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The 2021 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion featured a lunchtime parade of the 1950's Pebble Beach Road Race winning cars. Shown here is the ex Tom Carstens #14 J2 that was raced by Bill Pollack. In the car today is driver David Carte with passenger Mellette, Bill Pollacks daughter!
Special thanks to the folks at Hagerty’s Redline Rebuild Youtube channel for posting a series of videos where they do a full rebuild of a Cadillac 360 engine. Having personally rebuilt a Cadillac engine with my father, I saw a lot of familiar stuff while I also learned some cool tricks that I wish I had known when we rebuilt our engine. The overall rebuild time lapse video is shown first and then the whole series is shown later. Enjoy!
Read MoreWe’ve heard from a number of people requesting that we extend the deadline for the 2021 Allard Online Concours. Since the event is online, we have the flexibility to do what we want, so we’re going to move out the deadline to May 31st! For more info, click here. We look forward to seeing your entries.
Allard K2 3125 was ordered July 8, 1952 by Noel Kirk Motors in Los Angeles, Ca. and was exported on September 13, 1952. The car was purchased by the seller’s father in poor condition at the Fall Carlisle meet in 1979. Shortly after the purchase, the K2 was sent to a local shop for a complete restoration. Unfortunately after 3 years into the restoration, the shop went bankrupt and closed their doors. The Allard was brought home 75% completed. The sellers family continued work on the car for a few years, but soon other matters took priority and the car sat untouched since 1985.
In 2018, the seller inherited the car and set about finishing the restoration; quickly learning why the car sat idle for so many years. Just about every task that needed completing was either missing parts or information as to how the car should be completed. Thankfully the Internet came to the rescue and groups like the Allard Register were able to provide technical assistance as well as connecting him with an Allard owner with a very original K2.
The car now runs and drives very well. The engine is a 1952 Cadillac 331 with two 4 barrel carburetors. It is the engine that was in the car when purchased. The K2 also has a fairly uncommon side mounted spare.
[Seller info deleted]
We are excited to announce the return of the Allard Global Online Concours! After the success of last years AGOC (we had 73 entrants!), several members asked if we would do it again this year. Not wanting to disappoint the Allard community, we decided to do it again. The format will be similar to last years event, but with a few interesting changes. This year we will have the following classes:
L. M, and P types
K-series & Palm Beach
J-series
Restoration Class
Specials (free for all class)
We’ll also award Best in Show, People’s Choice, Judges Award….plus the Top 3 Racing Allard’s and Top 3 Sports/Touring Allard’s. We’ll also give awards for Best Photography…and Best Video (we’ll get to that later).
Entrants will need to submit:
Up to eight (8) photos of your Allard. Submissions must include at least (1) photo each of the chassis plate, interior and engine bay. You don’t need to have a pretty background (but it helps), and the photos should be in focus.
A written description of the car, its features, and history. Submissions can be no longer than 150 words. Non-English entries are encouraged and will be translated to English via Google and cleaned up.
OPTIONAL: Submit a 5 minute (max) long video of your Allard. There are no rules, just make it interesting. Videos should be submitted to Youtube. (the videos are not required…it’s just a fun bonus to help promote the marque)
Entrants will be evaluated by an elite/eclectic cast of judges…who have yet to be determined!
Please note 2020 1st Place class award winners will not be eligible for class or top awards, but they can win one of the special awards.
Please send your submissions (and questions) to allardregister@outlook.com. Please include your name and mailing address. Entries are due by May 31! (extended from original April 30 deadline)
Any Allard enthusiast can relate that there’s little to no Allard apparel for sale. Frankly the Allard community just isn’t big enough to support much Allard clothing. I’d like to sell clothing ourselves, but frankly I don’t have the time to process & mail orders.
Then one of our “members” (we don’t really have members) Jay Franklin recommended that we check out Land’s End. His local MG car club set up an E-store with Land’s End that let’s anyone order clothes with their club logo.
I happen to know someone that works at Land’s end so I looked into it. The service is pretty neat. For around $30/each, I uploaded two Allard logos (the script and shield) to their embroidery system. With logos uploaded, I created a Land’s End E-store that will enable anyone to order Land’s End clothes with their choice of Allard logos embroidered on them for an additional $6.95. Each logo is 3” wide and you can even change the stitch color/s to suit your preference. The best thing is, I don’t have to do a thing! Granted, the Register won’t make any money from the sales, but we’re not here to make money…we just want to spread the Allard word. Click the link below or image above to buy some cool Allard clothes. We’ve also added a permanent link to the site.
https://business.landsend.com/store/allardregister/
If you buy something from the site, send us a photo!
