Alvis Car and Engineering Company

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox company Alvis Car and Engineering Company Ltd was a British manufacturing company in Coventry from 1919 to 1967. In addition to automobiles designed for the civilian market, the company also produced racing cars, aircraft engines, armoured cars, and other armoured fighting vehicles.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Car manufacturing ended after the company became a subsidiary of Rover in 1965, but armoured vehicle manufacture continued. Alvis became part of British Leyland and then in 1982 was sold to United Scientific Holdings, which renamed itself Alvis plc.

In 2023, its successor company began manufacturing the brand’s classic models again.

History of the company

File:1923 Alvis 14946 Kop Hill Climb 2011.jpg
A 1923 12/40 open two-seater
File:Alvis 12-50 Sportsman's saloon 9715429970.jpg
A 1928 12/50 Sportsman's 2-door saloon
File:Wolfsburg Jun 2012 080 (Autostadt - 1928 Alvis FWD Type FA).JPG
A 1928 12/75 front wheel drive open two-seater T.T. replica
File:1933 Alvis Crested Eagle DHC.jpg
A 1933 Crested Eagle drophead coupé
File:Alvis43litresaloon1938.jpg
A 1938 4.3 Litre sports saloon
File:Alvis Speed 25 Saloon Car outside Coventry Transport Museum.jpg
A 1939 Speed 25 sports saloon

Early history

The original company, T. G. John and Company Ltd., was founded in 1919 by Thomas George John (1880–1946). Its first products were stationary engines, carburetors, and motorscooters. Following complaints from the Avro aircraft company, whose logo bore similarities to the original winged green triangle, the more familiar inverted red triangle incorporating the word "Alvis" evolved. On 14 December 1921, the company officially changed its name to the Alvis Car and Engineering Company Ltd. Geoffrey de Freville (1883–1965) designed the first Alvis engine and is also responsible for the company name.Template:Sfn

The origin of the name Alvis has been the subject of a great deal of speculation over the years. Some have suggested that de Freville proposed the name as a compound of the words "aluminium" and "vis" (meaning "strength" in Latin), or perhaps it may have been derived from the Norse mythological weaponsmith, Alvíss. De Freville vigorously rejected all of these theories. In 1921, he specifically stated that the name had no meaning whatsoever, and was chosen simply because it could be easily pronounced in any language. He reaffirmed this position in the early 1960s, stating that any other explanations for the source of the name were purely coincidental.Template:Sfn

Production was relocated to Holyhead Road in Coventry, where from 1922 to 1923, they also made the Buckingham car. In 1922, George Thomas Smith-Clarke (1884–1960) left his job as assistant works manager at Daimler and joined Alvis as chief engineer and works manager. Smith-Clarke was accompanied by William M. Dunn, who left his job as a draughtsman at Daimler to become chief draughtsman at Alvis. This partnership lasted for nearly 28 years, and was responsible for producing some of the most successful products in the company's history. Smith-Clarke left in 1950, and Dunn assumed Smith-Clarke's position as chief engineer, remaining in that position until 1959.Template:Sfn

De Freville's first engine design was a four-cylinder engine with aluminium pistons and pressure lubrication, which was unusual for that time. The first car model using de Freville's engine was the Alvis 10/30. It was an instant success and established the reputation for quality workmanship and superior performance for which the company was to become famous. The original 10/30 side-valve engine was improved, becoming, by 1923, the overhead valve Alvis 12/50, a highly successful sports car that was produced until 1932. Around 700 of the 12/50 models and 120 of the later Alvis 12/60 models survive today.Template:Citation needed

In 1927, the six-cylinder Alvis 14.75 was introduced; it became the basis for the long line of luxurious six-cylinder Alvis cars produced up to the outbreak of the Second World War. These cars were elegant and full of technical innovations. Independent front suspension and the world's first all-synchromesh gearbox came in 1933. followed by servo-assisted brakes. The Alvis 12/75 model was introduced in 1928, a model bristling with innovation, such as front-wheel drive, in-board brakes, overhead camshaft, and, as an option, a Roots-type supercharger.Template:Citation needed

