Alvis Silver Eagle

Click Here for Full Screen Image - Click Here to Download Image

This Alvis Silver Eagle saloon was first registered on 21st March 1936. Its first owner was a prosperous butcher, William Hal of Dalkeith. Three years later the car passed into the hands of a local mines manager, a Mr White who kept the car until 1961, selling it to a student architect, WHM Small who in turn sold it to Mr Searle from Essex. By 1964 the car was in the hands of Mr Molyneux who took it to Devon where, later that year, it was bought by Phill Robertson of Cowbridge, South Glamorgan in whose hands it has remained since - a period of over 53 years.

Mr Robertson bought the car in a semi-derelict state and spent the next four years restoring it. There is a thick file of paperwork from this period, including much correspondence with suppliers and enthusiasts. In its first year back on the road, the car covered 12,000 miles, a sure sign of a good restoration.

Mr Robertson used the car over the following years – including trips overseas - to such an extent that, by 1995, it required further rejuvenation and the car spent another four years in the workshop. The work done in these two periods and during Mr Roberston’s ownership, can be judged from the invoices on file, which make wonderful reading: a 1971 receipt for a 1’6” piece of 2” x9” mahogany supplied by J. Brace & Sons, Timber Merchants of Ongar, Essex. Price? 72p!

This 1936 Silver Eagle is now in the perfect condition – that sweet spot between concours and ‘oily rag’. The paintwork has a beautiful understated appeal – not too glossy but certainly not flat - and the leather seats exude a welcoming air the moment you open the door. Performance from the straight-six 2,362cc engine is equally impressive – bags of torque and a top speed of over 75mph.

The Silver Eagle is always been a top-quality car that is smooth, powerful and disarmingly discreet. This is a lovely mellow example that shows the love and care that has been lavished on it for over half a century. Nice...