Alvis Fourteen

Unbelievably next year will see the 80th Anniversary of the start of TA 14 production and the first car sales in November 1946. A real Anniversary for the most successful model ever released by Alvis. Also TA and TB 14s will be celebrating the last of these cars to leave the Alvis factory 75 years ago.

International Alvis Weekend, 19th-21^st June 2026 provides the ideal opportunity to come together and celebrate the 80th, a major achievement.

The main event on Sunday 21st June will be held at Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire and we have our own allocated area of the field to display our cars. Coachbuilders will be grouped together so we can highlight the bodies and styles of the various Coachbuilders. Adjoining our display will be our successor model, the 3 litre TA 21 so it will be very interesting to compare the 2 models in close quarters.

Between the 14 and 21 models came 3 prototype models built to help develop the TA 21, one now remains,3L3, she lives over in The Netherlands and is currently undergoing a painstaking restoration. Now at the stage of receiving her new gloss black paint and installation of new tan interior she is a one off stretched Mulliners Saloon body with a 3 litre engine. When finished she will be continue to be the unique car with a Special place in Alvis history.

She may not make it over to the 80th due to the time yet to be taken to finish the restoration but there will be information available.

As an aside, Alvis originally considered offering a 3 litre version of the TA 14 but post war economics precluded that idea going forward.

The hotel for the weekend with 100 rooms will be the Woodland Grange hotel between Leamington Spa and Kenilworth. The whole hotel has been allocated to Alvis Owner Club Members who will already have received booking details from the Club. Bookings can be made now and in the event of a full hotel it is likely an overspill hotel will be negotiated. Non Members can stay locally and attend the event on Sunday. So in the immortal words ‘Book it Danno!’

Hopefully a goodly number of Fourteens will make it to the event, either on their own 4 wheels or these days with a little help from a comfortable trailer to undertake most of the journey and not miss their party.

We hope to have a technical seminar/ Q & A session during the day and more to be announced. Those who missed out on purchasing the 70th Anniversary bottled beers just might have the opportunity to purchase 80th Anniversary bottles and of course there will be the cake.

More to announce over the next few months but just to whet the appetite when did you last see a 5 1/2 litre supercharged TA 14 in lovely condition? All being well you will next year at the celebrations. The President of the Alvis Owner Club is also hoping to bring along his TA 14.

Another potential attendee is the Mulliners restoration project, chassis 23827, one of the last TA 14s to be built. This car has recently been saved and moved to Wales where restoration is already underway. As with many cars emerging from long term storage she is pretty complete and already specialised joinery has been undertaken. She is the car that was owned by Society photographer Adrian Flowers in the swinging sixties as mentioned in the April 2025 Post.

Carbodies, Tickfords and Mulliners are already intending to come along but the more the merrier.

Anyone whose car just cannot attend has the opportunity to bring a photo board with information as to current situation.

Hopefully we can also have some spares tables full of interesting goodies.

Should you need any spares to prepare for Kenilworth Castle then look on ABAY above for a good selection and the opportunity to buy at sensible prices.

For those who like a bargain a free TA 14 gearbox is available in Whitstable, Kent just so long as the buyer collects. Sale due to future sale of lock up garage next year.

2 TA 14s, Barnard Woodie and 2 tone Mulliners Saloon are currently available for sale on carandclassic.co.uk. Both came up for sale shortly after being sold previously. Also a nice Special, located in France is also advertised on that site.

The blue Woodie, chassis 20953 was originally constructed by Barnard of Norwich, a munitions and coach building company. This company was where the automation of wire netting production was achieved. The photo shows the machine responsible for miles upon miles of wire netting that was sold all over the world.

The Company made a few coachbuilt buses and private vehicles after the 2nd World War, the latter for only 3 years. For more information about the company go to myntransportblog.wordpress.com.

The whole area of Woodies is a fascinating topic with a wide range of Coachbuilders and bodywork. The following Article gives a good insight into these cars and may tempt buyers to look more closely at these attractive and practical vehicles.

‘One of the most often overlooked aspects of the history of the shooting brake in Britain is the role it played supporting Allied forces during World War II, both on the home front and in a number of overseas campaigns. Britain had begun preparing for hostilities as soon as the war clouds darkened over Europe in the late 1930s, and, as new vehicles were ordered for use by the armed forces, so ended the founding chapter in the role of the shooting brake.

No longer used primarily to service the needs of the landed gentry, these wooden-bodied vehicles now adopted a general purpose utility role, to which they were ideally suited. Production records are sketchy in some areas, but the main manufacturers of these wartime Woodies used by British forces were Ford, Humber, and Standard. A few General Motors-based Woodies were photographed in action in North Africa and the Middle East, but no records have yet been found on models and numbers produced.

Humber began military Super Snipe MkII production in the summer of 1939, with body styles ranging from staff car, open tourer, light truck, and the utility car. It is believed that a total of 1500 four-door utility bodies were constructed by the Rootes Group’s specialist coachbuilder, Thrupp & Maberley, sporting mesh grilles instead of chrome and the same 900×13 wheels and tyres as Canadian-built Fords. A small number of two-door variants were also produced and used primarily by the Royal Air Force.