As with many upmarket engineering companies of the time, Alvis did not produce their own coachwork, relying, instead, on the many available coachbuilders in the Midlands area, such as Carbodies, Charlesworth Bodies, Cross & Ellis, Duncan Industries, E. Bertelli Ltd, Holbrook, Grose, Gurney Nutting, Hooper, Lancefield Coachworks, Martin Walter, Mayfair Carriage Co, Mulliners, Tickford, Vanden Plas, Weymann Fabric Bodies, and Arnold of Manchester. Several cars also survive with quite exotic one-off bodywork from other designers.<ref name=Walker1997>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1936, the company name was shortened to Alvis Ltd, and aircraft engine and armoured vehicle divisions were added to the company by the beginning of the Second World War. Smith-Clarke designed several models during the 1930s and 1940s, including the six-cylinder Speed 20, the Speed 25, and the Alvis 4.3 Litre model.Template:Sfn

Second World War

Car production was initially suspended in September 1939 following the outbreak of war in Europe. It later resumed and production of the 12/70, Crested Eagle, Speed 25, and 4.3 Litre continued well into 1940. The car factory was severely damaged on 14 November 1940 as a result of several bombing raids on Coventry by the German Luftwaffe, although the armaments factory suffered little damage. Much valuable cutting gear and other equipment was lost and car production was suspended for the duration of the war, only resuming during the latter part of 1946. Despite this, Alvis carried out war production on aircraft engines (as subcontractor of Rolls-Royce Limited) and other aircraft equipmentTemplate:Sfn in its shadow factories.<ref name="Stratton">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Alvis Limited. The Times, Thursday, 3 January 1946; p. 7; Issue 50340</ref>

Post war

File:Alvis TA14 3084230933.jpg
1948 Fourteen drophead coupé-cabriolet

Car production resumed with a four-cylinder model, the TA 14, based on the prewar 12/70. A solid, reliable, and attractive car, the TA 14 fitted well the mood of sober austerity in postwar Britain, but much of the magic attaching to the powerful and sporting prewar models had gone, and life was not easy for a specialist car manufacturer. Not only had Alvis lost their car factory, but also many of the prewar coachbuilders had not survived either, and those that had were quickly acquired by other manufacturers. The postwar history of Alvis was dominated by the quest for reliable and reasonably priced coachwork.Template:Citation needed

1950s

File:1952 Alvis TA21 8728988537.jpg
A 1952 Three Litre sports saloon
File:Grey lady 080707.jpg
A Three Litre TC 21/100 Grey Lady sports saloon

Smith-Clarke retired in 1950 and Dunn took over as chief engineer. Before retiring, Smith-Clarke came up with the Alvis 3L3, TA21 prototype in 1947, TA14 body with a six-cylinder 3-litre engine, after retiring he used the prototype Alvis 3L3 as his personal car. In 1950, a new chassis based on the TA14 and six-cylinder 3–litre engine was announced, and this highly successful engine became the basis of all Alvis models until production ceased in 1967.

Saloon bodies for the TA 21, as the new model was called, again came from Mulliners of Birmingham, as they had for the TA 14, with Tickford producing the dropheads. With Mulliners committing themselves in October 1954 to supply only Standard Triumph, which purchased Mulliners in 1958,<ref>Ian Nicholls (7 July 2019), "History: The Rover-Triumph story – Part One: 1959". AR Online. Retrieved 4 February 2023.</ref> and Tickford being acquired by David Brown, owner of Aston Martin Lagonda in late 1955, it was becoming clear that new arrangements would have to be made. Some of the most original and beautiful designs on the Three Litre chassis were being produced by master coachbuilder Carrosserie Hermann Graber of Switzerland. These often one-off–designed cars are highly sought after today.Template:Citation needed

Graber had begun to use TA 14 chassis soon after the war, building three Tropic coupés which were much admired. When the Three Litre chassis was introduced, his bodies displayed at the Geneva Motor Shows in 1951 and 1952 attracted sufficient interest for Graber to set up a standing order of 30 chassis per year. Swiss-built Graber coupés were displayed on the Alvis stand at both Paris and London Motor Shows in October 1955.Template:Citation needed

With a licence in place, from late 1955 all Alvis bodies became based on Graber designs, but few chassis and few bodies were built over the next two years. Around 15 or 16 TC108/Gs were built by Willowbrook Limited of Loughborough and Willowbrook was subsequently taken over by Duple Coachbuilders. Over the same two years Graber built 22 TC 108Gs and complained that if he had received chassis he would have committed himself to buying 20 a year.

