Probably the most significant, and outwardly visible, part of the restoration was
to be the body, such as it is. The original has been reunited with the 1923 dashboard,
and retired. Before this, however, exact copies of the individual parts were made
using well seasoned Ash. I say an exact copy, but you will see from the accompanying
photographs that in one respect it is far from exact and it is here that I must make
another historical diversion to explain, if not justify, my actions.
During the summer of 1923, the car had a series of successes in sprints and hill-climbs
around the country, but one may speculate that the car had, like many things in life,
something of an ulterior motive about it, and I believe the clue is in the name.
It was called Racing Car No.1, (I have a copy of the despatch record proclaiming
the same), yet clearly wasn’t the first Alvis racing car. It is generally agreed
that this honour goes to the 1921 car that Harvey campaigned in the Coup des Voiturettes
and elsewhere. HP6161 was, I believe, built for two reasons: Firstly, to publicise
the introduction of the new 12/50 model and secondly, to act as a mobile test bed
for the cars that ultimately raised the profile of the marque to such heights that
they have passed into Alvis folklore. Why, for example, would you lighten the chassis
and other components to the extremes that have been taken, and then fit a dry sump
system which adds weight on a sprint car? Calling HP6161 Racing Car No.1 was, I
submit, a clever piece of early PR hype, and it worked.
The iconic picture of Harvey in No.1 at East Harling Heath on 16th August 1923 shows
a car that hasn’t been seen in that form for over 63 years – I refer of course to
the lack of the Edwardian-style bolster tank. Both this picture and a slightly later
one taken at Morecombe in late September 1923 show Racing Car No.1 with an inboard
tank, and this led me to the obvious question: When was it changed? The pictures
on pages 504 and 505 of TVA2 show the car with the bolster tank, knock-on wheels
and, most tellingly, a white circle on the offside of the body – all essential requirements
for Brooklands. What follows, although speculative, is supported by enough circumstantial
evidence to have a ring of truth.
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