The Dunkirk evacuation of 1941 played a big part in shaping the role that Ford of Canada was to play in the supply of utility-bodied vehicles for the British army. With 84,000 allied vehicles left behind in France and on Dunkirk’s beaches, and the Luftwaffe mounting round-the-clock attacks against British industry, British forces were running short of resources. A large number of Humber utility wagons were lost at Dunkirk and, as the design was ageing fast, most of those that survived were removed from frontline service, instead, mostly taking up support roles in the UK.

The success of the Canadian-built 30HP Ford V8 utility wagon introduced in 1937 had shown the way forward, and a small number, fitted with huge, 900×13 tyres for off-road use, were ordered by the British army. These were followed in 1938 by the model 81A, and bigger orders for the 1939 model.

So, while the industrial might of the US was in the early stages of gearing up for war, much of Britain’s requirement for trucks and staff cars was destined to be met by the Canadians. The need for a heavy utility car was fulfilled by variants of the standard North American 1941 station wagon as a result of contracts – termed ‘Supply Mechanical’ – from the British War Office.

The heaviest version was the C11ADF, Canadian-assembled 1941 model Woodie with an 85bHP motor. It was specified with a heavy duty rear axle, large 900×13 sand tyres, and right-hand-drive. Militarised versions of the 1941 (C11AS) and 1942 (C21AS) station wagons with standard suspension neatly filled the gap and did a superb job, although they were often known to overheat in convoy situations; many period photographs show extra air vents, air scoops and louvres cut into bonnets to try and overcome this problem.
Many of these Fords were used in various North African campaigns. On arrival at the battle front, many had hatches crudely cut into the roof above the front passenger, and some even had the top removed completely and the doors bolted shut. These modifications were mostly for aircraft observation purposes, although sometimes the bodywork modifications were a direct result of enemy action.

While the exact number of C11ADFs produced is uncertain, the first contract ‘Supply Mechanical number 2027’ was placed during the summer of 1941, and was for a total of 498 vehicles, of which at least 442 were delivered. The rest, perhaps, were lost at sea during a perilous North Atlantic crossing.

The second contract, number 2044, dated 4th August 1941, was for 998 station wagons, all of which seemed to have been delivered by August 1943. Ultimately, the Ford C11ADF was by far the most popular passenger transport in North Africa campaigns. After the war, those that survived and made it back to British shores were demobbed in around 1947, and immediately pressed into civilian use by the car-starved population.

The Standard Motor Company also played a small part in supplying Woodies to the War Department; ‘square cut’ vehicles which were based on Standard 12 running gear, with bodies by Remploy. It is doubtful if any saw active service and were most likely used in support roles, such as a non-stretcher case ambulance – a role to which Woodies were ideally suited.
In addition to the Woodies that were ordered direct from chassis manufacturers, a great many large British and American saloon cars were converted to wartime utilities, a number specifically constructed to fulfil the role of non-stretcher case ambulances.

The Chassis Makers
While just about every conceivable make of British car and light commercial chassis received wooden shooting brake bodywork at some stage, most Woodies were built in small, sometimes very small, batches by specialist workshops or commercial body builders who had honed their skills constructing van, truck, and bus bodies. Most of these companies, often because they were working as a sub-contractor to a garage or car dealer, were never allowed to put their name to the bodywork, with the result that there are many Woodies in existence in Britain today for which the body builder is unknown.
Some of the most popular types of post-war Woodies in Britain were built on Alvis, Austin, Ford, and Lea-Francis chassis. However, whereas both Austin and Lea-Francis sold factory-approved vehicles, those available on Alvis and Ford chassis were constructed by numerous independent coachbuilding firms.

Allard
Victory in the 1952 Monte Carlo Rally must have made Allard a familiar name in many markets in which sports cars were not of great interest but where fast, roadworthy and large-load capacity cars were required. So Allard saloon and convertible models were supplemented in spring that year by the Safari – a six seater, two-door estate car version of the P2 saloon, with the lusty side valve Ford V8 motor as the standard power option. The model was, supposedly, only available for export, and was discontinued in 1955 after only 10 had been built.

Alvis
Alvis was a popular choice of chassis during the 1930s, and many shabby saloons got a second lease of life with a wooden utility body. The post-war TA14 proved exceedingly popular as a shooting brake, although there was no official Alvis version. Records show that 145 chassis were supplied to known coachbuilders, whilst a further 120 are listed as being delivered as utilities – coachbuilder unknown.
In addition, Alvis records show a further 465 TA 14 chassis listed as body type unknown, so it’s possible that many of these also ended up with shooting brake bodies.
Most of the new chassis that were delivered to coachbuilders were shipped complete with front bulkhead, dashboard, and front seats – which explains why so many ended up with luxurious leather front seats and utilitarian rear seats. Most numerically significant were the cars bodied by Gaze Limited, believed to have been based in Kingston-upon-Thames, and also responsible for many Lea-Francis Woodies. However, Gaze is not thought to have sold cars under its own name, and was sub-contracted by Alvis dealerships such as Brooklands of Bond Street, Vincents of Reading, and Reliance Garage of Norwich. All these companies attached their own nameplates to the bodywork, helping to create the myth that dealers had bodied the cars themselves.

