This is an Alvis Stalwart, a high-mobility six-wheel drive amphibious vehicle that was put into service by the British military in the 1960s. It was also deployed by militaries in Germany, Sweden, Austria, Italy, and Sri Lanka.
The Stalwart is powered by a 6.5 liter Rolls-Royce B81 MK 8B eight-cylinder engine which powers all six wheels, and can also power the vehicle’s vectored thrust water-jet propulsion units. Due to its unusual looks the Stalwart has been used in a number of major films and TV series including Children of Men, Lara Croft Tomb Raider, Firefly, and most recently in The Grand Tour.
Fast Facts – The Alvis Stalwart
- The Alvis Stalwart, produced from 1962–1971, is a British-built six-wheel-drive amphibious military vehicle powered by a 220 bhp, 6.5 liter Rolls-Royce engine. It has a steel hull chassis, vectored-thrust water jets, and was deployed by militaries including Britain, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Italy, and Sri Lanka.
- Alvis, founded in 1919 by Thomas George John in Coventry, England, initially manufactured carburetors and industrial engines before expanding into automobiles, aircraft engines, and armored military vehicles. Acquired by Rover in the 1960s, Alvis ended car production in 1967 but resumed limited “continuation” manufacturing of classic models in 2012.
- The Stalwart achieved a top speed of 40 mph, a payload of 5 tons, and a fuel economy of approximately 4 mpg, resulting in a 400-mile range. Though unarmored, its steel hull proved protective, even reportedly saving a crew from an anti-tank mine during a military operation.
- The 1962 Stalwart Mark 1 featured here is one of the original 15 prototypes. Restored in 2017 with a “zero hours” engine by specialists A&S Armsoft, it is listed for sale in Marlborough, UK, with documentation and just 29,886 miles on the odometer.
Alvis: A History Speedrun
The Alvis Car and Engineering Company was founded in Coventry, England in 1919 by Thomas George John. The company was originally named T. G. John and Company Ltd, and they built carburetors, motor scooters, and stationary industrial engines.
Alvi became known for making a variety of cars, from more affordable models to sports cars, racing cars, and high-end luxury models that competed with the likes of Rolls-Royce. Image courtesy of the Alvis Car and Engineering Company.
There has been much postulating over the years on where exactly the name “Alvis” came from. Some have guessed that it’s a contraction of aluminum and “vis” (“strength” in Latin), others were convinced that it came from the Norse mythological weaponsmith “Alvíss.”
The truth of the matter is that the name was just chosen at random solely because it was easy to remember, and because it could be easily pronounced in any language. Alvis would grow to become one of the most significant automakers in Britain at the time, offering a range of vehicles including more economy-minded designs and luxurious models developed to compete with the finest offerings from Rolls-Royce and Bentley.
Alvis would also build race cars with no small amount of success, they developed and built aircraft engines, and they designed and built a range of highly-effective armored military vehicles that saw service in conflicts around the world.
The company was acquired by Rover in the 1960s and automobile production ended by 1967, however the manufacturing of military vehicles continued after this time. In 2012 Alvis would be revived, and a number of the firm’s most famous historic models would be put back into limited production as continuation cars – the company is now offering six models.
The Alvis Stalwart
The Alvis Stalwart was developed in the early 1960s as an advanced (for the time) six-wheel drive amphibious military vehicle capable of carrying 5 tons. The Stalwart was built around a welded steel hull that doubled as the chassis, and although it wasn’t armored the hull has been recorded as saving at least one crew from an anti-tank mine.
Over 1,000 examples of the Alvis Stalwart were built, their operators loved them for the fact that could cover any terrain they were pointed at and then traverse waterways without skipping a beat.
Power was provided by a 6.5 liter Rolls-Royce B81 MK 8B eight-cylinder petrol engine which was capable of 220 bhp and power was sent through a 5-speed manual transmission through a transfer case to all six wheels.
The top speed of the Stalwart was 64 km/h (40 mph), not bad for a military vehicle from this time, and the total range was 640 kms (400 miles) with an average fuel consumption of 4 mpg – thankfully it was usually Her Majesty’s government that was paying for fuel.
The Alvis Stalwart would remain in production from 1962 and 1971 with well over 1,000 examples built in total. The British Armed Forces would retire their last examples in 1993, though some are believed to have remained in service far longer than this with the Sri Lankan Military, and in various civil roles, like firefighting.
The Alvis Stalwart Shown Here
The vehicle you see here is an Alvis Stalwart from 1962, making it an early Mark 1 model. It’s listed as being the 11th of the first 15 prototypes that were built, which will make it highly collectible in certain circles.
This Stalwart was completely rebuilt from the ground up in 2017 and a new “zero hours” engine was installed at this time, which was commissioned by the previous owner and carried out by pre- and post-war military vehicle specialist A&S Armsoft.
The Stalwart has a 5-speed manual transmission, and it’s powered by a 6.5 liter Rolls-Royce B81 MK 8B eight-cylinder petrol engine which was capable of 220 bhp.
It’s now being offered for sale as one of the best-presented Stalwarts we’ve seen in recent memory on Collecting Cars out of Marlborough in the United Kingdom with a copy of its military handbook and 29,886 miles on the odometer.
If you’d like to read more about it or place a bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Collecting Cars
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.