Only after late 1958 with the launch of the TD 21 did something resembling full-scale production resume as Rolls-Royce subsidiary Park Ward began to build the new bodies now modified in many small ways. These cars, the TD 21 and its later variants, the TE 21 and finally the TF 21 are well built, attractive and fast cars. However it was clear by the mid-1960s that with a price tag of nearly double that of the mass-produced Jaguar, the end could not be far off.Template:Citation needed

From 1952 to 1955 Alec Issigonis, the creator of the later Mini, worked for Alvis and designed a new model with a V8 engine which proved too expensive to produce.Template:Citation needed

1960s

File:Alvis Graber TC 108 G Special 3.jpg
1957 Three Litre TC 108G fixed head coupé
File:Alvis cabriolet reg jan 1967 2993 cc.JPG
1967 Three Litre series IV drophead coupé or cabriolet

Rover took a controlling interest in Alvis in 1965. A Rover-designed mid-engined V8 coupé prototype named the P6BS was rumoured to be the new Alvis model, but with the takeover by British Leyland this too was shelved. By the time the TF 21 was launched in 1966, it was available in both saloon and drophead forms, with either a manual or automatic gearbox, and was beginning to show its age, despite boasting a top speed of 127 mph – the fastest Alvis ever produced. With only 109 sold and with political troubles aplenty in the UK car manufacturing business at that time, production ceased in 1967.

In 1968, a management buyout of the car operations was finalised and all the Alvis car design plans, customer records, stock of parts and remaining employees were transferred to Red Triangle,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a company founded by ex-employees of Alvis to provide parts and service for their cars.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

1970s to 2004

Template:Main

As part of Rover, Alvis Limited was incorporated into British Leyland but was bought by United Scientific Holdings plc in 1981. Subsequently, the company's name was changed to Alvis plc. Alvis plc acquired British truck manufacturer Universal Power Drives in 1994, naming their new subsidiary Alvis Unipower Limited. The trucks were subsequently branded as Alvis-Unipower.

In 1998, Alvis plc acquired the armoured vehicle business of GKN plc, and the main UK manufacturing operation was moved from Coventry to Telford. The site of the Alvis works in Holyhead Road is now an out-of-town shopping complex, but its name, Alvis Retail Park, reflects the heritage of the site. In 2002 Alvis plc purchased Vickers Defence Systems to form the subsidiary Alvis Vickers Ltd, which was in turn purchased by BAE Systems in 2004. BAE Systems ended the use of the Alvis distinctive red triangle trademark.Template:Citation needed

In 2009, Red Triangle negotiated the legal transfer of the Alvis car trademarks. The following year, the company announced that the 4.3 Litre Short Chassis tourer would once again be available. All Alvis' records remain intact at the company's Kenilworth headquarters along with a large stock of period parts. One of the men to have worked on the last Alvis car produced in 1967 is still retained by Red Triangle in a training capacity.

Built to the original plans, the new car has been named the "Continuation Series", to reflect the 73-year interruption in its production between 1937 and 2010. It differs only in detail from the pre-war examples: for emissions, the engine is governed by an electronic fuel injection system with electronic ignition, brakes are hydraulic rather than cable, the steering column collapsible and the rear light arrangement reconfigured to conform to modern standards.Template:Citation needed

Revived company

In 2012 Alvis announced it would offer five variants of its cars.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Top Gear www.topgear.com accessed 8 April 2023</ref>

In 2021, the firm was featured in the BBC Four documentary Classic British Cars: Made in Coventry<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and released its Graber Super Coupe continuation car, with a convertible version due out in 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Alvis automobiles

List of most commercial models, 1920–1967

Model name cyl. disp. b.h.p. tax

H.P.

