Introduced for 1932, the Alvis Speed Twenty was a fine quality, sporting car in the Coventry marque’s best traditions.

Carried over from the preceding 20hp Silver Eagle, the 2,511cc, six-cylinder, overhead-valve engine produced 90bhp on triple SU carburettors, an output sufficient to propel the touring-bodied versions past 90mph.

The low-slung Speed Twenty chassis was all new, addressing criticisms levelled at the ‘tall-in-the-saddle’ Silver Eagle, offering levels of grip and controllability matched by few of its rivals.

‘When cornering it is not only free from rolling – the low build sees to that – but the layout is such that it clings to the intended path at quite unexpected speeds, and when centrifugal force does eventually produce a skid it is of the rear wheels only and easily controlled,’ observed Motor Sport’s tester.

Acquired by the vendor, via Martin Johnson in Cheshire, as a restoration project in 1977, the car offered here is a very early example of the first (SA) series...