-Charles Warnes
My automotive library, as such, includes the two previous Allard books – ALLARD the INSIDE story by Tom Lush, and ALLARD by David Kinsella. Both authors do an excellent job of portraying the history of the Allard marque, and I have found them to be invaluable references over my 37 years of Allard ownership. Both books were published in 1977, and both are out of print.
As one might expect, Alan Allard’s (with co-author Lance Cole) newly published ALLARD – THE COMPLETE STORY details his father Sydney Allard’s motorsports passion, endeavors, and successes. The authors also provide detailed descriptions of the array of Allard models – ranging from the home-built ‘prototypes’ of the early 1930’s, up through Allard’s dragsters in the 1960’s.
This book shares insight from Alan’s intimate perspective of being born and raised in the Allard family. It provides more insight into how Sydney, with his strong automotive interests, was able to get his father Arthur Allard to support his pursuit in the automotive field, rather than in the family’s thriving construction business. This included Arthur’s financial and managerial support to the Adlard Motor Company, a conveniently named Ford dealership the family purchased in 1930.
The close Allard/Adlard affiliation provided a degree of financial security during the Great Depression that supported Sydney’s motorsport interests and endeavors, and played a foundational role that morphed into the Allard marque over the next 20 years. This affiliation helped Allard establish the Ford truck repair facility for the duration of World War II. This, in turn, provided Sydney Allard and his associates with practical experience in setting up a successful auto manufacturing operation in the post war years.
By the early 1950’s, Allard found themselves facing and dealing with the reality that limited capital and obsolescent shop facilities were not compatible with the need to develop and mass produce cars in that new era. As a result, Sydney Allard made a practical business decision to withdraw from automobile production. However, his role with the thriving Adlards Ford dealership still provided him with the resources to continue pursuing his ‘first love’ of developing and competing race cars in hill climbs and rallies – and to begin exploring the intriguing world of dragsters.
Tom Lush’s and David Kinsella’s books stop some 45 years ago, so Alan Allard’s book does a good job of bringing Allard enthusiasts up to date with chapter’s devoted to Allards in the USA, the Allard Owner’s Club, Allard diversification and Allard sports cars.
When two authors work on a collaboration it is not unusual for some minor typos and editorial issues ‘slip through the cracks’, and that is the case with this book. Despite that, I found ALLARD – THE COMPLETE STORY, to be an interesting and insightful work that will be an integral part of my automotive library.
We are excited to announce that a new Allard book has arrived! Alan Allard, together with Lance Cole has put together a thorough history of Allard, from Sydney’s first special to the cars today. We’ve just received a digital copy to review and have only had a chance to skim through it, but it appears to be very complete with lots of great photos. We hope to publish a complete review here in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can purchase your copy today…
To purchase a signed copy, click here (takes you to the Allard Sports Cars site)
To purchase a copy from the publisher, click here
The book will not be available to purchase from Amazon until March 23, 2021, but you can click here to order an advance copy.
As the world heads back in to lock down, we wanted to take a look back at the award winners from our 2020 Allard Global Online Concours. We asked all of our winners to send in a photo of them with their trophies - here are the results!
We’ve received a lot of requests to do this again in 2021, so we’ll give it another go. We’ll announce the details in February or March, with the plans to mix things up a bit. Thanks again to everyone who participated!
We learned of Judy’s sudden passing yesterday this past week. Judy was truly a neat lady, and we treasure the opportunities that we have had to get to know her over the years.
I first met Judy and Andy some 20 or so years ago when they, together with Pete McManus, brought their cars (Andy and Judy’s J2, and Pete’s Ardent Alligator) out to Monterey. Since then we have witnessed and appreciated how Andy and Judy worked in partnership to organize several Allard and Allard-related events and activities. This included their strong support in getting the Jim and Sheila Tiller out to the Bonneville Salt Flats in their 200 MPH attempt, and the role they played in putting together the 2006 Allard Northwest Tour.
