1954 Alvis TC21/100 Grey Lady Saloon

Description

A super example of this rare sporting saloon; current owner 15 years; over £75k spent on improvements and upgrades; matching numbers; one of only around 650 made; find a better one!

Introduced in October 1953, the Alvis TC21/100 Grey Lady was aimed at the sort of chap who might also have a Bentley MkVI or a Lagonda 2.6 on his shopping list. A chap like the Duke of Edinburgh perhaps, or Sir Douglas Bader, both of whom succumbed to the charms of the Alvis. While a steady chap like the Duke might opt for the Mulliner Saloon version, a raffish sort like Bader could opt for the Tickford Drophead Coupe.

With a high compression cylinder head and taller final drive ratio, the Grey Lady was credited with 100bhp and a headline-grabbing 100mph top speed. Great pains were taken to ensure that the engine was as smooth and flexible as possible, with a seven-bearing crankshaft and minutely calculated cam profiles and pushrod damper springs to keep mechanical chatter to a minimum. The engine proved so successful that it was to power all subsequent Alvis models until they ceased production in 1967, reaching its most powerful form in the 150bhp TF21 in 1966.

The TC21 was only in production for three years, being replaced by the TC108G in 1955 by which time around 750 had been sold, around 650 of them Mulliner Saloons.

First registered in Coventry in November 1954, PWK 39 was originally owned by Alvis themselves, either for use as a company car or as a demonstrator. The subsequent history isn’t clear but by 1983 it was owned by the appropriately named Mr J Alvis of Winford, near Bristol, invoices showing that he had the car fully restored by Frenchay Garage of Bristol at a cost of almost £9,000 – a very substantial sum which would have bought you a brand new Ford Granada, Porsche 944 or BMW E30 3-Series at the time.

Mr Alvis kept the car for the next 22 years before selling it to a Mr D Salter of Harrogate in 2005. He continued to look after it well, including fitting a new set of wire wheels plus a fairly major engine overhaul by Tim Walker Restorations of Aylesbury who also rebuilt the carbs, overhauled the braking system and balanced the prop shaft among many other jobs. It also had a partial repaint and a tidy up of the interior plus much other work by Pool Lane Classics of Kirk Hammerton, a quick tot up of the bills showing that around £10,000 was spent during Mr Salter’s five-year ownership.

Our vendor acquired the car in March 2010 and promptly sent it to Red Triangle for a thorough check-over, Crypton tune, a full 96-point service and a pair of new rear suspension springs. Red Triangle serviced the car again in 2012, tidied up some interior aspects and fitted a period HMV radio and speakers under the dash. They continued to look after it until 2016 with bills on file for this six-year period amounting to just under £22,000.

Over the next nine years the car was looked after by Earley Engineering of Kingstone, a quick tot-up of the bills showing that another £55,000 was spent on improvements. The big spend was In 2021/2022 when the car received a £35,000 bare-metal respray, interior refurbishment and full mechanical overhaul by Earley Engineering to get the car in tip-top order for the wedding of our vendor’s daughter.

Other highlights include:  a new set of Michelin XVS 185/15 radial tyres (which we are told have transformed handling, ride and braking); LED headlights; modern flashing indicators (front indicators are set into the sidelamps); new radiator; Kenlowe electric supplementary fan; air horn (“she is much faster than she appears to ordinary motorists!” says the vendor); fitted fire extinguisher; battery cut-off switch and trickle charger wiring; modern period-look radio with iPod connection; custom-made fitted waterproof cover.

Most recently, in March 2025 of this year the car went back to Earley Engineering for a major service and tune-up which cost just under £2,000 and the car has only covered some 50 miles since (see photos for details).

The vendor states that the car now goes as well as it looks: “It is easily capable of 85-90mph sprints but shouldn’t be held at that speed for long as it is a pre-motorway era car (wears bearings too much). It cruises easily at 50-70mph and the spring rates are set for a smooth and supple ride on British A-roads. It holds good temperature at all times due to the uprated cooling system. The odometer shows 41,600 miles which we believe to be genuine (based on the mileage of historic MOTs) and in the last 15 years has only clocked up about 3,500 miles on dry roads.”

As you can see in the photos and the video, this Alvis is in really super condition throughout and has clearly been maintained regardless of cost in the current 15-year ownership. You would be hard-pressed to find a better example, let alone at the modest guide price suggested.  

Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907 – [email protected]