A super example of this rare sporting saloon; current owner 15 years; over £75k spent on improvements and upgrades; matching numbers; one of only around 650 made; find a better one! Introduced in October 1953, the Alvis TC21/100 Grey Lady was aimed at the sort of chap who might also have a Bentley MkVI or a Lagonda 2.6 on his shopping list.

A chap like the Duke of Edinburgh perhaps, or Sir Douglas Bader, both of whom succumbed to the charms of the Alvis.

While a steady chap like the Duke might opt for the Mulliner Saloon version, a raffish sort like Bader could opt for the Tickford Drophead Coupe.With a high compression cylinder head and taller final drive ratio, the Grey Lady was credited with 100bhp and a headline-grabbing 100mph top speed.

Great pains were taken to ensure that the engine was as smooth and flexible as possible, with a seven-bearing crankshaft and minutely calculated cam profiles and pushrod damper springs to keep mechanical chatter to a minimum.

The engine proved...