional character and quality, yet are emission compliant. The cars
carry Alvis chassis numbers and engine numbers which follow on from the last in
the model sequence, which is why they have been designated the Continuation
Series.
Meet the Alvis continuation series – a storied
name in British motoring history is back
The Alvis name is more than a century old yet you
can still order a factory-fresh model from its impressive back catalogue,
thanks to the survival of its unique archive
‘The Alvis name is known mostly only to car nerds.
People under 50 may have heard of it but won’t know much about it,’ concedes
Alan Stote, the current custodian of the Alvis name and the man behind its
revival. ‘I don’t think that’s a bad thing,’ he adds. ‘People are looking for
difference now. They want to be seen to have made an unusual choice.’
An Alvis is certainly an unusual choice given modern
sensibilities. However, it is more than this fabled difference that explains a
readiness to spend upwards of £325,000 on a hand-built ‘modern’ Alvis. The
newly revived company – which last built a car in 1967 – has so far made ten,
with two under construction and a third on order, enough to keep it busy until
sometime in 2026.
Established in 1919 by Thomas George John and renamed
the Alvis Car and Engineering Company in 1921, the firm evolved from making
engines and components to become a luxurious car maker, relying on
coachbuilders to create the bodywork for its innovative underpinnings. In its
heyday, it was said to rival the other major British luxury carmaker of the
time, Rolls-Royce. Among its most famous models in the 1930s were the exotic
art seco-era Bertelli Sports Coupe, the Vanden Plas Tourer and the Lancefield
Concealed Hood.
It was Alvis that invented the first independent front
suspension, the first front-wheel drive cars, and the first all-synchromesh
gearbox. The flying ace Douglas Bader drove an Alvis, as did Benjamin Britten
and the Duke of Edinburgh. And so, more recently, did auto parts entrepreneur
and pre-war car collector Stote.
After Alvis ceased production in 1967, there remained
a small repair and servicing business for its select owners. But what drew
Stote to acquire the name 30 years ago was a love of history and a desire to
preserve it: remarkably, Alvis’ archive was complete since inception and
remained in one place, in Kenilworth, near Coventry. That included not just
25,000 original engineering drawings but a large, mothballed inventory of
components, including over 30 complete and unused engines. The rebirth of Alvis
was plotted.
‘As repair and servicing jobs gradually got harder and
more complex [depending on what other mechanics had done to the cars over the
years], building a new car was in many ways easier and more predictable,
especially when you have all the components,’ Stote explains. ‘Other companies
have of course got into the business of completely remodelling vintage cars. I
concluded it had to be a better job if it was done by the original OEM.’
Stote stresses that the ‘new’ Alvis cars are not
rebuilds or replicas but are part of a new kind of 'continuation series', as he
calls it. Just don’t expect – like a new Rolls-Royce – the most high-tech of
vehicles; some of the new Alvis cars will still be powered by a 4.3 litre
in-line six-cylinder engine designed by the company in 1936.
Today, buyers can specify one of several continuation
models, spanning decades of Alvis’ history. From the 4.3 litre-powered Vanden
Plas Tourer to the smooth lines of the 1935 Bertelli Sports Coupe and the
Lancefield ‘concealed hood’ model, to the post-war Park Ward Drop Head Coupe
and Graber Coupe/Cabriolet, Alvis exists in a distinct and rarefied place,
hand-building new cars using the same methods as they used 90 years ago. ‘I’ve
been very pleased by the relaunch, but actually Alvis really made it easy for
me, because everything was already there,’ says Stote. ‘I just had to take it
on.’
Josh Sims
Josh Sims is a journalist contributing to the likes of
The Times, Esquire and the BBC. He's the author of many books on style,
including Retro Watches (Thames & Hudson).
