Engineering an Alvis rebirth

In the case of the Alvis Car Company, the old adage that they “don’t make them like they used to” isn’t strictly true. The 103-year old British marque has put a series of its iconic models back into limited production, using the original blueprints and the same traditional methods.

Unlike some ‘reborn’ car brands there is a continuous thread that connects the modern company to its roots that were laid down in 1919. After Alvis was absorbed into British Leyland in 1965, much of what had been the road car side of the business was split off as an independent company called Red Triangle.

Red Triangle’s job was – and still is – to provide servicing and support for the existing Alvis models. But the company’s capabilities slowly expanded to include full ground-up restorations. In 2008, the company bought back the Alvis trademark, and two years later it announced a series of continuation models. These were initially based around the pre-war 4.3-litre cars, but the range has since expanded to include a selection of post-war 3-litre designs.