The second most numerous Alvis coachbuilder was the Jones company. As with Gaze, little is known about this company, although records show that it also bodied a number of Rolls-Royces. At the height of TA14 popularity, companies such as Abbotts of Farnham, AC Cars, Barnards, Black & White, Caffyns, and even Carmichael, produced Alvis Woodies.
In most cases, either a car or an old photo survives to record what each Woodie design looked like, with one exception: it seems that quite a few Alvis utilities are listed as being bodied by High Elms, but these are a mystery in Alvis circles as there are no photos or records of any survivors.

Austin
Whilst Austin can’t lay claim to building the first or last Woodies in the UK, few realise that Austin was actually one of the most prolific builders of wooden-bodied estate cars during the Woodie’s heyday.

Despite not previously having offered a full-scale production utility, Austin was keen to add a shooting brake to its vehicle line-up in the immediate post-war period, as this was a great way to help achieve the government export quota, and Woodies required much less steel in their construction.

History was in the making when Frank Jordon – former head coachbuilder for the London General Omnibus Company, and later head of the carpentry workshops at Papworth Industries in Cambridgeshire – turned up at Austin’s Longbridge works. Frank had heard that Austin was looking for a company to build shooting brake bodies on the Austin 16 chassis, so he went to Longbridge, knocked on the right door, and walked away with an order to build 250 Woodies.

The fact that Papworth Industries built the 250 Woodies faster than expected, and to a higher than anticipated quality, so impressed the bean counters at Longbridge that they ordered 250 more. These 500 Austin 16s were designated by Austin as BW1, and were the first in a major Woodie-building programme that was to continue until 1954. It seems likely that the Countryman name was born with the Austin16 Woodie, as, whilst an early brochure describes these vehicles as shooting brakes, the most common version of the same brochure calls them Countryman.

Austin was so pleased with the quality of the Countryman vehicles bodied by Papworth Industries that, when the Austin 16 was replaced by the post-war-designed A70 Hampshire, orders for more than 900 Countryman Woodies, designated BW3, were placed. These were all based on the Austin BS2 Hampshire A70 saloon chassis and body, so retained the car’s 16 inch wheels, high ratio differential, and steel floor of the saloon body.

The car-derived Austin A70 Hampshire pickup chassis cab also proved particularly popular during this time, and a number of body builders emulated the design of the A70 Countryman BW3. While almost 90 per cent of BW3s went for export, London-based Austin dealer, Car Mart, sent 200 A70 pickup chassis cabs to Papworth Industries to be bodied as shooting brakes, and these were ultimately used as everything from TV outside broadcast units to support vehicles for motor racing teams, as well as in the traditional role of carrying hotel guests and their luggage to and from railway stations and ports.
The A70 Hampshire was replaced by the A70 Hereford at the end of 1950, and, within a few months, the A70 Hereford BW4 Countryman Woodie had been designed and was being built at Papworth. The BW4 went on to become the most popular of all Austin Woodies, with more than 1500 built before the A70 went out of production at the end of 1954. It was replaced by the unitary construction Austin A90 Westminster, though, sadly, it was not possible to build a Westminster Woodie.

Steel shortages eased in the early 1950s. Wood-framed bodies had grown costly to build, were very labour-intensive to maintain, and, in many cases were not able to withstand the harsh treatment they received on the poor road conditions of many export markets. However, the demise of the separate chassis also heralded the end of the Woodie; Austin never built it again.

Ford
Ford entered the utility car market in the UK during the mid 1930s by supplying V8-powered station wagons that were assembled at Ford’s Windsor, Ontario plant in Canada. The wooden bodies were constructed at Ford’s bodywork facility at Iron Mountain in Michigan, USA, and shipped to Canada for assembly on V8 chassis.

The cars were mostly complete when they arrived in the UK, receiving final finishing at the Ford plant in Dagenham, where some trim items and the UK specification wiring loom were fitted. By the late 1930s, UK-built sidevalve V8 engines were also being installed. These were the only ‘official’ Ford Woodies sold in the UK, as, although a large number of 10HP Ford car, and even Fordson van chassis, were bodied by UK coachbuilders during the 1930s, Ford never offered a factory-built small Woodie.

While Ford had helped establish the utility car market in the UK during the 1930s, it didn’t re-enter that market after the cessation of hostilities at the end of WWII, though did supply a number of E71C Pilot commercial chassis to dealers and individuals, who had them bodied as estate cars. A number survive today, and yet it is rare to find two that look the same, such was the diversity of building styles and techniques employed in their construction.

Lea-Francis
Lea-Francis tooled up for the production of its first post-war model, the 14HP four-door saloon, in 1945. The new car was essentially a modified version of the 12.9HP saloon, produced in limited numbers between 1938 and 1940, and mostly bodied by Avon Bodies of Warwick. The body was constructed by a local Coventry sheet metal factory, A P Aircraft (APA), from a combination of steel and aluminium, and formed the backbone of Lea-Francis production until the company ceased volume manufacture in 1954.
The Coventry-based company was also one of the first to see the potential of the wooden-bodied utility in post-war Britain, and, during 1946, commissioned Riverlee Bodies of Birmingham to construct its first ever Woodie van.

