1935 Alvis Speed 20 SC Vanden Plas Three Position Drophead Coupe

A late ‘SC’ specification, 2.7 litre version, which incorporates various improvements over earlier models, the main one being a larger, 2762cc engine, replacing the 2511cc used previously, as well as many changes to steering and suspension, and the adoption of 19″ wheels. This example is in need of significant restoration work and is being sold as a project, but having said that, a great deal has been done already, including absolutely excellent ash frame and panel work, documented with photos, preparation for engine overhaul, with work such as re-metalled big ends and great deal more excellent-looking work.  There are new pistons, a new clutch, new camshaft, engine gasket set, etc, and many other new parts with the car. Invoices from the 2000s, for work done and parts supplied amount to about £27,000. As mentioned above, in the file are photos of work progressing, along with tax discs and insurance documents from 1953, instruction manuals and parts books, and a buff log book from 1950. We have applied to have the original registration number, BYF 325 re-instated, and hope for this to be in place soon.  Lots to do, but a rare and potentially very rewarding opportunity, which has been started in a very positive way.

Price. £19,500.

Snippets:  Swedish Heiress & Secondhand Dealer

The first owner of the Alvis was the Danish Countess Hella Frijs (1886/1974), her family connections include Karen Blixen (cousin) of Out of Africa fame.  Hella was the daughter of Count Mogens Frijs whose family owned one of the largest estates in Denmark as well as land in Kenya. 1908 Hella married her cousin Frederick Krag-Juel-vind-Frijs who died in 1926 aged just 43 leaving Hella with their 3 children Allette, Niels & Erhard.  During WWII Erhard became a volunteer pilot & lost his life in 1940, age just 27) when his aircraft was shot down in aerial combat over the Karelian Isthmus.  The countess herself was a keen sportsman – she owned & flew her own plane – it was rumoured that she was to take part in the 1934 Australian Centenary race – a distance of some 11,300 miles – she didn’t!  She also trained & rode her own racehorses – primarily in the steeplechase.  We have managed to find a photo of the Countess in the Alvis which was taken in 1938, the car was just 3 years old and she was 52.  It would appear that the Countess kept the car until after WWII – she served as an ambulance driver during this period and in 1946 the car was sold.

The 2^nd owner was Albert Sidney Painter who live in a railway carriage house in Bognor Regis!!  He was the owner of a successfully furniture polish & silicone car polish factory who in 1951 sailed to America on the Queen Elizabeth to take part in a “Dollar Export Market Mission”.  His fleet included a 1908 Humberette & he later bought the motor yacht “Jennifer Anne” which he registered at his American address of Casey Key, Florida.

 From 1950/1995 the Alvis was with the Pudding King – Mr. Ernest Onians – he made his name by taking waste food from restaurants and processing it at his mill in Suffolk to turn it into pig swill – a very successful enterprise.  Whilst travelling around Suffolk selling his produce he found many of his customers had paintings & furniture which they needed to sell to pay their bills.  Ernest ended up with a substantially collection which he literally stuffed in to his house & sheds at the mill.  After one of the sheds burnt down, he decided that maybe a valuation was in order but that was as far as he got.  When he died in 1994 the artworks had not been researched & as a result of a quick sale the estate only attained £2million.  Within this collection was a small painting The Sack of Carthage which was “attributed to Pietro Testa” & was bought by a London gallery – it was cleaned, restored and its true identity revealed as the Destruction & Sack of the Temple of Jerusalem by Nicholas Poussin – it was sold to the Rothschild foundation for £4.5m.  The original auctioneers where sued by Ernest’s family in 1999 and settled out of court in 2002……  The moral of the story is “catalogue your artwork”.