Body From To Number
produced
<ref group=note>Figures in brackets show those cars that were bodied by Graber out of the number produced. Source TC108/G flash demonstration www.alvis-tc108-graber.ch accessed 8 April 2023 Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name=Robson2006>Template:Cite book</ref> 		CommentsTemplate:Sfn
10/30Template:Sfn<ref>The Times, Tuesday, 3 January 1922; p. 6; Issue 42919</ref> 4 1460 30 10.48 2-seater with double dickey, tourer 1920 1923 603 side valves
11/40Template:Sfn 4 1598 40 11.40 4-seater tourer and a full range of other types 1921 1923 382 side valves
12/40Template:Sfn 4 1598 40 11.47 1922 1925 1552 side valves
12/50Template:Sfn<ref>The Times, Tuesday, 15 March 1927; p. 10; Issue 44530</ref> 4 1496 — 11.47 2 seat sports, drophead coupé, saloon 1923 1929 3616 Types: SA, SD, TF, TH
1598 50 11.47 1924 1925 Type: SB, SC,
1645 52 11.81 1926 1932 Types: TE, TG, TJ
12/80Template:SfnTemplate:Rp 4 1598 11.47 2 seat sports 1926 1926 cost £1000, guaranteed maximum of 100 mph
14.75Template:Sfn<ref>The Times, Monday, 19 September 1927; p. 9; Issue 44690</ref><ref>The Times, Saturday, 13 October 1928; p. 6; Issue 45023</ref> 6 1870 75 14.75 Alvista saloon 1927 1929 492 Types: SA, TA, TB
12/75Template:Sfn<ref>The Times, Friday, 12 October 1928; p. 8; Issue 45022</ref> with optional supercharger 4 1481 50 11.40 Front-wheel drive;
2-seat sports, 4-seat sports,
Alvista sports saloon 		1928 1931 142 Types: short chassis (FA and FD), long chassis (FB and FE)

75 b.h.p. supercharged

Ulster T TTemplate:Sfn<ref>The Times, Monday, 9 September 1929; p. 21; Issue 45303</ref>
optional supercharger
 8 1491 125 15.00 Front-wheel drive; 2-seat sports, 4-seat sports 1928 1929 12? Guaranteed 95 mph in touring trim, 100 mph in racing trim
Silver EagleTemplate:Sfn 6 1991 — 16.95 2 seat sports, coupé, drophead coupé, saloon 1930 1930 1357 Type: SD
2148 72 1929 1936 Types: SA, SE, SF, SG, TA, TB, TC
2362 66 1935 1935 Type: SG
2511 75 1931 1932 Types: SA, TB, TC
12/60<ref>The Times, Saturday, 18 October 1930; p. 17; Issue 45647</ref><ref>The Times, Tuesday, 10 March 1931; p. 20; Issue 45767</ref> 4 1645 54 11.81 2-seat sports, 4-seat sports, sports saloon 1931 1932 282 Types: TK, TL
Speed 20Template:SfnTemplate:Rp 6 2511 87 19.82 sports tourer, drophead coupé, sports saloon 1932 1934 1165 Types: SA, SB
2762<ref>The Times, Thursday, 13 September 1934; p. 8; Issue 46858</ref> 95 1935 1936 Types: SC, SD
FireflyTemplate:SfnTemplate:Rp 4 1496 50 11.81 4 light saloon, 6 light saloon, drophead coupé, sports tourer 1933 1934 904 Types: SA, SB
Crested EagleTemplate:SfnTemplate:Rp<ref>The Times, Wednesday, 22 October 1930; p. 10; Issue 45650.</ref><ref>The Times, Tuesday, 25 August 1931; p. 10; Issue 45910</ref> 6 2148 — 16.95 4 light saloon, 6 light saloon, limousine 1933 1934 652 Types: TE
2511 72 19.82 1933 1934 Types: TD, TE
2762 77 19.82 1935 1940 Types: TF, TG, TJ, TK
3571 106 25.63 1937 1940 Types: TA, TB, TC, TD
FirebirdTemplate:SfnTemplate:Rp 4 1842 55 13.22 4 light saloon, 6 light saloon, drophead coupé, sports tourer 1935 1939 449 Type: SA
[[Alvis Speed 20|3Template:Frac Litre]]Template:SfnTemplate:Rp 6 3571 102 25.63 chassis 1935 1936 61
Speed 25Template:SfnTemplate:Rp 6 3571 110 25.63 sports tourer, drophead coupé, sports saloon 1936 1940 391
4.3 LitreTemplate:SfnTemplate:Rp 6 4387 137 31.48 sports saloon, sports tourer 1937 1940 204
Silver CrestTemplate:SfnTemplate:Rp 6 2362 68 16.95 Seventeen

