Classic Alvis cars to tour isles

Members of the Alvis Owners Club will be touring Shetland next week in a magnificent selection of classic Alvis cars for their first ever visit.

One or two Alvis cars have participated in the Shetland Classic Motor Show in past years and the owners club hoped to visit the show in June but this clashed with the Alvis International Show in Windsor. So, undaunted, they brought forward their visit to explore the delights of Shetland and meet classic car enthusiasts in the isles.

Eleven cars are due to arrive with NorthLink on Monday morning and tour the isles from Sumburgh Head to Hermaness during their four-day visit. Their itinerary incorporates many tourism highlights and visitor attractions. Many of the owners visiting Shetland are from Scotland but there are also enthusiasts from England, Belgium and the Cayman Islands.

Alvis made cars from 1920 until 1967, competing in the upper end of the market, but they were not produced in large numbers so they are very exclusive.

Maurice Mullay, one of the organisers of the Shetland Classic Motor Show, said there was an air of quiet good breeding about an Alvis which expressed its owner’s taste. The cars were now desirable classics, with an enthusiastic following, and several of those coming to Shetland were TD 21 or TF 21 saloons, the last cars made by the company. Many had coach built bodies and the 1939 4.3 litre Razor Edged Saloon was one of only four built.

Mr Mullay said: “We welcome the visit by the Alvis Owners Club and their magnificent vehicles and look forward to showing them as much of Shetland as possible.

“The Alvises will provide an splendid appetiser for the feast of automotive delights coming to the Shetland Classic Motor Show on the first weekend in June. ”

The cars can be viewed at the south car park at Clickimin from 3pm to 5pm on Thursday.