Classic Car Shows, Classic Rallies & Vintage Racing News

Alvis, arguably one of the most innovative car manufacturers in the 1930s, is set to return to business in the 21st century with ownership of the brand name having been formally transferred to the company which has been providing parts, maintenance and restoration services to Alvis owners for the last 40 years, Red Triangle.

While this development is recent, there is a continuous Alvis history. In 1968, when production of Alvis road cars ceased the Midlands-based Red Triangle was established by the ex-employees, with the help of the Alvis Company. Many of the original Alvis employees continued to work for Red Triangle and even today they still employ the Alvis technician who built the last 100 TF21 engines in the mid sixties, who now assists with the training of new apprentices.

For the last four decades, the company, which derives its Red Triangle name from the Alvis badge, has thrived and remains the safe custodian of all the original car designs, plans and documents. It is believed to be unique in the collector car world in being a company, which can provide original, replacement parts on an off-the-shelf delivery basis and also processes a complete historic record of all cars produced and customer documentation.

With the legal transfer of the Alvis car trademarks, Red Triangle has formed a new company called The Alvis Car Company Limited. Alan Stote, who has owned Red Triangle for 16 years and who has led the formation of The Alvis Car Company said: “These are exciting times for Alvis and its devotees, but our primary concern is a sustainable business model to carry this legendary name from British motoring history forward.

Our philosophy will be to maintain the essence of the brand by reintroducing selected original Alvis models as newly manufactured cars and for Red Triangle to continue to expand its technical, repair and restoration support to Alvis owners across the world.”

 

Alvis was a company of true automobile engineers. Everything from the concept to the finished rolling chassis was designed and engineered by Alvis, complemented by a range of eye-catching bodywork from leading coach builders of the time. The result: cars of outstanding reliability, impressive performance and stunning good looks.

Alvis key event timeline

1920 T. G. John begins manufacturing Alvis cars in Coventry with coachwork supplied by Cross & Ellis and Carbodies.
1925 A supercharged Alvis front-wheel drive laps Brooklands at 104 mph.
1926 Alvis designs and races the first straight-eight front-wheel drive Grand Prix racing car.
1928 The Alvis Company manufactures and markets the world's first front wheel drive production car.
1933 Alvis designs the world's first all synchromesh gear box and initiates the first British car with independent front suspension.
1939 The Alvis Company controls 21 'shadow' factories producing aero engines -1945 for the British Royal Air Force RAF.
1952 Alec Issigonis joins Alvis to design a prototype 3,500 cc V8 engine.
1959 History is made when the first hovercraft SR.N 1 crosses the Channel powered by an Alvis Leonides engine.
1965 Alvis merges with Rover.
1967 After 47 years and after manufacturing almost 22,000 motor vehicles, Alvis ceases car production.
1968 The Alvis ex-employees, helped by the Alvis Company, create Red Triangle. Alvis passes everything to the new company - the complete stock of parts, over 22,000 car records and more than 50,000 works drawings, technical data sheets and correspondence files.

 

At the Goodwood Festival of Speed last month, the Alvis Car Company has announced details of a unique project to re-introduce a renowned1930’s Alvis model using the original technical drawings, allied to the latest CAD/CAM technology.

Red Triangle, the well-established Alvis service company, which owns the Alvis cars brand and trademarks, has evidence from the original Alvis company board minutes that 77 of the chassis that were officially sanctioned for production were never fulfilled because car production had to be suspended in 1940. The newly formed Alvis Car Company has displayed a brand new 4.3 Litre chassis and engine on their stand. These are the first steps towards the reintroduction of the famous Alvis 4.3 Litre model, 71 years after the last 4.3 Litre Alvis was produced.

The 4.3 Litre Alvis was the fastest non-supercharged production car of its day, and the continuation series will live up to that heritage. Manufactured from the original drawings, the 4.3 Litre Alvis in-line six cylinder engine will be faithful to the 1936 design, in maintaining all its period character and quality, yet by utilising modern technology it will be emission compliant. Moreover, by using modern materials, fuel injection and engine management, this powerplant will deliver even more horsepower.

“This is part of our overall business plan,” said Alan Stote, Red Triangle and Alvis Car Company proprietor: “to maintain service to existing Alvis owners but also to reintroduce selected authentic Alvis models in line with the vision of the Alvis Board all those years ago. Visitors to Goodwood will be able to see the first stages of that plan.”

 

See all Gooding & Company Pebble Beach Auctions Photos

Gooding & Company, the official auction house of the esteemed Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, is thrilled to announce two exceptional collector supercars that will be offered at its upcoming Pebble Beach Auctions. The 1947 Italian Championship-winning 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza and a California-registered 1995 McLaren F1 will proudly drive over Gooding & Company’s auction stage as premier offerings at the Sunday Auction on August 15, 2010, which commences at 6 p.m. at the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center. An additional point of excitement includes McLaren’s North American launch of the 2012 MP4-12C with the unveiling taking place at a private Gooding & Company event on Friday evening. The new 12C will also be on display for public viewing on Saturday and Sunday at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Concept Car Lawn.

“We have more consignors and exceptional cars from around the world than ever before,” says David Gooding, President and founder of Gooding & Company. “The diversity and quality of our cars this year is the best we have ever presented at Pebble Beach.”

The 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza and 1995 McLaren F1 join a long list of sparkling consignments for Gooding & Company’s Sunday Auction, which also includes the 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K, 1927 Mercedes-Benz S Boattail Speedster, 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta SEFAC Hot Rod and 1956 Maserati 200SI. Additional Saturday Auction highlights include Gil Nickel’s 1951 Ferrari 340 America Spider, the 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France, the 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Competizione and the barn discovery 1933 Duesenberg SJ LWB Convertible.

 

See all Stirling Moss Trophy at the Silverstone Classic Photos

The outcome of the Stirling Moss Trophy race for genuine, pre-1961 sportscars and sports-racers changed dramatically in the final few laps of the hour-long race. From the start, Jamie McIntyre took full advantage of his Lister Knobbly’s pole position to pull out a convincing lead on the rest of the field.

By lap 21, this lead had built to more than 20 seconds over the second car in the field – none other than the Lotus 15 of Jamie’s brother Ewan. However, the result was decided when a fuel pump problem for Jamie’s Lister gave Ewan exactly the opportunity he needed, and he wasted no time in sweeping through to take the lead – just before a mercifully short safety car period four laps from the end. Now struggling to maintain his laptimes, Jamie ultimately dropped to sixth, allowing the father-and-son team of Alan and Jason Minshaw in their Maserati T61 ‘Birdcage’ to finish second, scarcely more than one second ahead of the fabulous Lister Costin of Andrew Garner and Gary Pearson.



In fourth place was the famous, 1959 Le Mans-winning Aston Martin DBR1, driven by the 1970 Le Mans winner Richard Attwood and – in his first race at the wheel of this car – Bobby Verdon-Roe, while the Wood/McCaig Lister Jaguar Knobbly was the other car to make it past Jamie as a result of his fuel pump woes.