Andy and Judy provided the spark and organizational support that inspired several of us Allard folks to accompany them ‘down under’ to tour New Zealand’s South Island, and experience the Southern Festival of Speed in 2008.
This experience essentially set the stage for the last major Allard stateside gathering, The Glen in Ten at Watkins Glen NY. Those collective activities gave us ongoing opportunities go get to know and appreciate Judy. Our wives especially appreciated her approach in making them feel welcome into such an eclectic group of ‘car guys’.
In retrospect, these activities also gave Judy ample opportunity to get to know – and try to understand – the human sub-species commonly referred to as ‘Allard owners’. I vividly recall Judy’s wry observation about ‘car guys’ in general, British ‘car guys’ in particular - and her opinion that Allard ‘car guys’ were from a whole ‘nuther planet.
-Chuck Warnes
Special thanks to Roger Allard for sharing the photo above taken at the Newport Concours a few years ago.
I bought L-852 in 1981 from my ex-wife’s uncle, Joe Fleming. According to the old registration book which I still have, Joe owned the Allard from at least 1960. But as this was a continuation book, it could have been earlier. At the time it didn’t seem that important to ask.
In 1966, an engine problem took the car off the road and Joe never got around to having it repaired so it never moved again. Until, that is, I was able to persuade Joe to let me buy the car from him. This was circa 1978, but it was another 3 years before he reluctantly let me trailer the car away. With the promise that I would get the car roadworthy so that he could have one more ride in it, I took it back to my farm in North Wales. Sadly some 12 months later Joe passed away without seeing the car again and I didn’t have the heart to continue the Allard rebuild. So, I decided to put the car into storage with a view to doing a full restoration at a later date.
Much later, circa 1988, with free time on my hands my thoughts turned to the Allard. I had purchased a cottage in the Snowdonia National Park in Wales, which came with a large stone outbuilding suitable for my passion of restoring classic cars. The Allard was rescued from storage and work began to strip the car down to the bare chassis. It became apparent that the car had suffered damage to the near side front of the chassis and the wing support arm, but it had not affected the integrity of the chassis so the repaired area was left as was. Later this damage would be instrumental in forming part of the car’s early history and provenance.
Read MoreWe’ve been going through our archives and found few new interesting documents. First up is a description of the new Allard JR that appeared in the May 1953 Allard Owners Club Monthly Bulletin. Next up is a new car announcement for the JR that appeared in the July 1953 issue of Road and Track.
The new JR Allard, designed specifically for sports car races, continues that same successful theme which has characterized the marque in the past. In one important respect it has broken away from previous principles in that it is designed to take one engine only – the Cadillac V8 – instead of being adaptable for Chrysler, Mercury, etc. The Cadillac has been chosen in preference to the Chrysler unit because it is more compact and 130 lb lighter. The output can be increased from 210 bhp in standard form to approximately 300 bhp by employing certain parts produced by Detroit Racing Equipment. Amongst the modifications used are two, four-choke Rochester carburetors; only two chokes on each are operating on small throttle openings, the other two coming in progressively as the throttle is opened further.
A single dry-plate clutch takes the drive via a Cadillac 3-speed gear box with right-hand change, and a short open propellor shaft to a quick-change final drive unit produced in collaboration with H.W.M. The drive passes under the differential to a pair of spur gears and forward again to the crown wheel and pinion. A quick change of these spur gears is easily carried out and there are also four crown wheel and pinion ratios so that the car can be suitably geared for any circuit.
Continuing the J2X practice, a de Dion axle is used at the rear utilizing coil springs as the suspension medium. The fore and aft location of the axle beam is taken care of by twin radius arms on each side, but the method of sideways location is completely new. Two A-brackets are used, the base of the top-most being carried on the rear cross-member of the chassis frame above the axle beam, and that of the lower is pivoted on the axle beam itself. The two apexes meet in a universal joint behind the axle and Silentbloc bushes are used in the pivots. Fully-floating rear hubs are used, carried on twin taper roller bearings, so that wheel location is not affected by drive shaft breakage. The rear brakes are carried inboard on either side of the final drive housing and Alfin drums are used here as well as on the front.
Front suspension is by the well-known Allard system of split axle with coil springs and forward projecting parallel axis radius arms. Two leading shoes are carried in the front brakes and hydraulic telescopic dampers are used all around.
