Alvis isn’t a name you hear very often these days – unsurprising, as the company hasn’t built any cars for fifty years. Now though, Alvis is back in business, and it’s returned with a series of ‘Continuation’ models which will go on display at the London Classic Car Show.
These Alvis Continuation cars are no modern sports cars – instead, they’re faithful recreations of some of Alvis’ most iconic vehicles. Built as new from the ground up, they stay as close to the original formula as they can, upgrading only where necessary with modern brakes, a cleaner and more efficient engine, and greater reliability.
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“Our continuation cars are as close to the originals as we can get,” said Richard Joyce, managing director of The Alvis Car Company. “We have had to make some modifications to ensure they comply with current Indiviual Vehicle Approval regulations but essentially the idea is to give owners the same supercar driving experience that owners had when the cars were new.”
Alvis will be displaying several original cars at the London Classic Car Show, and taking orders for Continuation replicas. Among these is a stunning prewar beauty - a 4.3 drophead coupe with Lancefield coachwork from 1937. You could also choose a hard-topped 4.3 Sports Coupe from 1935, with coachwork by Bertelli.
If you fancy something a bit more modern, you could order a 1966 Graber-bodied Alvis TF21, built in the company’s penultimate year of trading. Or for something truly unique, there’s the Powys-Lybbe Special – named for its creator, Antony Powys-Lybbe and created as a race car for the iconic Brooklands track.
Alvis is keen to point out that these cars were the pinnacle of performance back in their glory days. “…when you bear in mind that the 4.3 Tourer had a 0-60mph time of 11.3 seconds back in 1938, there’s no denying these were the supercars of their day,” said Joyce.
These recreated Alvis cars take a leaf out of Jaguar’s book. The British manufacturer has recreated nine of its special edition XKSS D-Type roadsters, rebuilding them to original specifications with only minor concessions to keep them safe in modern traffic. It did the same in 2014 with six classic E-Type Lightweights.
Would you buy one of Alvis' Continuation models? Let us know in the comments...