Lea-Francis then commissioned the Southern Caravan Company of Yapton, near Chichester, to build estate cars; by the end of 1946, 74 Woodies had been built by a variety of coachbuilders, including Southern Caravans.

As Woodies were designated commercial vehicles (thus avoiding the payment of purchase tax on the list price of new cars), the new Lea-Francis estate car was described as a ‘utility model’ in the company’s literature, and a further 44 were built at Yapton during 1947. Records also show that at least 80 chassis were supplied to individual coachbuilders that year – most ending up as Woodies – although one or two were actually built as ice cream vans.

A number of coachbuilders found that the Lea-Francis 14HP chassis was absolutely perfect as the basis of a shooting brake, with companies like Jensen Motors, Gaze, and Frank Grounds building bodies for both Lea-Francis and rival Alvis. While there are no accurate records of exactly who built Woodie bodies on Lea-Francis chassis, factory records do show that almost 500 ‘chassis only’ units were supplied to builders of estate cars and vans during 1948/49. It was during this time that the contract to build the ‘factory’ Woodies went to APA – the company already building the saloon car bodies for Lea-Francis.

One of the most interesting aspects of Lea-Francis Woodie production was the range of vans it produced alongside the estate cars. In essence, these were utility cars without the rear seats and plywood panels where the side windows would normally be. They also had rear doors as an alternative to tailgates, and, in many cases, side rear doors that could not be opened. Whilst they were cheaper to produce than the estate cars, they were still much more expensive than the mass-produced ‘metal panelled’ vans available from the likes of Austin, Bedford, Ford, and Morris.

In 1950, a Lea-Francis estate was an unlikely entrant in the Monte Carlo Rally, with an Isle of Man-registered vehicle starting from Glasgow and finishing in 103rd place without any trouble. The same year the company sold 123 utility estates and 67 vans. By now, however, the cars’ pre-war styling was beginning to look a little dated; without the financial resources necessary to design a completely new car, Lea-Francis restyled the front of the car only – the headlamps were incorporated into the front wings – for 1951.
The 1951 season did see a slight upturn in sales, with 175 estates but just 2 vans sold. Prices for all models increased considerably for that year, which further contributed to a drop in sales.

Sadly, like so many car makers of the day that could not afford to build the stylish new models the public wanted, the writing was on the wall for Lea-Francis. Sales of estate cars suffered badly in 1952, with only four sold – the last of which went to Tasmania.
The Lea-Francis 14HP estate car continued, alongside the saloon, right up until production ceased in 1954 – curiously enough, the last two chassis built (10064 and 10066) were fitted with a handsome new estate car body by Papworth Industries, which was also building wooden bodies for the much more modern Austin A70 Hereford.
Whilst no precise figures exist, it is estimated that around 1000 Lea-Francis Woodie estate cars and vans were built between 1946 and 1955. Survival rate has been poor, unfortunately, with just 30 estate cars and vans in running or restorable condition known to the Lea-Francis Owners Club. These figures compare very closely with the Lea-Francis’ closest rival, the 14HP Alvis, also built in Coventry and clothed in saloon and estate car bodywork of similar design.

Morris
Whilst the coachbuilt Woodie was slowly, but surely, heading for oblivion, a new twist in the tale was provided by Morris Motors. In 1952, the company launched a wooden-framed estate car version of its popular unitary construction Morris MO Oxford sedan, which had been launched in 1948. Dubbed the Traveller, the new Morris was intended for a completely new market for Woodies: the travelling salesman, and those that needed to carry goods, passengers, and even livestock in the same vehicle.

It was the company’s first foray into the dual-purpose market, and, remarkably, the MO Traveller was not based on the van/pickup chassis, but used a reinforced version of the saloon’s mono-construction floorpan. Thus, the wood was a structural part of the car’s assembly, which probably accounts for why few survive today. Construction of the timber-framed rear section was undertaken at the Morris Bodies factory in Coventry, where it was assembled with painted aluminium panel and full glazing, and then shipped, as a complete unit, by road to the main assembly lines in Cowley.

The logistical problem of marrying the wooden back section to the main cab and floor was overcome within a special area at Cowley called the ‘loft.’ This was located above the assembly lines, and it was here that the back sections were stored, prior to being lowered to the main assembly area, where, in a complicated operation, they were joined to the painted chassis cab.
Records show that 5500 MO Travellers were built between summer 1952 and spring 1954, and exported to a number of European countries as well as Canada, though it seems that the majority were shipped to Australia and summarily shaken to bits on Australia’s outback roads!

Curiously, when Morris merged with rival Austin later in 1952 to form the British Motor Corporation, there must have been some interesting boardroom discussions about the various advantages and disadvantages of the large Austin A70 Countryman versus the medium-sized Morris Oxford Traveller. In the end, it was Morris that was destined to fly the Woodie flag into the future, though it was not the part-timbered Oxford series II or Isis Traveller that would conclude this emotive chapter of British motoring history, but the humble Morris Minor Traveller launched in 1953.

A prototype Minor Traveller had been built in 1951, but it wasn’t until the BMC A-series ohv engine was installed that sales began to take off. It is estimated that a quarter of a million Morris Minor Travellers were built before production was finally halted in 1971, and one of its many claims to fame is that large numbers were sold to the British army in 1968, many of which were used in Germany.

