The Alvis Speed models of the 1930s were and still are among the most desirable high-performance cars of their decade. Less expensive than the Bentley or Lagonda, classier than the SS Jaguar, and more advanced than any of them, the Alvis earned a special cachet as the sporting gentleman motorist's favoured choice, exerting a magnetic appeal to connoisseurs of good engineering and fast driving. With their long, low build they also inspired some of the most stylish coachwork of the era.