What's in a Naim?

I thought it was just Julian's tongue in cheek name for his company. It may not have been as simple as that but reading anything deep into it is to lose the spirit in which (I think) it was conceived.

Pretty much.

I thought it was meant to be Name, but then it went through a magic ripper and came out as Naim. 

Established in the late 60s, you expect a serious analysis with the blue haze floating in the garage with R&R in the background? Probably at a pub with a few beers on the table and friends joking around.  Julian had to be quite a wonderful man with sense of humor and big technical geek side to him.  But I wasn't there and only guessing.

I think Julian Vereker got stuck with some catchy brand name, so he opted with an easy way out, hence the name "naim". 

Well from memory the word Naim means ‘Sweet’ so that might be a clue.

I still think it's purple haze and hops, lol

Hi Jason

Well as I said this is from memory and would be from around 1975-6, so not gospel. I hoped it might provoke someone from the current Co. to comment. It would be good to know how far senility has progressed.

Regards

Peter

"What is in a name?"

Why was Alvis called "Alvis?"

A made up name by the founder; that's all ...

ATB from George

PS: The 4.3 Litre model was made briefly in 1939.

Arguably the greatest British car ever made:

Arguably the greatest British car ever made:

1913 silver ghost

or Original McLaren F1

Back to original thread...

Two good candidates, but I am sorry, no cigar!

ATB from George

Plus one here for the f1.

I'd rather crash flat out in the Alvis than the F1!

The Alvis would do 100 mph without strain, but not much more. An engine like that could run at 100% of rated output for hours without breaking. Not many petrols like that today ...

And the Alvis pioneered independent suspension, which hardly shows on the outside! They were safe cars by the standards of the time.

ATB from George

George,

I respectfully beg to disagree agreeing.  Mclaren and  Murray have created a roadworthy car of oustanding design, performance and  engineering accomplishment for its time,  all in-house buit, including "coachwork".

Alvi, Jaguar, Mercedes, Rolls Royce, Deusenberg have all left their mark in the automotive industry and  the  F1 is part of that history.

KR

Tony

Dear Tony,

I am in far too good a mood to argue! But the Coventry based Alvis company produced the first all indendent suspension car with front wheel drive in 1926. The 1939 model might look conventional from its slightly dated [for the time] coach-work, but it was a motoring masterpieces that showed up the old-world designs from even Rolls Royce at the time, and as the advert went - from 6 to 96 mph on top gear - it was a totally usable and easy car! But it went like a rocket at the time, if required, and had the best brakes fitted anywhere at the time.

I still call it a leading design for its time, as - more than half a century later - was the F1!

ATB from George

George,

Keep well and stay safe!

KR

Tony

Tony! Dobre Noc!

Nice picture ... of an Alvis?

Looks like a 12/50 to me.

G

Oh dear, George, all this reminiscing about the Alvis, brings back how I missed an opportunity to buy one in a local garage for, wait for it, £265!! It was a deep blue and I am almost sure it had a leather bonnet strap, so it might not have been the same model. It was many years ago and I was worried it might be expensive to run.  At the time I was running a second hand Ford Anglia 105E.  No comparison.  If only. . . .

Richard

Dear Richard,

I'd love to run an Alvis, any Alvis from the 12/50 on. Great [and with hindsight simple] designs that worked and were hard as nails. No wonder they went into making tanks in 1939. but their cars were  lighter than most premium types, and achieved phenomenal performance without nearly such big engines as others used.

The other car that especialy apeals to me is any of the real WO. Bentley types made before Rolls Royce snapped the trade name up in the depths of the Great Depression.

We shall never see the likes again, or even the numbers sold. Those Bentleys cost [inflation accounted for] as much as the Mac F1 and they sold one a day from 1922 till 1931. I doubt that such extavagance will ever again be seen in motoring. but the Alvis was the better car. In house made [rather than parts bought in and assembled as was WO. Bemtley's practice] and much more of a modern concept in that the fuel was not a complete disaster running them.

You should have snaffled that one you found. It could not have been as cheap as an Anglia to run, but possibly not much worse either!

ATB from George

An opinion shared by Jim Prideaux in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and passed on to the schollboys under his care.