The chassis frame bears a strong resemblance to the Palm Beach model, and in fact the track and wheel-base are the same. Twin tubular side members are used liberally braced together by welded steel plates. The cross-bracing of box and tubular members serves to give an immensely rigid structure. Tubular hoops are welded to this frame and support the body immediately fore and aft of the cockpit, affording some protection to the occupants in the event of an inversion. The complete frame turns the scales at only 180 lb.
The aluminium body has the complete forward section hinged at the front, giving access to engine, steering, suspension, and brakes.
The main fuel tank holds 25 gals. But a removable auxiliary tank alongside the passenger seat gives a further 25 gals. With a load of and driver the weight distribution is roughly 50/50 front and back, but unladen this changes to 57% front and 43% rear. The engine is placed farther forward than has been Allard practice in the past, giving the greater preponderance of weight on the front axle. I.J.AB.
The media blitz has started on the upcoming auction sale of JR-3408 (ready story below). The car is being offered by RM-Sothebys at its London Auction this coming October 31, 2020. The publicity photos by Matt Howell were nicely shot. If you are interested in purchasing the car or having one built, you should contact Lloyd & Alan at www.allardsportscars.co.uk or via email at info@allardsportscars.com.
We’re a bit ashamed to admit this, but we just found the video below documenting Jim & Sheila Tillers attempt to run their ‘Old Fella’ J2 #1784 200 mph at Bonneville in 2000. The footage was well shot by Sheila on her hand held camcorder with commentary/banter provided provided by her colorful husband…with a guest appearance by Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear fame. Overall the documentary was very informative, interesting, and entertaining. I have no doubt that Sydney would have approved of the Tillers Bonneville adventure and their many modifications to their trusty J2.
I wonder where I can get one of those ‘Wacky Racers’ shirts with the Tillers J2 on it…
Three factors have made August in Monterey a long standing Warnes family tradition. The first, of course, is Car Week; second is escaping Fresno’s notorious scorching heat; and third is the beautiful and intriguing Monterey environs. Upon learning that most of this year’s car events (car shows, vintage car races and myriad auctions) were being cancelled, I asked Julie if she still wanted to spend this August in the Monterey area. Her response was quite brief and succinct – so here we are.
Allards racing at Laguna Seca are pitted with the “California Road Racing Hot Rods,” an array post-WWII sports racers which includes several one-off , home-made ‘hot rod’ specials that were set up for road racing against the European sports cars from that era. Many of these specials were inspired by Allard* and together they gave the the sophisticated European iron some strong competition – and they still do.
While the cancellation of this year’s Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion came as no surprise to us, we subsequently learned that the County of Monterey Health Department had approved Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca’s reopening plan for private track rentals with strict health and safety protocols. Following private track rental guidelines, a “Driver Appreciation Weekend” was created for August 8 & 9.
The Monterey Sports Car Road Racers, the Del Monte Trophy Racing Group (www.dmtrg.com), and several members of that group have chosen to befriend us in recent years. While the Driver Appreciation Weekend was not open to spectators or the general public, Colin and I welcomed the opportunity to serve as crew members for the 1952 Streets Manning Special and the 1949 Baldwin Mercury Special.
The sole Allard in this year’s ‘non-event’ was John Mote’s blue, Buick-powered 1950 K2 – the car that Alan Moss (first Allard distributor on the West Coast, and founder of Moss Motors) purchased in New York and drove across the country to Los Angeles. It was good to see John and his crew again. His Allard was sporting a new Buick engine of undisclosed displacement and a few other enhancements this year. It ran quite well in Saturday’s practice and race. However, the fresh engine began to show some teething issues on Sunday, so they prudently decided to bow out of that day’s activities.
This year’s relatively ‘low key’ activities brought back fond memories of 1978 when Julie and I were on a mini-vacation to Monterey, and heard about some guys racing vintage sports cars out at Laguna Seca. Seeing, hearing and smelling these vintage classic racing around this 9-turn track (it has since been extended to its current 11-turn configuration) was truly something to behold. It set the hook for the Warnes family’s ‘Christmas in August’ ritual for the next 40+ years.
We welcomed the chance to play a part in this year’s activities, and we share all our hopes that things will return to some form of normal in 2021.
*Note: The Allard J2 inspired a number a number of sports racing specials. The reasons varied, many took inspiration of the J2’s simplicity, while others scoffed at the poor handling Allards and were determined they could do it better.
