HELP WANTED

Sir, HELP WANTED

I wonder if any of your readers can put me in touch with anyone who has a Straight Eight Supercharged Front Drive Alvis as raced by this firm several years ago. I am, Yours etc.,

S. BROADBENT. Auto-Port Ltd., Elstree,

Herts. Sir,

Readers will have noticed, and I hope, deplored the modern fashion of decrying the British made product in the car world, as in others. People spend money in importing, from either ends of the ” Axis,” cars for the express purpose of proving (?) how much better they are. Or, in certain cases,

they re-build old machines to the same end. For the last four years we have been fed upon facts, figures and pages of photographs all intended to impress us with the absolute supremacy of certain racing

teams. This season, please lets have less of this, maybe unintentional, but none the less effective propaganda. The Press ” living-space ” of the English product has been reduced until anyone who dares to suggest that England can still beat the world, is regarded as being just a little mad, to say the least. Recently while wearing my club badge, I was asked what the ” E.R.A. ” stood for. Upon explaining, I was told “Oh, .1 never knew England built racing-cars, I thought the best cars came from Germany.” And this from one who is alleged to be nominally intelligent ! !

Had the E.R.A. Club, or later the Racing Fund, received the enthusiasm that greets the latest arrival from the foreign factories, the British cars would be much more able to stem the invasion of the 1,500 c.c. field.

Lastly I know all about the old “give credit etc.,” and the ” Englishman is the world’s best loser” stuff, but it’s worn very thin. I am, Yours etc.,

H. PRATLEY. E.18.