While Ford in the UK made various attempts during the 1950s and 60s to revive the Woodie look on estate cars, the Minor remained true to ash-framed construction right to the very end, and can fairly and squarely lay claim to being the world’s last production Woodie.’

Getting back to matters other than woodies.

There is an option to purchase a TB 14 currently living near Worcester. Not yet on the market the car, chassis 23575 is in very long term ownership but it is time for her to find a new owner. She is red with a cream interior, one of the most popular colour combinations. A good runner and in need of some cosmetic tidying up. Offers are invited and the car can be inspected. Remember only 100 made of this iconic model.

Suppliers and Services, Heading above is a useful place to look when needing spares or services and recommendations are always welcome to add on when a good product or service has been supplied.

Recently in a quest for a horn trumpet, now met, an owner came across Meteor Spares who specialise in spares for pre 1950s Rover cars. When our cars were built many spares would fit quite a lot of cars manufactured by other companies as they were bought in. Meteor delivered the goods to the satisfied customer and can be contacted at meteorss@hotmail.com, they are based in Nottingham.

We are still searching for a lost Special, chassis 21490. The son of a former owner is looking for the car, he missed being born in the car by 2 minutes!

Our cars have always had a global reach and back in 1976 the Alvis Owner Club received an application for Membership from a gentleman in Japan wishing to enroll with his Tickford TA 14 chassis 21960, English registration MPH 48.

Recently the car has been spotted in Japan and it is believed that the owner is up for receiving serious offers to purchase the car. From the photos below she looks to have been kept in very good condition and with a very nice group of classic English cars. Tickfords of course are the rarer of the 2 major Drophead Coachbuilders with Carbodies being the major supplier of bodies to Alvis for the Fourteen model. Carbodies about 401, Tickford about 77.

Bonhams recently offered a very rare TA 14 for sale, chassis 20691, JMB 933. A sad day for her owner as they had been together for many years. The bodywork was by Knibbs and Parkyn of Manchester who it is believed put bodies on 8 TA 14 chassis. With only 2 known cars remaining she was sold for £11 111 including buyers premium.

eBay continues to be a useful source of second hand spares. Mulliners offside front door skin, £95, nearside front door skin £150, both new old stock from Red Triangle. These parts are in the hens teeth category when you need them. Also from RT and again new old stock are the Dunlop Brass Tyre Valve tool/key, £12 + p&p. Nice period addition to the tool box. More TA/TB 14 spares to browse on eBay.

Red Triangle continue to offer high quality Alvis Christmas cards. In addition the Alvis tool roll at £74-95 is a very useful addition to the boot. Browse the Shop on their site redtriangle.co.uk for other possible ‘presents’. Ken Day’s beautiful book, The Story of Red Triangle 4th and last edition is a great buy at £44-95 and the facsimile copy of the TA 14 Drivers Manual at £34-95 is a good buy so that you can keep a pristine copy in the glove compartment.

Corresponding with former owners and their family/friends often brings out some brilliant stories, this one recently sent over from Australia was a truly delightful reminiscence. Mulliners Saloon chassis 21490, JLN 523 is the star of this story. Does anyone know where she is now?  The writer of the Article would love to catch up with her. Is she slumbering in a garage or has she become a Special.

The Memories of a 6 Year Old

My father bought his Alvis JLN 523 in London in 1958 from a surgeon in London. It was my father’s first car, but on the drive home (to Ash, in Kent), he found it lacked power. Rather disappointed, he pressed on, and suddenly there was a muffled bang, with black smoke pouring out of the tail pipe. After that, her performance improved immeasurably. (A mechanic later told him that the car had probably only been driven slowly around London and was ‘clearing itself out’.)

In September 1960, my father drove my 9 month pregnant mother at high speed to Folkestone hospital, where I was born 2 minutes later. On the way, part of the opening sun-roof panel flew off the car. Consequently my father slowed down to retrieve it, whereupon my mother apparently stated in no uncertain terms that he was to press on at full speed to the hospital. (That night he went back and retrieved the part from a field nearby.)

The car was kept in an old horse stable (we lived in an old farm house) – the entrance was very narrow and there was literally less than an inch each side of the entrance to get the Alvis in. One day, the pop-up indicator near the door failed to return to its slot and was bent backwards against the narrow entrance. We found this highly amusing. My father, no so.

Around 1965, during a storm, a tree fell onto our chicken coop. So we temporarily relocated the chickens to the horse stable. One day, one of us accidently left a door of the Alvis open and the chickens, quite wisely, decided to spend the night in the Alvis surrounded by its luxurious smell of wood and leather. The next morning, my father, in a rush, ushered the reluctant chickens out of the car and drove to work. Unbeknown to him, at the time, two chickens were still hiding in the car. He parked the car outside his office in the town square (in Sandwich) and went to work. The chickens then decided to sit in the front seats to enjoy the view – much to the huge amusement of the locals.

The floor pans leaked. In the rain, if my father shouted “puddle” we lifted up our feet to avoid getting them wet. The Alvis was like a big toy to us, we could clamber all over it, sitting on the roof and on the wings, and we dearly loved it. I used to suffer from hay fever, but I found that I could escape it simply by sitting in the car for some reason. In the summer, I’d even sometimes have lunch in the car.

