Car Show Classic: 2021 Alvis TE 21 Continuation Graber Super Coupé – Same Again, Please

For the grand finale of Bespoke British Week, we’re going to look at something even more unusual: the “continuation” cars. Very rare and very desirable models (the two don’t necessarily always overlap) like this impossibly beautiful Graber-bodied Alvis special are just nigh on impossible to come by, no matter how deep one’s pockets are. Luckily, there is a solution: just make new ones.

We’ve had an Alvis on these pages pretty recently, so I won’t reinvent the red triangle – just a couple of pointers will have to do. Back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, you could get your 3-Litre Alvis with a standard two-door coachwork, but if you wanted to stand out and happened to have a healthy Swiss bank account, you could ask Hermann Graber to design one for you.

In fact, for a while in the late ‘50s, Carrosserie Graber was a semi-official coachbuilder for Alvis, as the British firm was having a world of trouble finding a reliable source of bodies in the UK.

In 1958, Alvis managed to get Park Ward to produce a standard design (authored by Graber) for the Alvis TD 21. This deal lasted for the next decade and the cars did not change much, save for the appearance of stacked quad headlights circa 1963.

The bespoke Graber specials, on the other hand, carried on in parallel and had a very different feel from the handsome, but somewhat staid Park Ward cars. No two cars were identical. Headlights could be quads or not, the grille could be wide or narrow, the tail could have vertical or horizontal lights – and a four-door was even available.

The final batch of Alvis chassis were shipped over to the Canton of Bern in 1967 and Graber delivered the very last of his trademark specials, a white drop-top, in early 1968. The exact number of cars clad by the Swiss master is unknown, but a few handfuls are definitely still about – many in their country of birth.

And therein lies the problem: with (at best) fifty later-model Graber specials in existence, most situated half a world away, what is a well-to-do Japanese Alvis otaku to do? For decades, the only answer was to join some sort of Alvis club and keep waiting, patiently, for an opportunity to buy one of those attention-Grabers (sorry, couldn’t help it).

When Alvis quit the carmaking game, they did so in a very orderly fashion. The company’s tens of thousands of blueprints, copious amounts of NOS spares, stacks of correspondence and photo archives were tidily preserved and organized into Red Triangle, a successor company dedicated to keeping Alvises on the road.

In the mid-‘90s, Red Triangle was bought by Alan Stote, a passionate Alvis enthusiast who figured that there might be a (small) niche market for more Alvis cars, provided they could be made in the same way as they had been – only the best would do. It took a while for production to actually resume, but by 2012, Alvis were making cars again. One or two a year at most, but that was better than anything since 1967.

Of course, a few concessions would have to be made. These included fuel injection, seat belts, disc brakes, backup lights and a few other relatively minor updates, but the idea behind a “continuation” is that it’s a true follow-up to the actual TE 21s that were made in the ‘60s. In other words, it’s not a replica, it’s the real thing. At least, that’s the claim…

Apparently, there are enough spare 3-litre engines in stock to carry on making these continuation cars for a good while yet. This particular car also used a spare chassis it seems, though the suspension has been upgraded (I’m not clear how exactly, though). The aluminium-over-ash frame body was entirely recreated by hand from scratch, using a model car as a reference but incorporating the new owner’s desires as well. That might include those *kof*questionable*kof,kof* cupholders, for instance.

I’m guessing this kind of “new” car would not necessarily be allowed on the road in every country. But just the idea of a brand-new Graber Alvis is pretty exciting, especially when it’s this well-crafted. The car has been amply documented online by its maker, so I won’t go into it here, but suffice to say they definitely put in the hours (5000 or so, according to some sources) to make it look this good, cupholders included.

Rear seating looks just as illusory as any ‘60s grand tourer worthy of the name, so at least there it’s got that going for it.

The 3-litre engine, thanks to a few tweaks and the aforementioned EFI, now produces 172hp, i.e. about 40 more than it would have done in 1964, and mated to a 5-speed gearbox (as it would have been originally), which I’m sure is more than sufficient to propel this car with the appropriate élan.

Alvis now have made several continuation cars. Most are pre-war designs, featuring the marque’s legendary 4.3 litre engine. This TD 21 Graber coupé was the first ‘60s design of the continuation series, apparently. A couple more 3-Litres have been made since this one, including a TF 21 Park Ward and a Graber cabriolet, the latter having also been ordered by a Japanese customer.

It’s a rather expensive and time-consuming proposition, though. This car apparently cost £325k (about US$425k) and took well over a year to make. Think of it like a house more than a means of transport.

It’s an insane amount of money, but some people will blow that much on far uglier machines. At least it brings a touch of beauty and exoticism to any street it happens to glide on. Welcome back and do continue on, Alvis. One gem at a time.

 

Related posts:

 

Car Show Classic: 1965 Alvis TE21 – Give Me Aristocracy Or Give Me Death, by T87
Car Show Classics: 2019 Concours d’Élégance Suisse (Part Two – Post-war Stunners), by T87

Automotive History: British Deadly Sins (‘60s Edition, Part 1): Alvis TD/TE/TF 21, by T87