Alvis has a big following in Japan, in case you didn't know. That's great for the preservation of the cars, as another source of funds and enthusiasm for the marque, but a slight inconvenience today, because the wooden block that is used to improvise a choke when starting this 10/30 has been left in Tokyo. Without that, a cold-start is a two-person job, with one covering the trumpet of the carburettor with their hand while the other fires the starter motor. With that, the 1.5-litre 'four' comes to life with a pronounced clatter and vibration. Crucially, however, there is an electric starter, which immediately marks this out as a 1920s car with premium aspirations.
Having purchased the wartime Coventry premises of the American Holley brothers (later known for their carburettors, fitted to numerous muscle cars) in 1919, Thomas John set about building a vehicle that would provide big-car quality with the running costs of a more compact machine. In doing so, he was part of motoring's maturation in the 1920s, as a distinct 'mid-range' was formed between the Rolls-Royces and the Ford Model Ts. John worked jobbing engineering contracts in 1919, but by 1920 he was ready to make his first car, named Alvis in part as a reference to its aluminium pistons - the Latin vis means strength. Both the name and the engine design that inspired it were acquired from Geoffrey de Freville, an ex-Bentley showroom manager and advocate of lightweight pistons.
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Denne historien er fra September 2023-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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A Breath of Fresh Air- Alfa Romeo's exotic, V8-powered Montreal was like nothing the marque had made before, but can it compare with a Porsche masterpiece, the 911S 2.4?
The stereotype of the ItaloGermanic automotive rivalry is that the Latin car will be brilliant to drive, but poorly built and ergonomically flawed, while the Teutonic will be the opposite. Yet these 2+2 sports coupés both ran against orthodoxy. In the Montreal, Alfa Romeo created an outlandish-looking two-door more comfortable, more powerful and more refined than anything it had produced for decades. Meanwhile, Porsche continued to refine its back-to-front, austere and increasingly aged 911. Neither took a traditional development path, but both created thrilling and individual cars that have echoed through the decades.
Daring to be diminutive
AMC's Gremlin and Pacer, and Ford's much-derided Pinto, led America's response to the threat of imported European compacts
THE LONG WAY ROUND
There is a great tradition of overland trips by Land-Rover, but the tale of this 70s Aussie epic and the car itself was discovered by chance
Handsome cab
The Phantom V limousine marked the beginning of the end for coachbuilder James Young, but this Rolls-Royce represents the craft at its very best
DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES
Racing for their own F1 teams brought some drivers success and an enduring legacy. For others, it turned into a nightmare
20 30 LITRES CYLINDERS, 400BHP......AND MORE THAN A CENTURY OLD
Thunderous torque, flame-spitting stub-exhausts, white-knuckle thrills - and hopefully no spills - aboard a trio of Edwardian racing titans
ICON.
The three top-selling vehicles in the USA in 2023 were pick-ups, topped by the Ford F-Series. This is the truck that started it all
Blurred Lines
lan 'Del' Lines blended the V8 burble of Triumph's open GT with real practicality in his Stag V8 saloons and estates
Home of the brave
The innovative Silverstone proved a hit with keen amateur drivers. To mark its 75th, Healey's club racer returns to the circuit for which it is named
PLAYING ALL THE ANGLES
Alfa Romeo's wild RZ eschewed the jellymould styling of the period to offer a striking, wedge-shaped take on open-topped performance motoring