198:. Park Ward took the Swiss drawings and adapted them to produce a car with more interior space than the Graber original. All the subsequent Alvis TD TE and the very last TF21 followed Graber's basic blueprint. Meanwhile, in central Switzerland Graber continued to build to order special bodied cars based on Alvis chassis at a rate of not more than ten per year. These included four seater coupe bodied cars (sometimes described by the English as saloons), cabriolets, and four four-door specials. Graber's bodies were lower than the standard bodied Alvis cars with more steeply raked A and C pillars. When customers requested improvements, Graber was happy not merely to produce special bodies but also to redesign or adapt aspects of the chassis and running gear.
60:
36:
44:
52:
29:
201:
Hermann Graber died in 1970 and the production of special bodied cars at
Wichtrach came to an end. About 800 Graber bodied vehicles had by now been produced. The business continued to operate under the control of his widow, specialising now in the repair and maintenance of car bodies. Between 1980
160:, to concentrate on special car bodies designed to complement some of the more exclusive chassis produced by the UK auto-industry, which they did, especially in respect of Alvis and Bentley, Aston Martin,
82:). Between 1927 and 1970 the firm supplied coach-built bodies for fitting on the chassis of various European and US auto-makers. Graber had a particularly close relationship with the
385:
182:
During the 1950s links between Graber and Alvis became close. After the long-time Alvis designer G.T. Smith-Clarke left the company, Graber presented in 1955 his Graber bodied
375:
269:
179:. In 1955, in response to a customer order from Alvis, they produced what would turn out to be the first two of several Graber bodied prototypes on an Alvis chassis.
156:
its position as Europe's largest automobile producer, and
Britain would retain the top slot until the early 1950s so it made sense for Graber, after the
206:
importer. In 2001 the residuum of the business was acquired by a well-known Swiss classic car restorer named Markus
Scharnhorst, and relocated to
390:
395:
380:
370:
266:
355:
342:
327:
305:
102:
The history of the business goes back to 1924 which was when
Hermann Graber, then aged 21, took over his father's
190:
format body. The new Alvis bodies went into series production, under licence by the
British firms firstly with
315:
in: Oldtimer Markt, Sonderheft 14 – Luxus, Leistrung und vier Sitze. Gran
Tourismo: Die großen Reisecoupés
59:
20:
175:
In 1946 Graber made his first Alvis body and by 1953 acquired the Swiss distribution rights for
114:
113:
was presented in 1927. Two years later a Graber bodied
Panhard & Levassor 20 CV won the
94:
and elegant if expensive bodies for almost twenty years, mostly during the 1950s and 1960s.
125:. During the 1930s the company built a number of special bodies on a range of chassis from
8:
191:
165:
338:
323:
301:
273:
153:
83:
79:
364:
169:
298:
Enzyklopädie
Automobil von Alfa Romeo bis Zagato. Die 600 schönsten Modelle
187:
157:
121:
as a result of which the "Carrosserie Graber" business became known across
35:
183:
103:
43:
176:
138:
126:
118:
106:
business and quickly reconfigured it for the production of car bodies.
87:
291:
Hermann Graber war der ungekrönte König der
Schweizer Karosseriebauer
195:
75:
51:
186:
which somehow combined classical elegance with a thoroughly modern
110:
203:
161:
142:
134:
130:
91:
207:
149:
122:
28:
202:
and 1996 the Graber business held a franchise as an official
55:
A Duesenberg Model J cabriolet with a custom body by Graber
313:
Swiss
Connection. Modellgeschichte der Alvis TC21 bis TF21
245:
109:
The company's first car, a two-seater cabriolet bodied
386:
Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2001
376:
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1924
362:
283:
235:Brazendale: Enzyklopädie Automobil, S. 26, 28.
63:1938 Packard with custom coachwork by Graber
293:. In: DrachePost Nr. 4, Juni 2005, S. 12 f.
