Lot details Registration No: EXK 80 Chassis No: 14298 Mot Expiry: Exempt
With the 4.3-litre, introduced in August 1936 at the same time as the SB Speed 25, the developmental line that began with the first Speed 20 back in 1932 reached its pinnacle. From that earlier year, this succession of sports / touring chassis had steadily established a peerless reputation. Of 198 examples of the '4.3' that left the Coventry factory before wartime conditions stopped private car production, this is the only chassis ever fitted with this pattern of striking 4-door fully-opening drophead coupé bodywork by Abbey Coachworks.
The first owner of this imposing car was A Erwin Goldschmidt (1917 - '70), then of Oxford, and it seems that it returned with him to New York. From 1960, Alvis Owner Club records list just 4 owners here in the UK, including the current one, who purchased the car in 2001 and has carried out and commissioned a great deal of work to lift the car up to its present mechanical and bodily condition.
The 6-cylinder ohv engine (92 x 110mm, 4387cc) has a seven-bearing crankshaft and triple SU carburettors. With a 6.25:1 compression ratio, maximum power output was quoted as 137bhp. A single plate clutch takes the drive to the all-synchromesh 4-speed centre change gearbox, a unit that is generally accepted as the best gearbox ever made before WWII. Independent front suspension of the transverse leaf spring design was a feature of the finely engineered and top quality chassis. Braking was vacuum servo-assisted. The dashboard contains the fullest array of instrumentation, and Lucas P100 headlights add to the already impressive frontal appearance of the car. Period road tests record that the 4.3 Alvis was the first standard British saloon car accepted to be capable of achieving the magic 100mph.
Alvis factory records show that this chassis was delivered to London Alvis agents, Messrs Oxborrow & Fuller Ltd in February of 1937. Messrs Abbey Coachworks of Acton, London NW10 were selected to clothe chassis no 14298, and it must have been rare indeed that luxury and panache were so happily married. It was 12 months later that the car was complete, available for sale and first registered (in London) as EXK80.
In 1930, Abbey Coachworks Ltd rose from Compton Sons & Terry, whose origins in the north London coachbuilding firms' melting pot were linked back to Jarvis, and to Compton & Hermon. Abbey would in 1937 take over Martin Walter Ltd of Folkestone. Martin Walter's 'Wingham' style of fully-opening cabriolet clearly influenced the type of bodywork made for this particular Alvis chassis. Abbey's build quality was first rate, and this body includes many remarkable and original features. The glass pane of each rear door window, metal framed, is in two parts that slightly overlap. The forward one falls vertically, as normal, whilst the rear one moves downwards at 45° to clear the intrusion necessary to accommodate the rear wheel arch.
With the Alvis is a large file of invoices detailing work carried out and expenditure over the past dozen years. In addition, there is an original handbook.
In short, this 4.3-litre Alvis is a prime example of the leading chassis and coachwork designs of the glamorous immediate pre-war epoch.
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