The list of car companies offering continuation cars seems to be growing every month. So far Bentley, Lister, Cobra, Jaguar, Aston Martin, and even Alvis are offering turn key ‘continuation’ versions of their iconic cars from years ago. The continuation cars from these companies all share a common trait that affects their authenticity…they have nothing to do with the original companies or founders that built those cars. However, there is one company that is different.
In 1929, Sydney Allard built his first special – a Morgan 3-wheeler converted to 4-wheels and started racing it. Sydney went on to create the Allard Motor Company which built a number of significant cars and helped transform the automotive market around the world. From there, son Alan joined his father in drag racing and went on to publish an early guide to turbo-charging in 1982. In 2005, Sydney’s Grandson and Alan’s son, Lloyd joined the family business offering a range of custom fabricated aluminum radiators, fuel tanks, and other components for a range of vintage and modern cars.
Alan and Lloyd stayed in close contact with the Allard community and through that, Lloyds fabrication skills were sought out in 2013 to help bring a variety of tired Allards back to new. Along this time, Alan and Lloyd were urged to bring one of the rarest and sought out Allards back to the market. The car below was been built in part, to test the market for the revival of Allard as a specialist car manufacturer once again, after a gap of some 60 years
What you see here, is JR chassis #3408, the result of over 90 years of automotive experience from a family that has history of building some of the most unique automobiles to ever turn a wheel. The bulk of the car was fabricated personally by grandson Lloyd while son (and father) Alan handled the fine details like panel fitment, trim, and dash assembly. Sydney was a very hands-on car builder and would have be very pleased to see what his progeny have created. The body was the only major fabricated assembly that was outsourced; with that work being trusted to Sean at Historical Motor Works using the original JR bucks.
Sadly, the JR designer, Dudley Hume passed away on May 31, 2019 unable to see the finished product. However, he was instrumental in helping Lloyd and Alan as he had assisted Sydney some 65 years ago. Dudley retained virtually all of the original build drawings which the family used in recreating the JR. JR 3408 was not built from 3D scans or CAD models of donor cars like other ‘continuation’ cars utilize. This car was built from the original velum paper drawings that guided the construction of chassis’ 3401-3407.
The car utilizes as many original components as possible including the spindles, brake back plates, Lockheed brake parts with Alfin drums, Marles steering box, Bluemels steering wheel, Smith’s gauges, and even the spare wheel spigot in the boot. The only modern upgrade is a ‘Period E’ bolt in roll cage to meet FIA regulations.
3408 is powered by a Cadillac 331 V8 producing 300 bhp at 4500 rpm. The engine breathes through two 4-throat Carter carburetors. Drive is transferred through a stout LaSalle 3-speed transmission to a Halibrand quick change differential. The car rides on 600 x 16” wire wheels with Allard knock-offs. 3408 is equipped with only a driver side door, matching the build of the 1953 Le Mans cars (if you want your own JR, it can be equipped with a passenger door as non-Le Mans cars were similarly built).
This JR has been approved by the FIA which means that it is eligible to compete in FIA sanctioned events throughout the world.
We’ve been thinking a lot lately about what makes a car a ‘replica’ or a ‘continuation’ and how JR 3408 should be categorized. Really, this car defies attempts to categorize it as it was physically built by the family whose name it wears on the bonnet with the help of the designer that created it. What is JR 3408? It is an Allard.
JR 3408 is being offered by RM-Sothebys at its London Auction this coming October 31, 2020. If you would like to learn more about this car or enquire about having a JR built to your needs, please visit www.allardsportscars.co.uk or email Alan and Lloyd at info@allardsportscars.com.
The Allard JR was first conceived by designer Dudley Hume in early 1952. In 1952, the Le Mans organizers dictated that cars could no longer race with motor cycle-style fenders; an iconic feature of the popular J2. In late 1951, Allard started delivering the new J2X, which notably featured Dudley’s revised front suspension with parallel pivots. The goal was to race the J2X at Le Mans in 1952, but they had to create a new enveloped body car by the mid-June race. Dudley wanted to race the new JR model that he was designing, but the car would not be ready in time. The decision was made to quickly adopt a C-type style body to the J2X and thus the J2X Le Mans was born.