On occasions, whilst driving along she’d suddenly lose power. My dad would then tell us to call out words of encouragement to the Alvis – and power would be miraculously restored. I now realise that she was simply running low on fuel and that my father was simply switching to the reserve fuel tank!

On the bonnet, she sported an eagle with outspread wings. We were very upset when this was stolen one night and it was temporarily replaced, by our local mechanic, with a wooden ‘stopper’ so that the car could still be driven. In a traffic jam one day it popped off like a champagne cork – much to the amusement of the family. (In the end, it was replaced with a plain one.)

In 1972, she was sold for £15. Replaced with a Renault Caravelle (Floride). It took only a few days for the family to fully realise that we had parted with more than just a car.

I’m now 65, and I had always hoped I might rediscover her abandoned in a barn somewhere. Eileen (Alvis Archive, AOC) has been so incredibly helpful discovering more about her. Sadly, it seems she was recently used for donor parts for another Alvis. So, the dream is gone; but the great happy memories survive.

Anyone who wishes to put their memories down on paper can send them through and they will be kept with the Alvis Archive Trust papers. Also they can be sent to the Alvis Owner Club for publication in the bi monthly Bulletin.

Many readers will already have seen the sad news of the recent passing of Nick Simpson, a giant in the Alvis world.

Nick was a true Alvis enthusiast and a great supporter of Fourteens. He held several posts in the Alvis Owner Club, finally becoming the Club’s Patron.

Previously as overall Technical Advisor to the AOC he demonstrated a wealth of technical knowledge and could be relied upon to come up with an answer for most technical problems. His extensive collection of Alvis information and photos was one of the best and he willingly shared the information and knowledge he had.

He will be very much missed.

Finally the clocks have changed, the gardens have just about stopped growing

All good Fourteens should be tucked away out of the weather with doors shut and curtains drawn tightly, it’s All Hallows Eve when the spirits cross over!!!

eileen4ta.tb14s@rocketmail.com

What a summer it has been! Global warming is increasing the temperatures for summer and some Fourteens can struggle in the higher temperatures.

Many of the Fourteens sent for export were fitted with 8 bladed fans to help with the higher temperatures they might experience in places such as Australia, Egypt, India, Portugal and the USA. 8 bladed fans were also fitted to cars going to countries such as Switzerland to assist with climbing the mountain passes before the excellent network of tunnels were developed.

Tickford were quite forward thinking and provided 2 good sized horizontal bonnet louvres to be opened at the first increases of temperature.

In the 1960s and 1970s when many cars were doing quite considerable mileages some owners installed electric fans to help with the heat.

For the rest the summer drive would be ‘enhanced’ with the opening of flaps, if any, then putting the heater on full with the occupants of the car to emerge lobster pink at the end of the journey. Those with a hood could dissipate the heater’s output but be roasted by the sun. Happy Days! Currently most of us are now experiencing comfortable summer temperatures but time is ticking and soon we shall think fondly of the heat. Winter time for our cars often meant putting the muffler on the radiator and for those wishing to recreate those halcyon days there is one for sale in the new quantity of spares detailed above on ABAY. Quite rare to find one these mufflers now and if the condition is not good enough it can be used as a pattern for a new one to be made.

Should the above bring back memories the following is a story of how it was back in the days before Health and Saftey!

Touring in Europe can produce some interesting stops that are not on the mainstream tourist route.

Classic Remise 2 in Düsseldorf is one such attraction and has even had visiting Alvis and Alvis for sale as can be seen on their website, remise.de.

Housed in an amazing conversion of a huge locomotive turntable shed it houses around 300 classic cars for sale and in storage together with professional workshops. One of the best features is that you can store your car in a glass box so it can be seen but not touched. Just the thing for a fine Fourteen to spend time in on display. Sure beats the rented lock up down the road.

More details are on the website and one of the best features is that it is free to visit and spend the day there.

No Alvis at this one but the Red Bull exhibition area near Salzburg offers another very good free outing for car enthusiasts. Sadly no bottles of ‘Red Bull’ polish to acquire as a souvenir.

Restoration projects for Fourteens continue and when considering an interior retrim one could be in good company using a firm or company with a Royal Warrant from His Majesty King Charles III as leather tanners and curriers. Pleased to see animal welfare standards now come into the consideration for the finest leathers.

Connolly, so long the Rolls Royce of leathers is now reborn with the 4th generation Jonathan Connolly. The selection of leathers is quite mind blowing and if price is no barrier your Fourteen could be trimmed with the crème de la crème of leathers. The website is connollybros.co.uk and this will open to show the various high quality hides and services available to his Majesty and Fourteen owners. It is probable that the Vaumol range would be appropriate for Fourteens. Going to connollyengland.com will show details of the Connolly Shop in Mayfair that will allow the discerning owner to acquire beautiful elegant British clothing and leather goods.

Should some of the above be a trifle costly, a real treat can be acquired from Leathercare Limited of Knutsford, website leathercaredirect.com. This company has a close relationship with Connollys and as well as high quality trimming offers a good selection of cleaning and treatment products. Topping off the product range is a bottle Leather Aroma concentrate for only £8. One for the Christmas List!

