Showrooms of the Alvis Car Company, Kenilworth

Image: © A J Paxton Taken: 18 Sep 2021

Retro luxury cars can be seen in the showrooms of the Alvis Car Company on Common Lane, Kenilworth. The Alvis Car and Engineering Company Ltd made luxury cars from 1920 to 1967 at their factory on Holyhead Road in Coventry, though car production stopped during the second world war owing to bomb damage and the demands of the war economy. From the mid 1930s Alvis had also been making aircraft engines and armoured vehicles and these came to dominate production, aero engines during the war years and armoured vehicles from 1947. Alvis was bought by BAE Systems in 2004, which discontinued the Alvis name and the red triangle marque. For a timeline of Alvis history, see Grace's Guide to British Industrial History here https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Alvis . From 1968, parts and servicing of Alvis cars were provided by a company called Red Triangle, set up by former Alvis employees. It took over the Alvis car design plans, customer records and stock of parts. In 2009 it acquired the Alvis car trademarks; the distinctive inverted red triangle marque is displayed outside the factory and showrooms, though it is not visible in this photo. It began making classic Alvis cars built to the original plans, modified to meet 21st century safety and emissions standards. See the Wikipedia article on Alvis here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvis_Car_and_Engineering_Company and also the company website here https://www.thealviscarcompany.co.uk/#home-64 .

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