318:Rainer W. Schlegelmich, Hartmut Lehbrink:
265:Internet summary of the company's history
172:as makers of cars with separate chassis
58:
50:
42:
34:
27:
391:Swiss companies disestablished in 2001
363:
396:Companies based in the canton of Bern
337:. Stuttgart (Motorbuch Verlag) 2005.
256:Oldtimer Markt, Sonderheft 14, S. 16.
333:Halwart Schrader, David Lillywhite:
74:) was a Swiss coachbuilder based in
381:Swiss companies established in 1924
356:Coachbuild.com Encyclopedia: Graber
13:
90:, providing the manufacturer with
14:
407:
349:
259:
250:
238:
229:
220:
1:
213:
371:Coachbuilders of Switzerland
7:
300:. Weltbild, Augsburg 2000.
284:Sources and further reading
184:Alvis TC 21/100 "Grey Lady"
10:
412:
97:
72:Carrosserie Hermann Graber
18:
39:1967 Graber Alvis (front)
322:. Köln (Könemann) 2001,
276:(retrieved 3 June 2011).
47:1967 Graber Alvis (rear)
246:http://alvisarchive.com
21:Graber (disambiguation)
272:3 October 2011 at the
64:
56:
48:
40:
32:
335:Klassische Automobile
62:
54:
46:
38:
31:
320:Englische Sportwagen
244:Alvis Archive Trust
19:For other uses, see
226:Alvis Archive Trust
148:In the early 1930s
115:Concours d'Elegance
296:Kevin Brazendale:
289:Emil Bohnenblust:
267:www.coachbuild.com
65:
57:
49:
41:
33:
16:Swiss coachbuilder
403:
311:Dieter Günther:
277:
263:
257:
254:
248:
242:
236:
233:
227:
224:
411:
410:
406:
405:
404:
402:
401:
400:
361:
360:
352:
286:
281:
280:
274:Wayback Machine
264:
260:
255:
251:
243:
239:
234:
230:
225:
221:
216:
100:
70:(also known as
24:
17:
12:
11:
5:
409:
399:
398:
393:
388:
383:
378:
373:
359:
358:
351:
350:External links
348:
347:
346:
331:
316:
309:
294:
285:
282:
279:
278:
258:
249:
237:
228:
218:
217:
215:
212:
99:
96:
80:canton of Bern
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
408:
397:
394:
392:
389:
387:
384:
382:
379:
377:
374:
372:
369:
368:
366:
357:
354:
353:
344:
343:3-613-02552-3
340:
336:
332:
329:
328:3-8290-7449-2
325:
321:
317:
314:
310:
307:
306:3-8289-5384-0
303:
299:
295:
292:
288:
287:
275:
271:
268:
262:
253:
247:
241:
232:
223:
219:
211:
209:
205:
199:
197:
193:
189:
185:
180:
178:
173:
171:
167:
163:
159:
155:
151:
146:
144:
140:
136:
132:
128:
124:
120:
116:
112:
107:
105:
95:
93:
89:
85:
81:
77:
73:
69:
61:
53:
45:
37:
30:
26:
22:
334:
319:
312:
297:
290:
261:
252:
240:
231:
222:
200:
181:
174:
152:had lost to
147:
108:
104:wheel making
101:
71:
67:
66:
25:
192:Willowbrook
166:Rolls-Royce
365:Categories
214:References
194:and later
177:Alvis Cars
139:Duesenberg
127:Alfa Romeo
119:St. Moritz
196:Park Ward
76:Wichtrach
270:Archived
111:Fiat 509
86:firm of
204:Ferrari
188:pontoon
162:Lagonda
154:Britain
143:Packard
135:Bugatti
131:Bentley
98:History
92:bespoke
84:British
341:
326:
304:
208:Toffen
150:France
123:Europe
68:Graber
170:Rover
88:Alvis
339:ISBN
324:ISBN
302:ISBN
168:and
141:and
158:war
117:at
367::
210:.
164:,
145:.
137:,
133:,
129:,
345:.
330:.
308:.
78:(
23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
