A RARE 1960s Alvis has sold for more than £35,000 at a recent auction near Honiton.
The beautiful 3-litre sports convertible – one of only 95 ever made – took pride of place at an extraordinary collection of 18 cars and more than 2,000 lots of automobilia, collected by retired businessman Tony Strong.
Now in his eighties and unable to drive many of the vehicles, Tony is emigrating from his farm at Luppitt to live with his family in New Zealand.
He wanted to sell his collection while still able to have some input in the sale. He also wanted to see the items pass into good hands.
“It’s heartbreaking, and not the easiest of days,” he said, prior to the sale of his 18 cars and more than 2,000 lots of Dinky, Corgi and Matchbox models, car badges, mascots, picnic baskets, enamel signs, tools and car spares.
“There’s a lot of emotion. None of this was really for sale. It’s my hobby. I was drawn to motoring. And there isn’t a single vehicle here that I didn’t want.”
It took Tony 12 long years to buy the 1964 Alvis three litre TE21 convertible.
“I knew where it was,” he said. “I kept trying to get it. It was owned by a man who put it into a showroom in Knowle, near Budleigh. That’s where I first saw it and tried to buy it.
“Then it disappeared and turned up in storage in Starcross. We got it sorted, and eventually it came my way.
“But by then I’d lost a lot of the use of my legs. Alvis used to make tanks. The engine and the gearbox are basically a tank. The throw on the clutch is so hard for me. And my knee and my spine won’t take it. It’s quite military really, and I’m not a soldier anymore.”
The two-day auction went well.
Tony’s daughter Krista said that the sale drew motoring enthusiasts from around the country – ‘some wonderful human beings’ – and that many of them understood what the collection represented.
“If someone takes it on that really loves it, that’s all it’s ever been about for Dad,” she said. “Money has always been second.”
Tony and his wife are off to New Zealand soon to join Krista and her family.
“It’s a new chapter,” said Tony. “I’m looking forward to it.”
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