Description
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I am reliably informed that this this 12/ 50 TE was sent to Australia in 1926. Complete cars were subject to very high import duties so in line with most other cars imported to Australia it was bodied locally then put to work as a taxi and the file includes a picture of its original coachwork.
By 2002 it was in a fairly run down state when its last Australian bought it from a man who’s father acquired it 1953 following its involvement in an accident!
It comes with a 14 page illustrated report and a further three pages showing 28 photos documenting its subsequent restoration and the file includes a collection of invoices for items bought during the process.
The car was then bought by a very experienced veteran and vintage car engineer from Wales who gave me the following information :-
There was no hood on the vehicle when I bought it and I had the hood made in Australia using Andrew Mc Dougal’s Alvis 12/ 50 which I used in the 1993 FIVA rally in Tasmania as a pattern. ,
During the time we were using the vehicle in Australia we had problems with the hardening on the gearbox teeth breaking up
The gearbox was removed and re built using new bearings and new set of close ratio gears the opportunity was also taken to fit an aluminium clutch cover to help gear changing,
The car was also fitted with new king-pins and bushes to pass the Australian equivalent of our MOT.
When I got the car back in this country I fitted an oil filter and modified the pressure relief valve as recommended by Mickey Radford in the Alvis manual.
In 2014 to improve the performance I fitted a new camshaft and timing gears. The car has done less than 2000 miles since this work.
What I can say for certain is that both the Australian restorers and its current owner certainly knew what they were doing as the car has been very well put together as any inspection and test drive will verify.
12/ 50s are very special cars and it always surprises people who are new to them just how much useable power Alvis got out of a 1645cc four cylinder engine. This is a very fine vintage sporting tourer with strong performance, good handling, precise steering and four wheel brakes which encourage spirited driving (within the speed limit if course) so as well as being a practical family car it is also a lot of fun to drive.
It is also very good value for money!
