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500 July 2006 TIiE BULLETIN No. 500 JULY/AUGUST 2006 Contents Alvivaci ty .. .............. ... 290 Bul1clin500 ... ...... .. ...... .... 292 TheAGM ... .. .. 292 Rare Coachwork Di splay ..... .. 295 Alvisi ng inlhe Home COUIlIÎCS in Ihe Fifties an d Sixti cs ......... .... 303 11110 the I-I can of Spain .... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... ... ... ... .... ... ... ... .......................... ... ...... .... .. .. .. .... .312 The Stra ight Eight FWD GP Alvis .. ... ... ..... .. ................................ ... ... ....... .. .. ........ .. 317 The Quccn's BirthdayTriblite .. ........... 318 Threc Li tre Power Outputs ...... .. .. ..... .. .. ... .... .......................... .... ........................... 319 Lcuers 10 th e Editor ... ... .. ... .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .. ..... .. ... ... .... .. .... ... ... .. .. .... .. .. .. ... ...... ..... ... ............... 321 A lchoholic Coolant Challenge .... .... 332 Conditions ofGuarantee, Tcrms of Business, Etc .......... .. 340 Thrcc Lit re Throttle linkage .... .... .. ........ ......... ......................................... 342 Car Doors .. .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. ... ... .... ......... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... .... ... ... .. .. .. ...... ... ... .. 343 1 Did il My Way ... .. .. ................... ................................. .. ...... 347 The Case orthe Missing Credits .. .. ... ........ .. ..... ......... ...... .. .. ... ... .. ... .. .... .. ............ .. ... ......... 353 The Transport roI' the Inner Circlc .............................. 358 Specd Twenty GY 177 ... ... .. ...................... .. .. ..... .. 361 Tell Yca rs o r Alvis Owncrship ......... ... ... .. ............................. .. ... .... .... .. 362 A TA 14 Shootin g Brakc . ... ........ 363 A Racing Grey Lady .... ... 365 Book Rcvicws .............. .. .. 366 BlIsman's Holiday .. .. 371 Section Notes .. .. .. .. .. 379 Nc\v MClnbcrs ................. .................... .. ... .. .. 382 Caver Pic/lire: fi'ly appropriale Jar Bul/elin 500. here is Ricltard lfildmon /'a cillg his Speed Tll'ellly ar Spa. Photo: via Richard lVadmall Cel/Ire Spread: il sri!! from lite ji/m The Channing People '. See article 0/1 page 353. Photo: viti Robert j-lickll/all Display Ad"cl'liscntcnts: a"ailablc on li per issue or annual (six issue) basis. Anllual rates: f450.00 per full page. 1:275.00 pel' ha lfpage and f.150.00 per quarter page. Per issue rates arc 1:100.00 per page; fGO.OO l'cr ha If page and .05.00 per quarter page exeept for quarter p.lge ad"ertiselllCllls for persan<l l car sales for which a special rate off7.50 applies. Artwork COStS exlra ifnol supplicd. 289 Vou are now holding in your hands a copy of Bulletin number 500. This is a colossal achievement for the Club and it is a milestone that few other clubs have passed. Those adventurous souls who founded the Club in 1951 could surely have had no idea that such a number would ever be achieved and in the austere early Nineteen Fifties, the glossy printed Bulletin which started in 1961 would have appeared merely a dream. Almost without a break The Bulletin has appeared regularly throughout the Club 's 55 year history and it continues as a mainstay ofthe Club, recording our activities, the history ofAlvis cars and many other details about the Club, its members and their cars and the Alvis Compàny. Production of The Bulletin has moved from stencils and Gestetner duplicating machines, to modem printing aided by computers, scanned images, text transmitted around the world by email and images supplied through email or CDs. Modern technology has transformed the way that The Bulletin is pro­ duced and has made communications between members, worldwide, a quick and easy process. This technology is also partly responsible for the fact that your editor sits at a desk on the other side of the World from most members and 1 believe that you would hardly know from The Bulletin that this was so. 1 believe that The Bulletin is extremely important to the life ofthe Club and ever since 1 have been a member 1 have always looked forward to the arrivai of each issue. 1 still look forward to each issue even though 1 am now the one producing them. 1 have a long line ofbound issues of The Bulletin on my shelves and 1 often take them down to look through them or to check on sorne fact that 1 am missing. A complete set of The Bulletin is an invaluable source of entertainment and information. The continuity of The Bulletin has been ensured by the fact that in 55 years of the Club there have only been nine Bulletin editors. They are: 1952-3 Richard Birks; 1953-60 Ken Day; 1960-63 Gp. Capt. Edwin Shipley; 1963-69 Ray Spain; 1969-77 Brian Ledwith; 1977-87 Eric Stapleton; 1987-93 Ben Lenthall; 1993-97 John Price Williams. 