Alvis Crested Eagle

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Alvis
Alvis Crested Eagle Charlesworth 6-Light-Saloon (1934)
Alvis Crested Eagle Charlesworth 6-Light-Saloon (1934)
Crested Eagle
Production period: 1933-1940
Class : Upper class
Body versions : Limousine , Pullman limousine , convertible , touring car
Engines:
Petrol engines : 2.15–3.6 liters
(53–78 kW)
Length: 4572-4801 mm
Width: 1689-1778 mm
Height:
Wheelbase : 3124-3353 mm
Empty weight : 1867-1880 kg

The Alvis Crested Eagle is a series of passenger cars from the English car manufacturer Alvis . A total of 602 vehicles were manufactured between 1933 and 1940.

The starting position of the company

At the beginning of the 1930s, Alvis was represented with four-cylinder models in the lower middle class and with small six-cylinder models in the middle class . With its traditional manufacturing methods and the high proportion of manual labor , Alvis came under increasing price pressure due to competing vehicle manufacturers, who were increasingly relying on large-scale production on assembly lines . On the other hand, in the years after the global economic crisis, with the increasing prosperity of the middle and upper classes, the demand for larger, more powerful passenger cars with a sporty or representative character grew.

Alvis reacted to this from 1932 by expanding the model range, which continued to develop until 1940 and at times seemed rather confusing with its numerous variants. This model offensive began in 1932 with the sporty Speed ​​20 and in May 1933 with the luxurious, depending on the variant, representative and sometimes opulently equipped Crested Eagle .

The model name stands in German for “the bald eagle”, that is, an older, high-ranking animal, which in heraldry is often used as a symbol of power, strength and superiority. The model name is based on that of the mid-range model Silver Eagle introduced in 1930 .

Common features of all vehicles in this series

All cars have in common a water-cooled six-cylinder in - line engine with hanging valves installed behind the front axle and a separate chassis with a powered rear rigid axle suspended from semi-elliptical longitudinal leaf springs. Common to all vehicles and progressive for this time is the use of a front independent wheel suspension with a semi-elliptical transverse leaf spring, which Alvis introduced in 1933 for the Crested Eagle and Speed ​​20 SB models . All variants have a uniform track width of 1422 mm, as it was introduced in the Speed ​​20 SA from 1932 and later also used in the upper mid-range for the upper-class models Speed ​​25 , Alvis 4.3 liter and the Silver Crest .

All Crested Eagle models were available ex works in two versions, as a four-door saloon (primarily for the self-driving owner, in German regularly referred to as a sedan or - out of date - as inner handlebars) or as a sedan (primarily for chauffeur operation and always with a total of six side windows, mostly referred to in German as a Pullman limousine). The latter usually has the longer wheelbase of 3353 mm, the former predominantly the shorter of 3124 mm.

As has always been customary in the company, Alvis had all the bodies manufactured externally, the "saloons" regularly at the bodybuilder Charlesworth Motor Bodies , the "limousines" at Mayfair Carriage . In addition, customers could also purchase their Crested Eagle as a pure rollable chassis with all drive components, but without bodywork and interior fittings, in order to have it individually clad by a bodybuilder of their choice. Special bodies are known from at least eleven different bodybuilders, including four-seater tourers from REAL ( RE Alltman Ltd. ), two-door convertibles from Vanden Plas , Cross & Ellis , Carlton and Charlesworth as well as other individual items from Martin & King , Samuel Holbrook Ltd. , Salmons and Mayfair .

The individual model variants

Alvis Crested Eagle as Drophead Coupé with a special body by Vanden Plas from 1933
Alvis Crested Eagle as a coupé, originally from 1933, redesigned in the 1950s by the coachbuilder Paramount

The Alvis Crested Eagle was available in different versions, which differ mainly in terms of the year of their creation, the engine variant and the wheelbase. As a chauffeur limousine or as a 6-light saloon with a total of six side windows and a wheelbase of well over three meters, the model series belongs to the luxury class. With regard to the partially opulent interior, it is also classified in the luxury class. On the other hand, the entry-level variant had such a small six-cylinder engine that, depending on the body structure and equipment, it could also be assigned to the upper middle class. The source situation is sometimes unclear and sometimes contradicting the individual technical details and the production periods.

1933 to 1936

In May 1933 the models TD and TE appeared . According to the standard work by Culshaw / Horrobin, the TD has a wheelbase of 3353 mm and a length of 4801 mm, while the TE has a wheelbase of 3124 mm and a length of 4572 mm. The TD was then available with two different engines, a 2.5-liter with 2511 cm³ displacement (bore × stroke = 73 mm × 100 mm) and a 2.8-liter with 2762 cm³ displacement (bore × stroke = 73 mm × 110 mm). The latter gave an output of 77 bhp (56.6 kW) at 3920 / min. from. The TE was then equipped with the 2.15-liter engine of the Silver Eagle , which had a displacement of 2148 cm³ (bore × stroke = 67.5 mm × 100 mm) and made 72 bhp (53 kW). According to Culshaw / Horrobin, all three engines received their mixture via three SU carburettors. The top speed of the TE and TD with the smaller machine was then 113 km / h, that of the TD with the larger engine was 118.5 km / h. The TE is set according to these authors in the year of its appearance, the TD until 1934; thereafter there was temporarily no Alvis Crested Eagle in 1935 and 1936 .

However, more recent research by brand lovers published in March 2014 on the basis of vehicles that have been received has come to a different conclusion. Accordingly, the TD was available as 19.82 (this is the specification of the taxable horsepower) from 1933 up to and including 1935, but only with the 2.5-liter engine. The TE was also manufactured from 1933 up to and including 1935, but both as a 16.95 with a 2.15 liter displacement and as a 19.82 with the 2.5 liter engine. According to this source, the usual standard was a mixture preparation with only one Solex carburetor .

