Description

1948 Alvis TA14 Saloon

Good running order; recent new battery, tyres and stainless steel exhaust

Dating from July 1948, this Alvis TA14 comes with precious little history but the EUT 425 registration number implies that it would have been first registered in Leicestershire. An old MOT from 2002 was issued in Middlesex while an old V5C shows that by 2004 the car was with an owner in Builth Wells. The trail picks up again in January 2012 when the car appeared at an auction in Norfolk where it was bought by an Italian gentleman resident in Rome.
The Alvis spent the next eight years in Italy, returning to the UK in 2018 and going to an Alvis Club member up in Helmsley near York, from whom our vendor acquired it earlier this year. Recently fitted with four new tyres, a new battery, fresh anti-freeze and a stainless steel exhaust, it also has a central driving lamp fitted with powerful LED bulbs for safer driving at night.
We are told that the car is in good running order although the fuel gauge is not to be relied upon and the exhaust will need realignment as it knocks against the chassis over bumps (hence the steel wool padding seen in the photos). It certainly started promptly and drove nicely as we moved it around for the photos on what was a very cold and foggy morning.
In presentable condition all round, this aristocratic machine is being offered here at a very modest guide price and is only in the sale because the vendor now has his sights set on a vintage Rolls-Royce and does not have enough garaging for both. Bid vigorously now and his loss could be your gain…
For more information contact James on 07970 309907 or email james.dennison@brightwells.com
MODEL HISTORY
The Alvis TA14 was the first car to be produced by Alvis Cars after World War II. A development of the pre-war 12/70 chassis but wider, lower and stiffer, it offered an improved ride, sharper handling and more interior space.
Suspension was by semi-elliptic springs front and rear, with Marles cam-and-peg steering and Girling rod-actuated brakes, while the 12/70’s troublesome wire wheels were replaced with stronger discs. Power came from a slightly enlarged 1,892cc version of the 12/70 engine driving through a four-speed synchromesh gearbox.
With 65bhp on tap the TA14 was good for 75mph and was well received in the press. Autocar called it "sure-footed and lively with a degree of all-round refinement that is impeccable," while the car’s "excellent tractability, well-spaced gear ratios and powerful brakes" also came in for praise. The Motor was impressed by its "flexible engine, roadholding and silence" while Motor Sport paid tribute to "a rather beautiful unit gearbox."
Some 3,300 examples were sold before it was replaced by the TA21 in 1950, of which well over half were Mulliner-bodied saloons, the rest being two-door drophead coupes bodied either by Tickford or Carbodies.