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The Alvis TC 108G is a British sporting car made by
It was therefore decided to make the Graber style (October 1955 Paris Motor Show car It was widely reviewed as perhaps 'the most beautiful car in existence') the basis of a new model and the rights were bought resulting in the TC 108G. A contract to build the new bodies was placed with bus builder Willowbrook of Loughborough. The car was only available as a two-door, four-seat saloon made by forming metal around a traditional wooden frame. Graber later resumed production —probably at the request of Alvis— but modified the shape of their subsequent bodies.
The Willowbrook body proved to be too expensive and few were sold. The deal was terminated and a new contract placed with
Alvis cars
Alvis Car and Engineering Company Ltd was a British manufacturing company in Coventry from 1919 to 1967. In addition to automobiles designed for the civilian market, the company also produced racing cars, aircraft engines, armoured cars and oth ...
between 1956 and 1958. Coachbuilders Graber
Graber (also known as Carrosserie Hermann Graber) was a coachbuilder based in Wichtrach in central Switzerland. Between 1927 and 1970 the firm supplied coach-built bodies for fitting on the chassis of various European and US auto-makers. G ...
of Switzerland had produced some bodies for the TC21 that were much more up to date than the standard offering built for Alvis by Mulliners (Birmingham)
Mulliners Limited of Birmingham was a British coachbuilding business in Bordesley Green, with factories in Bordesley Green and Cherrywood Roads. It made standard bodies for specialist car manufacturers. In the 19th century there were family ties w ...
.
Mulliners production was becoming devoted to Standard Triumph
The Standard Motor Company Limited was a motor vehicle manufacturer, founded in Coventry, England, in 1903 by Reginald Walter Maudslay. For many years, it manufactured Ferguson TE20 tractors powered by its Vanguard engine. All Standard's tract ...
—which purchased them in 1958— and Alvis's body supply had been getting difficult. Alvis's supplier of expensive drop head bodies was Tickford
Tickford is an automobile engineering and testing business in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, known for tuning and such products as the 140 mph Tickford Turbo Capri.
Under the name Salmons & Sons and their Tickford products the firm has ...
and they had been bought in 1955 by David Brown and his Aston Martin and Lagonda
Lagonda is a British luxury car brand established in 1906, which has been owned by Aston Martin since 1947. The trade-name has not had a continuous commercial existence, being dormant several times, most recently from 1995 to 2008 and 2010 to 2 ...
bodies had priority.New English body
It was therefore decided to make the Graber style (October 1955 Paris Motor Show car It was widely reviewed as perhaps 'the most beautiful car in existence') the basis of a new model and the rights were bought resulting in the TC 108G. A contract to build the new bodies was placed with bus builder Willowbrook of Loughborough. The car was only available as a two-door, four-seat saloon made by forming metal around a traditional wooden frame. Graber later resumed production —probably at the request of Alvis— but modified the shape of their subsequent bodies.
The Willowbrook body proved to be too expensive and few were sold. The deal was terminated and a new contract placed with Park Ward
Park Ward was a British coachbuilder founded in 1919 which operated from Willesden in North London. In the 1930s, backed by Rolls-Royce Limited, it made technical advances which enabled the building of all-steel bodies to Rolls-Royce's high st ...
Alvis having bought Graber's drawings, jigs etc. The new car was designated the TD21 and it entered production in October 1958.
The 2993 cc engine was uprated slightly to produce at 4,000 rpm by modifying the cylinder head and fitting twin SU carburettors. Suspension was the same as the TC 21, independent at the front using coil springs with leaf springs at the rear.
Production
:Chassis — 31 produced. Chassis numbers 25909-25945 (31 made -- some of these chassis numbers were not used).Kenneth R. Day. ''The Alvis Car'', Lewis Cole & Co., London, 1967, pp.170 :Bodies — Willowbrook: 16 ::::Graber: 8 (1955), 11 (1957)Notes
References
Further reading
* *External links
{{Commons category, Alvis TC 108 Graber * http://alvisarchive.com/z/ TC 108G Cars introduced in 1955