This Coventry-based motor manufacturing powerhouse saw Bentley and Rolls-Royce as competitors, but this car is one of the final examples of a distinguished line of luxury Alvises.

The company was just as adept at making high-end passenger cars as aircraft engines for the war effort, but after the Second World War and with a factory lost in an air raid, the company began to concentrate on armoured military vehicles.

The 3-litre Series was their only new post-war car design. The TE 21 started life as the TA 21 in 1950 which went through various updates through the fifties and sixties. The TE 21 had a modified six-cylinder engine, independent front suspension and coachwork designed by Graber of Switzerland and built by Mulliner Park Ward, a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce.

They were well-built, reliable and stylish vehicles, but there was only one more update after the TE 21 to create the TF 21 before production ceased due to the high price tag of the cars that just couldn’t compete with the likes of the Jaguar E-Type. 

The Alvis brand was revived in 2012 and currently builds ‘The Continuation Series’ which includes a TE 21-style drophead coupé.