According to recent publications followed 1936 versions Crested Eagle TF and TG , the first time with the 2.8-liter engine, the Alvis 1935 Model Speed 20 SC had introduced in Crested Eagle default, however again only with a single Solex - instead of the three SU carburettors of the sports model. The TF was now the variant with the shorter wheelbase of 3124 mm, the TG the long version with 3353 mm.

1937 to 1940

According to both sources, Alvis built the Crested Eagle from 1937 in the four versions TJ , TK , TA and TB . With the track width unchanged, the vehicle width increased from 1689 mm to 1778 mm. The TJ and TK models continued to use the 2.8-liter version of the six-cylinder, the other two models, however, the drilled-out version with 3571 cm³ displacement (bore × stroke = 83 mm × 110 mm). Equipped with three SU carburettors as standard, the latter has an output of 106 bhp (78 kW) at 3800 rpm. and thus corresponds to the engine of the Speed ​​25 SB sports model launched the year before . According to the classification according to tax horsepower, Crested Eagles motorized in this way sometimes also have the additional designation 25.63 . The Crested Eagle TA and TB equipped in this way enable a top speed of 134.5 km / h, while the two versions with the 2.8-liter engine reach 118.5 km / h. For the factory saloons with a body by Charlesworth , it was now possible to choose between a version with six side windows and a steeply sloping rear on the one hand and a version with four side windows and an elegantly flowing rear on the other.

According to the more recent publications, Alvis only produced the TA and TB variants in 1937 and replaced them for the last two years with the slightly revised TC and (again) TD variants , whose engine corresponded to that of the Speed ​​25 SC sports model introduced in the same year .

According to this source, the variants TJ , TA and TC were now the long versions, while Culshaw / Horrobin, conversely, identify TK and TB as such.

The regular series production of this series ran in 1939 due to the war without successors; only one copy was finished in 1940.

Unusual one-off pieces from the factory and trivia

Even with the series vehicles, due to the wealth of variants and the high degree of manual work with individually coordinated equipment details, hardly any vehicle is the same as another. Out of the total of 602 vehicles, however, three vehicles in particular stand out due to their unusual bodies.

A Crested Eagle chassis with an unknown chassis number, which was first registered in 1934, was given an armored car body for testing purposes before the outbreak of World War II. Although the vehicle did not go into series production in this form and has not been preserved, it indirectly anticipated what would become the new mainstay of the Alvis brand after the Second World War .

The Alvis Crested Eagle TA 25.63 with the chassis number Ch13764 from 1937 has a body version made only once as Sedanca DeVille ; The vehicle has been preserved to this day and is in Germany, where it is being extensively restored.

The Alvis company used the last completed Crested Eagle , which is no longer preserved today, with the chassis number Ch14959 as a workshop and tow truck with an appropriately adapted body until the 1950s.

The Crested Eagle 4-Light-Saloon with the chassis number Ch13271 from 1938 took part in the 1965 long-distance rally and adventure trip London – Cape Town, at the end of which it was abandoned and finally cannibalized.

Todays situation

Of the original 602 vehicles in this model series, only 51 are known as of March 2014. 42 of them are completely preserved, mostly with their original body, many of them extensively restored and drivable. Four other vehicles have been preserved as specials , mostly racing-oriented conversions from the 1950s and 1960s. Five other vehicles only exist as chassis or part carriers.

The relatively low rate of vehicles received results from their structure and market positioning. With the exception of a few brands such as Rolls-Royce , large, heavy representative vehicles are not very popular as collectors' items, but rather are overshadowed by the more popular sports models. Many parts of the Crested Eagle , namely the complete drive technology and parts of the chassis, correspond to those of the more popular models Speed ​​20 , Speed ​​25 , Alvis 3½ liter and 4.3 liter or can be converted for these. Many Crested Eagles were therefore cannibalized between 1945 and the 1970s to replace decrepit or damaged components of Alvis sports models. In addition, the heavy, sweeping superstructure of the Crested Eagle , as was customary at the time, rests on a substructure made of ash wood, which can warp over the decades or rot after accidents or if stored too moist. Since even many parts of the series body are individually adapted, a quick exchange of body parts is hardly possible, especially since none of the body construction companies involved at the time is still in existence today.

Some vehicles in this model series therefore received completely new bodies in the post-war years, some as lighter open sports or touring cars, occasionally as coupés as in the case of the Paramount conversion shown, and others as station wagons with Woodie body.

Alvis Crested Eagles are so rarely sold and auctioned that no reliable prices can be determined. They also depend particularly heavily on their respective state of preservation, the vehicle history and the body and engine variant.

literature

  • David Culshaw / Peter Horrobin: The Complete Catalog of British Cars 1895–1975 , Veloce Publishing, Dorchester, United Kingdom, 1997, ISBN 1-874105-93-6 , pp. 35–40 (English)

Web links

Commons : Alvis Crested Eagle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b G. N. Georgano, in: Nick Baldwin et al., The World Guide to Automobile Manufacturers , Facts on File Publications, New York, USA / Oxford, United Kingdom, 1987, ISBN 0-8160-1844-8 , pages 24 f. (English)
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n The Alvis Crested Eagle on the website Alvisarchive.com , accessed on October 6, 2015 (English)
  3. ↑ a b c David Culshaw / Peter Horrobin: The Complete Catalog of British Cars 1895–1975 , Veloce Publishing, Dorchester, United Kingdom, 1997, ISBN 1-874105-93-6 , pp. 35–40 (English)