4 light saloon, 6 light saloon, drophead coupé

1937 1940 344 Type: TF
2762 95 19.82 Type: TH
12/70Template:SfnTemplate:Rp 4 1842 63 13.22 sports tourer, drophead coupé, sports saloon 1938 1940 776 Bodies by Mulliners (Birmingham)
TA 14Template:SfnTemplate:Rp 4 1892 65 13.58 sports saloon, drophead coupé 1946 1950 3311 Bodies by Mulliners (Birmingham), coupés by Tickford
TB 14Template:SfnTemplate:Rp 4 1892 68 13.58 2 seater sports 1948 1950 100 Body by A P Metalcraft
TA 21Template:SfnTemplate:Rp 6 2993 83 26.25 sports saloon, drophead coupé 1950 1953 1316 (9) Bodies by Mulliners (Birmingham), coupés by Tickford
TB 21Template:SfnTemplate:Rp 6 2993 90 26.25 2-seater sports 1950 1953 31 Body by A P Metalcraft
TC 21Template:SfnTemplate:Rp

TC 21/100
Grey LadyTemplate:Sfn

6 2993 90

100

26.25 sports saloon, drophead coupé 1953 1955 757 (23) Bodies by Mulliners (Birmingham), coupés by Tickford
TC 108GTemplate:SfnTemplate:Rp 6 2993 104 26.25 sports saloon 1955 1958 37 Bodies by Graber (22) and Willowbrook (15)
TD 21Template:SfnTemplate:Rp I & II 6 2993 115 26.25 2 dr saloon, drophead coupé 1958 1963 1073 (51) Graber styled saloon and coupé bodies by Park Ward; later Mulliner Park Ward
TE 21Template:SfnTemplate:Rp III 6 2993 130 26.25 2dr saloon, drophead coupé 1964 1966 352 (12) as TD 21
TF 21Template:SfnTemplate:Rp IV 6 2993 150 26.25 2dr saloon, drophead coupé 1966 1967 106 (6) Production ended September 1967

Racing cars

Three British car companies – Alvis, Bentley, and Sunbeam – entered vehicles in local racing events between 1920 and 1930. Alvis and Sunbeam were at that time the only British companies building cars to Grand Prix formula racing specifications. Of these, Alvis was the only company whose racing cars were characterized by front-wheel drive and fully independent suspension.Template:Sfn

Alvis was a pioneer of front-wheel drive vehicles. While J. Walter Christie had designed the first front-wheel drive racing car, which he drove in the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup,<ref name=vanderbiltcupraces>Template:Cite web</ref> the next notable front-wheel drive race car was the supercharged Alvis 12/50 racing car designed by G. T. Smith-Clarke and W. M. Dunn, which was entered in the 1925 Kop Hill Climb in Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire on 28 March 1925. Two months later (on Saturday, 30 May 1925), Harry Arminius Miller's Miller 122 front-wheel drive car was entered in the 1925 Indianapolis 500.Template:Sfn

Alvis aircraft engines

File:Alvis Leonides Mk 173-02.jpg
An Alvis Leonides Mk.173 radial engine as fitted to the Bristol Sycamore helicopter. The large cooling fan in front of the cylinders is typical of engines fitted to helicopters.