An attractive Carbodies has been seen in France and it would be nice to put a chassis number to the car, can anyone help with this?

A long time Carbodies owner near Cambridge has finally got round to creating more space in his garage to reveal quite a large quantity of surplus spares including the radiator muffler as mentioned above. Go up to the ABAY header and browse through what’s on offer. Could be an an opportunity to stock up with spares at a reasonable price and they are quite well located in Cambridgeshire. Also there is a gearbox for sale in East Kent.

The stock of cars for sale had reduced and on carandclassic.com was down to a nice looking Mulliners Saloon and Barnard Woodie. Added on 30th August is a Duncan pillarless saloon, price on application from Ashridge Automobiles Ltd. in Bedford. Duncans were rated by Autocar back in the day.

‘This elegant sports saloon is at once outstanding, its handsome contours creating the impression of silent speed, superb acceleration and excellent road manners”.

According to the Dealer, a Duncan cost about £1 000 more than an XK 120 at the time.

The inspiration for the Alvis TA 14 Duncan is reputed to have come from the Healey Duncan, a little known model, 27 built but from the photo the connection is clear to see.

Yet another long term family car is seeking a new home but from a little further afield. Mulliners Saloon chassis 21315 was originally exported to Australia in 1947 and has been in storage over there for nearly 40 years.This Article from Alvibatics, posted with kind permission of the Alvis Car Club based near Sydney, gives background information on the car. One bonus for any British buyer is that the car is right hand drive. An interesting Restoration/Refurbishment project.

Also note that should you wish to become a Member of that Club you can, details to join are on their website, alviscarclub.au to see what is going on down under.

Back closer to home is a very nice sound Mulliners Saloon, available in Wales, looking to move on after over 50 years with 2 generations of the same family. Cannot put a price on such provenance and the car is very cherished and well cared for.

To the drum roll of ‘and still they come’ from War of the Worlds’, more Fourteens, having disappeared without a trace, have emerged into the light.

Over the Pond in America a Mulliners Saloon, chassis 23216, KLY 933 reappeared in Ohio and has been whisked off to Michigan for where a full restoration has already started. Last heard of in Yorkshire in the 1970s she was purchased and shipped over to America where she was driven quite a bit and then parked up. After over 50 years the owner sadly passed away and the car was offers for sale by his daughter. From the photos she looks very complete and an excellent base for a restoration project.

The car had not disappeared but delighted to confirm that the Raine TA 14 chassis 21865, mentioned in previous Posts, has found a good home up in the North West with a long term aficionado of Fourteens so she will be well cared for and seen around the Northern circuit.

A TA 14 that has gone off the radar is a red TB 14 MTV 550, chassis 23542, a former owner would love to meet up with the current owner and chat about times he enjoyed with the car. Does anyone know of her current whereabouts?

Finally VJ Day and the anniversary of the end of the 2nd World War (15th August) is coming up and probably cars that celebrated VE Day will reappear in their celebratory finery. One such car (Iris) chassis 23008 was seen celebrating VE Day in fine style. Her proud owner stood in the style of Douglas Bader and wore the uniform representing his father who served as a radio operator in the RAF during the war.

eileen4ta.tb14s@rocketmail.com

The years roll by and it’s unbelievable that the sporty young 2 seaters can be reaching such a grand old age.

Particularly apposite that December’s appeal for information about the red TB 14 photographed in Barnes, Middlesex in the 1960s should have been answered by our North American guru and confirmed as JVC 458, chassis 23500. This is the first production TB 14 and we now have the only colour photo of that car and confirmation that she was in London in the 1960s.

The Motor Show prototype that came before remains a TA 14.

Chassis 23500 was given body number 1001 and produced in one of the classic colour combinations, signal red body, cream hide, red carpets and no cocktail cabinet! So in Barnes in the 1960s she looked as though she retained the original paint and trim.

Much is known about the early days of this car although sadly we do not know her present whereabouts or fate. Let’s hope she is tucked up in storage somewhere reminiscing about her early exploits across the USA.

Upon completion she was transferred to the Alvis Works Department and then lent to an intrepid pair who travelled around the USA promoting the car and gaining material for a book about Post War America and the differences between the USA and Britain/Europe. Needless to say the book showed vast differences in favour of the USA.

‘For Americans mindful of buying a British Sports-car in 1950, they had the opportunity to see a bright red TB 14, chassis 23500, body no. 1001 as she toured the USA. This car was the very first TB 14 of the production line. Upon return to England the car went to the Sales Department, never to be heard of again unless a reader knows otherwise?

The trip was to research the comparisons between the ordinary people in the United States and those in Britain and Europe after the War. Edward Ward (7th Viscount Bangor) was the author and he was accompanied by photographer Marjorie Banks who later became his 4th wife. The outcome of the tour was a book ‘U.S. and US.’

