Vintage Style - The Story of Cross & Ellis
Vintage Style – The Story of Cross & Ellis, by Gillian Bardsley, £9.95
It is rare to have a book about a particular coachbuilder, but this is what Gillian Bardsley has produced. If the text does not dig deep, it does include many interviews with C & E workers, about how these bodies were made. This will interest Alvis folk, and almost all the cars depicted in the large illustrations are of this make. A picture of a racing Alvis is wrongly captioned as the 1923 200 Mile Race winner, whereas it is one of the 1924 cars, but apparently a 12/50 sales-leaflet contained the same error.
Body drawings, factory interior shots, and lists of materials are included and this soft cover, A4-size monograph contains worthwhile history snippets. From it we learn that as the business grew Mr Cross and Mr Ellis changed their Triumph sidecar outfits for a bullnose Morris and then Alvis cars. It is available for £9.95 post free, from AG Bruce, 1 Arlington Avenue, Leamington Spa, Warwicks, CV32 5UA.
W B