Gallery

1946 Alvis TA14 Shooting Brake. Following the end of W.W.II Alvis quickly re-emerged with a revised range of passenger cars. Alvis had been kept busy building Military vehicles in the war so it was able to revert to peacetime products quite quickly. As with most other manufacturers there was no time, or money, to develop new products, therefore the new TA14 was really a freshened-up pre-war model.
Alvis had always sold well built cars with sporting pretensions. The TA14 offered little in terms of real performance but did come well equipped and beautifully finished. The TA14 used a 1892cc four cylinder engine and rigid axles at the front and rear. Although most TA14's were "Sports Saloons" a few carried drophead coupe coachwork, some being built by Tickford. The TA14 remained in production until 1950.

Image and information courtesy Motorbase.com
©2000 TAER Limited. All rights reserved

1947 and 1948 Alvis TA14 shooting brakes bodied by the UK coachbuilding firms of Barnards (left) and Lindley (right).

Courtesy of & copyright by Alwil Photo Studio

This 1949 Alvis recently sold at auction in the United States. The TA-series Alvis was a new model offered after the close of World War II from 1946 in two configurations, either a Mulliner-bodied saloon or a drophead coupe by Tickford. The car offered here, chassis 22687, has a certain aura of mystery in that, having been invoiced by the Alvis factory as a bare 'home market' RHD chassis, the name that appears on the guarantee card is that of a Mr. R. Stubbs of Denver.

To a member of the British aristocracy, a shooting brake was an integral part of the traditional hunting scene. The summer doors, from all appearances original, are a delightfully practical addition for the hunter, giving freedom of arm movement while taking aim with the favorite 12-gauge. Light summer showers are kept out by the addition of canvas and plastic side curtains. And what can we make of the radiator mascot? A fox in hunting pinks astride a hound, forsooth.

Photo and caption courtesy RM Auctions
Vintage Motorcars & Antique Automobilia Specialists

The Austin Sixteen Shooting Brake may well be considered the ideal vehicle for the countryman. It provides really comfortable traveling for four adults with generous platform space behind the rear seat for luggage or sporting equipment. The 'Sixteen' model line was produced from 1946 to 1947.

Caption & photos courtesy Austin Works

1946 Standard 12 estate car. On completion of the war the Eight, Twelve and Fourteen were quickly back in production, the saloons being joined by a timber estate car body version of each model (steel being in short supply).

Photo courtesy The Standard Motor Club (UK)

1947 Bentley Mk I with Harold Radford's 'Countryman Estate Car' coachwork. Eight were built in the late 1940's.

Information source: Rolls-Royce and Bentley - The Crewe Years,
a book by Martin Bennett, 1995
and DITTO's Rolls-Royce Pages

Given the 2001 Greenwich Concours' 'Concours Europa' award for Best Car to take on the Monte Carlo Rally, this Radford-bodied 1948 Bentley Mark VI shooting brake epitomizes the commercial coachwork that was fitted to many postwar British luxury autos in an effort to avoid the purchase tax.

Source: Popular Mechanics P.M. Zone

This 1948 Riley RM provided a sporting way beat high UK purchase taxes on non-commercial vehicles.

Courtesy of Classic Car Hire (UK)

1949 Lea-Francis shooting brake - Many a happy holiday was spent in this vehicle, we toured Scotland one year, then the next year we went all the way to Switzerland and back, drawing crowds at every camp site we stopped at. The car ended up with a nice bracket fungus growing on one of the sides and the interior smelled deliciously of leather and fuel leaks!

On one occasion Dad stopped to pick up a hitchhiker and an Austin Mini crashed into the back of the Lea Francis. The mini was totalled but all that happened to the LF was a snapped spar in a back door. So Dad took the opportunity of remodeling the back end using beech ash and perspex, and replaced the 2 doors with one lift up door. Try doing that sort of thing with a modern car using a standard carpentry set!

Photo and caption courtesy of Michael Gardner
 

Home > Gallery > British Woodies > 1940 to 1949 Top

<< 1930 to 1939   1950 to 1959 >>