The initial Alvis aero-engines were licence-built Gnome-Rhone radials. The first aero-engine designed and built by Alvis was the 14-cylinder Alvis Pelides radial in 1936. Development of this and related engines (Pelides Major, Alcides, Alcides Major, Maeonides Major) was stopped with the start of the Second World War with only a handful built.

The Alvis Leonides, a smaller 9-cylinder radial, continued in development during the war and was used after the war in some aircraft and helicopters until production finished in 1966. In 1952, Alvis returned to 14-cylinder radials with a development of the Leonides as the Leonides Major.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Major was used in the Westland Whirlwind helicopter.

Template:Clear

Alvis military vehicles

File:DN-ST-92-07952.JPEG
British FV104 Samaritan ambulance and FV432 armoured personnel carrier during the Gulf War

The Hungarian automotive engineer Nicholas Straussler had designed an armoured car (AC1) in 1932, which was built by the Manfred Weiss company under licence in Budapest. When Hungary aligned itself with Germany soon afterwards, Straussler emigrated to England.Template:Sfn Straussler's small new company, Straussler Mechanisations Ltd, lacked the necessary resources and capacity to build the vehicle on a large scale, so Straussler approached Alvis, and Alvis-Straussler Ltd, a short-lived joint venture company, was formed in July 1936.Template:Sfn<ref name=Jost2000>Template:Cite web</ref>

The prototype vehicle produced, the Alvis Straussler AC2, was built upon the AC1 chassis. The first AC3 – the first operational purpose-built armoured car ever producedTemplate:Citation needed – was delivered in 1937 by Alvis-Straussler Ltd, built upon the AC2 prototype.Template:Sfn Twenty-seven vehicles were built: 12 for the Royal Air Force, 3 for the Portuguese Army, and 12 for the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army.<ref name=Jost2000/> The AC2 was subsequently used as a basis for the 39M Csaba armoured scout car built for the Royal Hungarian Army during the Second World War.

In 1938 Alvis Mechanisations was formed to take over the obligations of Alvis-Straussler Ltd. In 1938, Alvis produced a prototype armoured light reconnaissance vehicle for comparison trials with other manufacturers. The Alvis Dingo lost out to a design by BSA Cycles but 'Dingo' was adopted as the name for the BSA design; which was built by a BSA subsidiary as the Daimler Dingo.

Post-war, Alvis designed a series of six-wheel drive vehicles. The Saladin (FV601) armoured car and Saracen armoured personnel carrier were first. The Saracen was built as a number of related vehicles including FV604 Regimental Command Vehicle, and FV610 Armoured Command Post. The Salamander was an airfield crash tender. It was subsequently used as a basis for the Stalwart amphibious military truck.Template:Sfn The FV611 model was also built to serve as an armoured ambulance.Template:Sfn

The FV432 tracked armoured personnel carrier and related vehicles was developed in the early 1960s by GKN Sankey and came under Alvis in 1998.

The Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) family of tracked vehicles were designed in the 1960s. The family includes the FV101 Scorpion, FV102 Striker, FV103 Spartan, FV104 Samaritan, FV105 Sultan, FV106 Samson, FV107 Scimitar, FV4333 Stormer, and the Streaker.Template:Sfn The first vehicle of this series was the FV101 Scorpion, which was the first aluminium hull tank ever to be built. The hull and turret are actually fabricated from a welded aluminium-zinc-magnesium alloy. Seventeen Scorpion prototypes were delivered for field testing in February 1969.Template:Sfn

Alvis military vehicles

Alvis ownership

More than 20 per cent of all Alvis cars ever manufactured were still in existence in 1989.Template:Sfn The Alvis Owner Club, founded in 1951, is a club for all Alvis car and military vehicle enthusiasts. It has over 1,300 members. It hosts International Weekends annually, where owners from the UK and overseas display their cars.

The Alvis Register is a club with more than 600 members, dedicated to all things related to vintage Alvis motor cars (1920–1932). Members can access technical and historical information and share their interest with other Alvis enthusiasts. Most owners retain an eligible car or cars.Template:Sfn

See also

Notes

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References

Citations Template:Reflist

Bibliography Template:Refbegin

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Further reading

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