Author Topic: Barrett's #267 - Alvis Speed 20 saloon bodied postwar (Read 3435 times)

barrett · « **on:** January 21, 2012, 10:58:46 AM »

what is the make and model of this car? Who built the coachwork (I don't know)? When was the conversion carried out?. One point for the car and year, and another if you can prove who built it

barrett · « **Reply #1 on:** February 06, 2012, 11:46:04 AM »

Better late than never, the experts' time

bentleybob · « **Reply #2 on:** February 06, 2012, 04:49:41 PM »

HRG 1500 Aerodynamic?

barrett · « **Reply #3 on:** February 07, 2012, 08:52:32 AM »

Nothing to do with HRG, this is a much larger car

bentleybob · « **Reply #4 on:** February 07, 2012, 10:54:41 AM »

Alvis?

barrett · « **Reply #5 on:** February 08, 2012, 07:53:57 AM »

Yep! Locked for you to come up with the model and the year the conversion was carried out

bentleybob · « **Reply #6 on:** February 09, 2012, 05:03:07 PM »

If I recall correctly it is a Speed 25, which was converted in 1949. If only I could remember which magazine had this information in it...

barrett · « **Reply #7 on:** February 17, 2012, 09:25:09 AM »

Well, that's not quite right but it's very close! I think you deserve a point because it's really not obvious what it started life as. In actual fact it's a Speed 20. Registered in 1950 so I suppose the conversion could've been done in '49.

I'll move this upwards again to see if anyone can find the coachbuilder, meanwhile well done bentleybob!

bentleybob · « **Reply #8 on:** February 18, 2012, 06:59:13 AM »

Thank you for the point for approaching the truth

woodinsight · « **Reply #9 on:** February 18, 2012, 09:12:01 AM »

The coachbuilder may have been Grocott of Stoke-on-Trent 'known only for having built a rather dramatic two-door saloon body on the chassis of a former Alvis Speed 20SC tourer' - according to my source.....
I haven't seen pictorial evidence though.

barrett · « **Reply #10 on:** February 18, 2012, 10:21:40 AM »

Very interesting!

For what it's worth, the car was for sale in 1952 in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire

woodinsight · « **Reply #11 on:** February 18, 2012, 10:26:54 AM »

Interesting - I'm 90% certain this is the same car as the Grocott-bodied one.
The ad mentions that it is an Alvis Speed 20 SC model and the year ties in with the period Grocott would have been active.

bentleybob · « **Reply #12 on:** February 18, 2012, 10:45:09 AM »

I think it is exactly that advertisement in MotorSport that I recalled....

D-type · « **Reply #13 on:** December 18, 2013, 04:57:20 AM »

Someone newer to the forum may not have noticed this one

Carnut · « **Reply #14 on:** December 18, 2013, 05:24:08 AM »

Quote from: D-type on December 18, 2013, 04:57:20 AM

Someone newer to the forum may not have noticed this one

Maybe we should call it solved as bodied by Grocott?
I don't think Barrett will be attending to this puzzle any time soon as he seems to have abandoned all his babies..

barrett · « **Reply #15 on:** December 19, 2013, 03:55:42 PM »

I am still here (just)! I've been so busy this year with work and messing about with my own cars I've not had any time for AP, but I still pop in to have a quick look most days. I'm going to try and dedicate a bit of time each week for puzzling as I have lots of interesting stuff lined up for new puzzles.

In the meantime, I came across another photograph of this car although still with no confirmation of the coachbuilder. It lists it as a 1935 chassis, rebuilt in 1950

Carnut · « **Reply #16 on:** December 19, 2013, 06:31:07 PM »

Welcome back and we look forward to some great new puzzles!

Paul Jaray · « **Reply #17 on:** December 20, 2013, 07:37:11 AM »

Ben tornato!

Carnut · « **Reply #18 on:** June 19, 2018, 09:02:28 AM »

Trying to tidy up some really old puzzles on this board.
Any chance you could do something with this one Alessandro?

barrett · « **Reply #19 on:** June 19, 2018, 09:27:41 AM »

Moved to Solved, but I'd still love to see a confirmation of the coachbuilder

barrett · « **Reply #20 on:** April 30, 2020, 06:55:21 AM »

Another image of this mysterious car

barrett · « **Reply #21 on:** April 30, 2020, 07:48:57 AM »

Just doing some more digging on this. Here is an Alvis 4.3 with coachwork modifed by Dr John Grocott of Stoke-on-Trent. This is the same Grocott who built the wild Jaguar Special seen here:

https://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/2018-48/solved-mjw-282-grocott-jaguar-1959/msg476429/#msg476429

I think we can ascertain that Grocott was simply an enthusiastic amateur rather than a fully-fledged coachbuilder. The entry in Nick Walker's book quoted by Woodinsight above suggests there was an advert for an Alvis Speed 20 saloon with a 'body by Grocott' but I believe it is incorrect to assume this was an actual firm. Sadly, that book is rather loose with the facts in a lot of cases.

The geography ties up, too. It makes sense that a car built in Stoke on Trent would later end up with Paramount cars in Swadlincote, about 35 miles away.

nicanary · « **Reply #22 on:** April 30, 2020, 08:19:07 AM »

That's almost Corsica-like. Reminds me of the pre-war Triumph Dolomite Alfa copy.

barrett · « **Reply #23 on:** June 19, 2024, 06:19:38 AM »

So, I have now seen photographs of Grocott's Alvis saloon, and it definitely isn't this one, which leaves this still unknown. I've removed Grocott's name from the heading.

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Author Topic: Barrett's #267 - Alvis Speed 20 saloon bodied postwar (Read 3435 times)