Coys Auction - True Greats
Royal Horticultural Halls
Elverton St
Westminster
London SW1
Tuesday 7 December 2010
The name Alvis was always synonymous with craftsmanship and performance. The final models produced by this very British manufacturer were no exception. The origins of the TD21/TE21/TF21 series date back to 1953 when sales of Alvis’ three litre, ladder frame chassis cars, such as the TC21/100 Grey Lady, were falling and its planned all-new V8 saloon was scrapped at huge financial cost. When production of the three litre cars ended in 1954, that might have been the end of Alvis cars for good had it not been for Swiss coachbuilder Graber. For some time he had successfully re-bodied Alvis chassis with his own elegant and modern designs but in 1953, Alvis reached an agreement to build the Graber cars under licence. Initially Loughborough coachbuilder, Willowbrook, built the first model, the TC108G, but it was expensive and only 17 examples were built in three years. Production cea