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The
Front Wheel Drive 1928 - 1930 |
| Following the successful use of front wheel drive for racing, Alvis produced road cars using this system, the first manufacturer of any size to do so. This was an incredibly courageous move because the technology involved was radical and difficult. The cars met with a fair degree of success initially, but then sales fell off, it has been said due to opposition from the insurance companies because of the cars' unconventional design. (Third party insurance became compulsory in the UK in 1928.) Sales also dropped because they appealed to a limited and volatile market segment, that for high-performance sports cars. The FWD cars were rather noisy, complex and required owners to learn different driving techniques from those then regarded as normal, to extract the best from them. |
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This does not prevent them from being much sought after today; they are fast, good-looking and spectacular cars. Technically, the FWD was extremely interesting, featuring a gear driven overhead camshaft, inboard front brakes and all-independent suspension in addition to the front wheel drive. Cylinder dimensions were 68x102mm, 1482 cc, the four cylinder engine was turned back-to-front to drive through a 4 speed gearbox and substantial non-constant velocity joints. These latter resulted in some "fight" at the steering wheel when cornering. A conventional right hand gear change lever was used, in contrast to many other early and some later fwd cars where the gear lever migrated to the dashboard. |
| Front suspension was by four transverse quarter elliptic springs on each side, whilst at the rear single longitudinal reversed quarter elliptics operated in conjunction with rear-hung radius arms. Many were fitted with superchargers; this instrument increased power from 50 bhp to 75. Two chassis lengths, 8'6" and 10', were available, for two or four seater open coachwork, although some saloons were also made. The short chassis types were FA and FD FWD, the long ones FB and FE. FC referred to a few special racing versions with fixed cylinder heads. An eight-cylinder model, based on the contemporary racing cars, featuring twin overhead camshafts and supercharger, was also listed. About a dozen were made, and the straight eight FWD is now the Holy Grail of Alvises. One racing version survives, although the four cylinder models are surprisingly numerous. Production of the FWD totalled some 150 cars. |
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