It appears that the Nation’s Garages, Sheds and home Offices are getting sorted through and tidied up as a National Pastime. Apart from the overall pleasure of clean tidy spaces, useful material has been turning up.

One such example is that from an Allard Owner, ‘Nick’ who has manned the Allard stand next to the Alvis stand at the NEC. In sorting out his garage he came across the Driver’s Manual and Spares Catalogue for chassis 22772, registration no. JVU 839. With the neighbouring link at the NEC in mind he very kindly got in touch and offered to donate the items, hopefully to the current owner. Sadly we lost touch with that Mulliners Saloon many years ago and it is very unlikely she has survived. All is not lost as records show the engine went into chassis 22103 and we are now waiting to hear back to see if the engine still exists and the Manuals are of interest. Visit the Allard stand at the next NEC Classic Car Show and say hello to Nick for an introduction to our alphabetical neighbours. I did suggest he could buy a Mulliners Saloon to match the Manuals but Allard loyalty ran too deep.
Even better results came upon opening the Manuals with this copy page from British Motor Cars 1950/51? Was the owner contemplating buying a TB 14?

From Sweden come some superb historic photos resulting from a sort out before a move to new business premises.
These 2 photos are of Airflow, chassis 20804.

Another historic photo that has come to light is this charming one of chassis 22863. The child industrially cleaning the car recalls the day and is says she is watched by her brother and her best friend in her posh frock.

A further historic photo shows the first Mulliners, chassis 20553,  exported to Hubert Patthey, the Swiss Dealer. The car is being loaded onto the ship at Dover.

In the Covid 19 Spring Clean the rag bag contents may resonate with this poem from ‘Unbalanced Cranks’ (W H Charnock). The contents can cause nostalgic memories whilst polishing!

Once everything is smart, consideration can be given to adornment of the walls if appropriate. One excellent company that can be recommended is Whitewall.com in Germany. Primarily in the modern frame/frameless style on  acrylic, aluminium and quality paper.   They offer superb quality pictures in a range of modern styles and finishes with a very fast turnaround service. Have won the best photoprint lab. in the world award

For many years there was uncertainty as to how many of elegant Graber 2 door Coupe bodies were fitted to TA 14 chassis. 3 was the number agreed upon and no better confirmation could have been provided than from the great man himself in this letter from 29th April 1964. Recently some other European car researchers have tried to claim only 2 Graber bodied TA 14s so hopefully they will catch sight of this letter.

TA 14s continue to be available for sale on carandclassic.co.uk. 3 Saloons, 2 Dropheads and a rebodied car are on offer. In addition not on the TA 14 Section there are a Duncan Fixed Head Coupe and a nice looking Jones Woodie so scroll down and browse to whet your appetite.

The Mulliners TA 14 Saloon, chassis 22829 for sale at The Motorist.
This business based near Leeds is run by the grandson of Ron Spinks, owner of ‘Bluebell’ the delightful Tickford who has stayed in the family and now resides with his grandson. Bluebelll is definitely not for sale. Details of the Mulliners and the services offered at The Motorist can be found at themotorist.com.
Described as a Luxury Car Showroom selling Classic Cars, Workshop and Weekend Cafe this should be an interesting place to spend some time once the premises are able to reopen to members of the public.

eBay also has some of these cars for sale plus a useful quantity of individual spares including body panels and wood trims.

Spares still needed for the Mulliners in South Africa include;

A sunroof
2 Nave plates
Manifold
Horns
Air Filter for chassis number 20674.

A check back on the main alvisarchive.com site to the entry on the 17th May shows a very useful Article about throttle linkages and getting sidetracked, the latter ringing a particularly loud bell.

One colour photograph that came through was of a particularly interesting car bodied by APA Ltd and being the only one of its kind. This car, chassis 21908, has remained true to its original Coachbuilding and resides in Germany. The AOC German representative knows the car well.

Whilst APA Ltd is not a familiar Coachbuilder to TA 14 enthusiasts there is a link to more well known Alvis Coachbuilders as the AOC Technical Advisor has described below.

‘A.P.A. was ‘Austin & Perks Aircraft’. They were the last remaining pair who were originally Cross & Ellis and occupied the old X & E works on Stoke Row, Coventry.They got a goverment contract to make panels for Blenheim aircraft during WWII. Postwar they changed their name to A.P. Metalcraft making the Alvis TB bodies and the sports Fourteen we are talking about.

It is so interesting that the participation in the Eastbourne Car Show in 1949 has resulted in photograph of the original owner, K T J Bone (Standing to the nearside of the car).

An interesting book about the Coachbuilder Carbodies may still be obtained and will be an interesting addition to the bookcase particularly for those who own or have an interest in Carbodies. Carbodies – The Complete Story by Bill Munro. 200 pages and published by the Crowood Press. At a price of £19.99 in 1998 it must be a good coffee table tome. 6 used copies currently available on Amazon.

A Company that specialised in SU Carburettors has over the years expanded considerably. Burlen Ltd., based in Salisbury are well worth a look on burlen.co.uk. This is a carburettor in a 12/70 just back in Germany from Burlens.

They are still producing new SU carburettors and cover the fuel system. How is this for a fine display?

A true British approach to the current pandemic appears on Burlen’s home page.

‘Chin up world we can do this.’

For the car or person who has everything came an idea for a carpet rug for their car. In 1997 the owner of chassis 22979 shared a picture and information about the rugs he had commissioned. With modern computerised production it should be possible to have something similar to go on the wall?

Our friends across La Manche have been busy.

The latest essential style accessory for the well dressed Alvis Owner has to be as shown below.

Will next month’s Post show the plastic visor with appropriate Alvis Logo?

Also to Rally with your Face Mask an interesting ‘AVAC’ French Rally Route was devised to comply with Lockdown. Full details for anyone interested in participation are shown below.

Finally we have the 74th Anniversary of the production of the first TA 14 chassis on Wednesday 26th June. Suffice to say that this truly momentous event was shortly eclipsed in July 1946 by the work of a French automotive engineer who invented the bikini. ( the name inspired by the Bikini Atoll nuclear test).

Keep Safe.

eileen4ta.tb14s@rocketmail.com