Alvis Fourteen

‘Twas the night before Christmas,
When all through the house
Not a creature was stirring,
not even a mouse
The garage’s occupants
all settled down
Hoping that Santa himself would come down.

Hope everyone has their anti-rodent clickers in place in case some small furry creature does not know it should not be about.

Well here we are again, another year drawing to a close. Our Fourteens have passed the 3/4 century milestone of the first cars venturing out in the world in November 1946. A far longer period of time than Alvis actually made cars, leaving aside the current continuation models.

We have several spare part searches going on and if anyone can help see the email address at the end and I can put you in touch. Perhaps garage sort outs during the pandemic may have produced some parts scheduled for sale next year.

1 An Alvis accelerator pedal rubber is sought, small item but important if you are trying to keep the authenticity of your Fourteen.

2. 2 people are looking for a pattern for an original Carbodies hood and in particular details of around the back window. Perhaps some has an old hood tucked away that could be loaned and then we should also be able to help other owners who don’t have an original hood. The photo below shows the correct side profile of a Carbodies hood.

3. An owner is restoring a Tickford but it came to him without a hood and some other missing bits. He is particularly keep to buy or have made the pram-irons that give the Tickford its identifying image. Does anyone have an old set or copies of the pattern. SVW Services made a pattern of ‘Aunty May’s pram irons many years ago but for them to make a new set is very expensive. He would also like to visit a Tickford TA 14 in the Yorkshire area to look at a car that is complete to take photos and measurements.

This collection of photos come from stills taken from films having TA 14s in them. Some are known but some have number plates that probably need more advanced technology than the home tablet. Can you recognise any and let me know so that the records can be updated.

A Mulliners Saloon is featuring strongly in the current series of ‘Father Brown’ on Freeview channel 20, the car is seen in most episodes set in the ‘Cotswolds’.

Car and Classic continues to have a good selection of Fourteens for sale on their website at carand classic.co.uk so worth checking out. One new addition is the very nice Mulliners Saloon, chassis 22829, KLH 473 that has now become available. A former stablemate of the well known Tickford, Bluebell. Also we understand that Chassis 21697 is now for sale in Uruguay.
Anyone with a nice TA 14 Drophead for sale that is not yet on the market should make contact as there is a possible purchaser keeping his eyes out for one.

This delightful picture of a former family Woodie shows a car with an interesting back story. She is chassis 20618 and the records describe the Coachbuilder as being a local carpenter. She is recorded as the Fourteen LNU 61 and the next car in the registration List is LNU 743, chassis 20853 that was built by Reeve and Kenning. It appears there is a good possibility that she is actually a Reeve and Kenning coach built car. An excellent write up of the car from the day of being brand new to her sad demise for spares appears in the AOC Bulletins Nos 526 & 527 of 2010. Well worth digging out old Bulletins or reading from the Alvis Archive disc, still available from the Alvis Archive Trust. Captures the true essence of motoring in the 1940s-1960s with all its ups and downs in the days before Health and Safety as this extract demonstrates.

LNU 743 featured on the AOC Club stand together with the restored black TB 14 chassis 23579.

Now with the nation settling down for the Christmas holidays we can perhaps go back in time 3/4 century ago. The first Post war London Motor Show had just been held at Earls Court. It was not easy to order a luxury vehicle after the War as the precarious state of the nation’s finances meant the majority of production should officially be designated for export.
The following gives a flavour of the times and those lucky few who had been able to place an order for a TA 14 would have been able to spend Christmas eagerly awaiting delivery of the latest new modern car.

These extracts of information from the time allow us a window back to those early Fourteen days.