1 had hoped to include in this issue a series of anecdotes by my distin­ gui shed predecessors on what they remember of being editor but most are too modest to put pen to paper. Perhaps later they can be persuaded to write something of their experiences. Over the years the content of The Bulletin has changed. The early Bulletins were mainly about the Club 's own activities and included the sort of material that is now catered for in the Calendar. In the past there were mainly tips on keeping the cars on the road and history was largely ignored. Now we have a situation where most cars have been restored and are no longer everyday cars and members perhaps have more time to devote to investigating the history oftheir cars. Full-scale restoration articles are more common than hints on how to get you home and ofcourse the subject of originality is ofprimary impor­ tance now. This shift in emphasis shows the way that the Club and its journal have changed with the times and how right this is. There are many new pressures on the old car movement and the way that we are allowed to use our cars and this is reflected in the pages of The Bulletin. ft is inevitable that more legislation will appear but luckily our movement is weil supported and well represented and 1sincerely hope that there will be no reason why, in the future, members will not be celebrating the arrivaI of Bulletin number 1000. J.N.B.C 290 BULLETIN 500 John Wheelcy and Julian Collins rcfcrrcd in thcir spl en did FiJry }ears ofA/vis EntllllsiasmlO the failurc of the Clu b in ils carly days to pfaclllce rcgular comllltlll ical ion \V ith mcmbcrs ca ll sÎng a rail in Illcmbcrshi p and the proposaI to close the Club. Il \Vas not the lack oran editer but the lack of il I11 cmbcr who waulel ensure a rdiable printing and di stribut ion se rvice. Il \Vas thallks 10 Bernard Stokes and his \Vi re, who fillcd Ihi s vital role, that a rcgll iar Bul letin \Vas a major ractor in the stcady growlh orthe Clu b 10 1000 lllcmbers by [960. Ano thcr ca rly mcmber, G/CaplaÎn Shipl cy, \V ham wc rcmc1l1ber for producing tlle fïrsl prinl cd Bulletin hopill g !hat Ihi s would not place 100 much Dra burdcn on Bernard Stokes. With the initi aIs G. B. S. Shipl ey pointed out that Bernard, not he, should be the editol". Un der Ben Lenthall 's editorship the Bullet in \Vas further improved but his business life alTectcd rcgul ar publi cation and limely noti ce of club activiti es 10 I11 cmbers. It \Vas here that Nick Walke r sOl vcd the dOlY in 1993 with the Calendar whi ch providcs a regu lar and vitOlI service to Illembcrs to thi s day. No\V that thcAlvis nallle has been losl wilhin BAE Systems, owners of Alvis cars wo rld \V ide arc ex trclll ely fort unatc 10 have Red Triangle Autoscrvices Ltd as the home of Alvis ca rs. Indeed 1 be li cvc no other owncrs of Brit ish ca rs now out of production can look to support ofthis kincl. To day all owners of Alvi s ca rs and those int crestcd in them, wherever they li ve, arc supported by organi sat ions providing reglll arcomJ1l un icat ions on running Alvis cars and Alvis acti vit ics. KEN DAY THEAGM The Sixt hAGM oflheAlvis Owner Club Limited was hele! on March 19'" 2006 at The J-/oliday '"", Stratford-upon-Avon. StOlrting at 2.30p.l11 . This year 52 members attended the sixth Annllal Ge neral Meet ing oftheAlvis Owner Club Limited. Apolog ies for absence \Vere received From Ken and Sheila Day, Ernest and Ma rj ori e Shen ton, David Lowe, Iain Ga llo\Vay, Julian Col lin s, DOl vid Larkin and Tim Anderson. Th e minutes of the previous AGM were approved and signee! as a truc record. Propose e! by Arthur Fairburn; seconded by Brian Nea le- all present agrecd. The Dircctor's Report and Financia l Statements for th e year ondee! 3 1.10 .05- \Vc re rcceived and adoptod. Michael Harco urt proposed and MurrOlY Mac lean scconded that the accoullts be approved, ail present agreed. 3. The followillg amendments to the Club Bye.la\Vs: - ,. in paragraph 3(Council ) de lete "Membership Secretai)''' and ii. de1ete"Publi c Relation Officer" and substilll te"Colllmunication and Marketing Offi cer" Ill. in paragraph 7.n . delete the lasl se ntence "Ovcrsens members shall be rcprcsellted on the Council by the Mcmbership Secretary" \Ve re proposed by Ken Ca meron, scconded by Ri chard Crabtree and ail prese nt agrecd. 292 ALVIS DAY Rare Coachwork Display -21" May 2006- Michael Ha rrisoll S Si/ver Cresl /-Io/brook sa/ooll and George Bllt/in S llell/dell Plas Pillar/ess sa/ool/. PI/Olo: Chris Slormr A ft c r last year's Internatio nal di splay ofsal oolls, thi s year the East Anglia Region organisin g CO l1l ~ milice optcd to explore the coachwork Iheme furth cr, \Vith the tapie o f " Rarc Coachwork". ln addition, il bcing the !ïfticth ycar orthe TC 10 8/G, the car whi ch c llcctivcly cxtendcd the li fe ofAlvis car product ion by ano th cr ten years, these cars \Vere specially sought o uI. John Fox ably o rganiscd the latter. Ahnost uniquely,Alvis ncver made bodies. O ne may aimas! go 10 say thallloAlvis is "standard", A il \Vc re coachbuilt by outsidc spcciaiisis.
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