Registration - WYR 8

Chassis No. - 26035

M.O.T. - Exempt

Odometer - 38,193

This remarkably well-preserved and rare motor car has been in the same family ownership its entire 65-year life and is the desirable Drophead Coupé version of Alvis’s well-regarded, elegant three-litre model. The model has excellent design credentials, it was the first production-model Alvis to be designed by Carrosserie Hermann Graber of Switzerland, the sleek bodywork then coach built by Park Ward in England. During its first three decades or so, this four-seater Alvis was well maintained and regularly used by the family, including making trips to Italy. Some 25 years ago the car was put into dry storage and has remained garaged and unused ever since. Consequently it is now in need of recommissioning, the vendor describing the 3-litre, 120bhp, six-cylinder engine, Borg-Warner three-speed automatic transmission, electrics, bodywork, metallic grey paintwork and red leather-trimmed interior as ‘average’, though we feel that assessment may be a little harsh in some respects, with areas such as the hood and carpets looking particularly unaffected by the passage of time, having possibly been replaced at some point. The car is offered at No Reserve and has the added attraction that it comes complete with the cherished registration ‘WYR 8’. These cars rarely come up for sale, let alone one which has been hidden away for more than a quarter of a century.

Alvis launched the Three Litre in 1950, marketing it as being ideal ‘for the sheer joy of driving’. The first model was the TA 21, the saloons bodied by Mulliner and the dropheads by Tickford, and both powered by the six-cylinder, three-litre engine which Alvis would use - with some developments - until production ended in 1967. It continued Alvis’s thoroughly-deserved reputation for quality, understatement and elegance. In 1951 - and for that year only - Alvis also produced the open two-seater TB21, based on TA21 running gear. The TC21 appeared in 1953, available as a saloon only. It was highly specified, with sunshine roof, adjustable front seats, heater and air conditioning unit, and the 2993cc engine was upgraded to produce 100bhp. Although production continued until 1955, the TC21 was effectively supplanted by the TC21/100 ‘Grey Lady’, unveiled in October that same year. This had an improved exhaust and increased engine compression ratio and could achieve a guaranteed 100mph. Offered in saloon and drophead variants, it was better received but soon came to be viewed as outdated in design-terms, at a time when American car design was impacting on British marques. In late 1958 Alvis introduced the TD 21. Featuring completely new bodywork, courtesy of Graber and built by Park Ward, this was on the surface an entirely different machine to its predecessors, though it retained their high specification, deep pile carpets and walnut facia. The engine was further uprated, to produce 115bhp, and the car was available with either a four-speed Austin-Healey manual gearbox or Borg Warner three-speed automatic transmission. An updated version of the TD21 - the TE21 - succeeded the TD21 in 1963, and was produced until 1966, when it was succeeded by the short-lived TF21, the final model built by Alvis Cars, who ceased production entirely in 1967.

In summary:

• A rare opportunity to acquire a well-preserved example which has been dry-stored for some three decades
• One family ownership from new
• An exciting recommissioning project, offered at No Reserve and with cherished registration ‘WYR 8'