The conclusions of the book were that Americans had a higher standard of living than Europeans at the time and a lot more cars and consumer items. For those requiring more than the above potted summary, a copy of the book is held by the Alvis Archive Trust. The car was loaned by Alvis and there had been hopes that the loaned Alvis might have been a larger vehicle to cope with all the camera equipment etc.. Nevertheless less the ‘little’ red car was well received even if sales did not materialise.
For Doctor Who fans, their daughter starred in an early Dr Who series and married Tom Baker, the then Time Lord’.
Some very good photos of the car appear in the book showing life on the road in 1950.

A.P.Metalcraft, the Coachbuilders for the TB 14, bodied other post war cars and an evidence of their styling is shown on this rare post war Riley RMC. The drop down doors and style of boot has similarity.

Another mystery has come to light courtesy of the buses! Our sources of information come via fascinating routes.

A friend of a TA 14 owner is a bus enthusiast with publications about buses to his name. He is currently working on a book about Associated Coachbuilders of Sunderland. In the course of his research he came across phots of cars that had been bodied by this Company. This is where fellow enthusiasts really help. He sent it through to his friend who passed it on.

We had a note that this company may have bodied TA 14 chassis so now we have proof they did at least one and we have our first photos. Now the question is what happened to 20807, registration unknown and was she the only one they bodied on a TA 14 chassis?

Look back to last month’s Post and there is a photo of Woody 20826, so near yet so far!

Another car we are looking for is a Carbodies chassis 23377, GDK 922. The car passed from father to daughter in the 1960s and was sold on in the 1980s. Do you know if she is still around or where she is now, the former owner would love to know. She still shows up on the DVLA site as a white car and was last heard of in the Abingdon, Oxfordshire area.

With early owners. B/W photo of Eric Moon. Colour photo with subsequent owner Pippa.

Down at the end of ‘Lost Cars’ is an appeal from a gentleman in Toronto. He is looking to find a Mulliners Saloon, JYV 697 that he used to own in London in the 1968 and probably sold that year. Any information about this car’s fate would be much appreciated together with any information you may have on the other Lost Cars listed there.

Although the selling market is rather sticky at present good cars are able to find new homes. The unique Raine Saloon, shown in my penultimate Post and an attractive Mulliners Saloon, chassis 21399, LVT 346 (after 40 years with the same family) now have new homes. 5 cars remain for sale on the carandclassic.com site including the very attractive Special and 2 nice looking Mulliners. The Irish car was up for sale for £15 950 originally but is now open to offers.

eBay sell far fewer Alvis cars but there was a Duncan restoration project up for Auction this week with a ‘Buy Now’ offer of £6250 and unlikely to reach the Auction reserve. No Auction bids to date when only 6 hours left for the Auction. May pop up again for sale but not for the faint hearted!

When you were ready to put your Alvis up for sale in 1986 you no longer had to valet and prepare your car yourself if you were selling from home. Step forward the new Vehicle appearance conditioning operative. How had we ever managed without one?

Whilst the Miss Universe competition is still going strong and trying to adapt to the 21st century it should remembered that we had our own Miss Alvis in the past. Alvis were quite ahead of their time and the lady was elected by popular vote by the Alvis female employees.

The 1962 Miss Alvis, Miss Eileen Buddy, graced the front cover of the 1962 AOC Bulletin. During her term of office she performed several publicity duties and the Miss Alvis title meant that she was entered for the Coventry City Competition for Miss Godiva for the year. Did we ever have a Miss Alvis in the Parade as Lady Godiva?

Around the same time, owners of Alvis cars frequently benefitted from wise fettling advice from ‘Clink’. Based at Pump Farm in Colchester he could be relied on to always have a few old Alvis cars around the premises and a wealth of fettling knowledge that is invaluable to this day.

In 1962 he dispensed his wisdom on the topic of taking the head off your Alvis car and it makes interesting reading today.

The final paragraph of page 7 commends 2 jobs to do whilst the head is off, all wise words until the final sentence, just don’t try this at home!

The above Article shows the benefit of having the old Bulletins or they can be obtained in digital form from the Alvis Archive Trust up to 2014.

The search is on for paint shops to recommend for an owner who has reached that stage but back in the 1960s an intrepid Mulliners Saloon was driven from Northolt, Middlesex to Crystal Palace, National Alvis Day but the route was a little circuitous. A ‘slight’ deviation en route took the owner to the home of the then AOC Honorary Northern Secretary in Wigan whereupon the owner proceeded to paint the car in the street. Cut throat in those days to win a Concours prize. Sadly the painting did not produce a Concours trophy but a reasonable performance in the Driving Tests. Fast forward 2025 and she is still going strong under a new registration and following 50 years in storage until 2019.

Interest in Alvis cars has always been global and recently the Alvis Owner Club has been strengthening the service overseas. The AOC Bulletin highlights the growing number of countries with their own Club representatives. Australia, Germany, France, Ireland, Netherlands, North America, Switzerland, New Zealand. The International Director, Jan-Peter is based in Germany but covering the Globe. All contact details to be found in the AOC Bulletin. Useful for overseas owners to make contact and I can supply non Members with the relevant contact details for their country.

So wherever our Fourteens are all over the world we wish them and all Fourteen enthusiasts the very best wishes for 2025 and happy motoring.

Finally, if there were arguments as to who should drive the car this may have been the answer.

https://youtu.be/s_qy3vQasqQ

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

eileen4ta.tb14s@rocketmail.com