Dudley continued to work on the JR, incorporating a number of features that he had implemented on a variety of Allards he had developed. Most notable was the chassis, which used the P2’s twin tube chassis concept that increased rigidity significantly over the old formed channel design. Dudley also incorporated his revised split axle front suspension from the J2X that brought the design more in line with creator Leslie Ballemy’s intent. Additionally, the JR adopted the new Palm Beach’s 96” wheel base and narrower 51” track. Finally, the JR was specifically designed to use the Cadillac V8 which was more compact and lighter than the Chrysler Hemi that Allard raced in 1952. Arguably the most significant feature of the new JR was the stunning aluminum body that cut a slim profile and looked just plain fast.
The first JR (chassis 3401) was exported essentially as a prototype with virtually no development work to American Erwin Goldschmidt in March of 1953. Goldschmidt found the overall handling quite unruly and struggled to come to grips with the car.
It’s no secret that Americans loved big and powerful V8’s. It should be no surprise that the leadership of the US Air Force loved agile sports cars with powerful engines – and Allard was the leading supplier of that alluring combination. In early 1953, General George Griswold, General Curtis LeMay, Colonel Schilling, and Colonel Reade Tilley agreed to buy three JR’s if the team’s 1953 Le Mans entry was accepted. Fortunately, Allard’s entry was accepted, and in June the company fielded two JR’s; #4 (chassis 3402) was raced by Sydney Allard and Philip Parker while #5 (chassis 3403) was driven by Zora Arkus Duntov and Ray Merrick.
[Note: Although General George Griswold did not purchase a JR, he commissioned the creation of the Allard K3. He wanted an open sports car that would accommodate him and his three daughters sitting side by side!]
[Note: Did you know that Duntov snuck away from his new job at GM in Michigan to race for Sydney? Management was furious when they found out, but Zora somehow turned it into a teaching opportunity and instructed the GM brass about Le Mans and what it took to be competitive – tools that would help refine Zora’s Corvette into what it is today.]
Leading up to Le Mans, the USAF provided significant aid to help develop the two cars. On two separate occasions, USAF airfields in the UK were opened to Allard so they could test gear ratios, acceleration, and top speeds. Additionally, in practice just days before the race, the #4 car blew an engine. Never fear, the USAF saved the day by sending a new engine overnight from the US by military transport to a nearby French airfield!
At the start of the race, famously Sydney jumped to the lead on the first lap. Unfortunately, Sydney came in on the 3rd lap with a destroyed differential. The #5 Duntov-Merrick car pressed on running 560 miles at an average speed of 98 miles per hour before the engine gave up on the Mulsanne Straight. Sadly, this would be the last time Allard raced at Le Mans.
In total, seven JR’s were built and all are accounted for today. Below is the brief status of each car:
Chassis #3401; Completed March 28, 1953; LHD
Originally sold to Erwin Goldschmidt. Soon resold to Bob Bucher who raced the car (nicknamed “Big Jake”) in the Northeast with much success. The car is currently being restored
Chassis #3402; Completed July 25, 1953; RHD
Sydney’s #4 race car at Le Mans. Purchased new by Col. Schilling who sadly crashed in the car and died. Currently in a private US collection
Chassis #3403; Completed August 5, 1953; RHD
Duntov’s #5 race car at Le Mans. Purchased new by Col. Tilley and raced extensively in the US. Currently in a private German collection
Chassis #3404; Completed early 1954; RHD
Intended to be Le Mans backup car, but not finished in time. Purchased new by General Le May and raced extensively in the US. Currently in a private UK collection
Chassis #3405; Completed early 1954; RHD
Purchased by Tommy Sopwith. Fitted with an Armstrong-Siddley Sapphire engine and rebodied and called the “Sphinx”. Currently in a private UK collection
Chassis #3406; Completed early 1955; LHD
Purchased new by Norman Moffat of Canada and raced. Currently in a private US collection
Chassis #3407; Completed early 1955; RHD
1956 Earl’s Court show car, fitted with aero head rest, raced by Sydney. Currently in a private UK collection and recently restored by Allard Sports Cars
Sorry for the delay, but I’m proud to announce the Best of Show, People’s Choice, and Judges Award for the 2020 Allard Global Online Concours (AGOC). The Best of Show award was selected by our judges from the five class winners. In the end, J2X 2221 was selected Best of Show…CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Best of Show Winner, J2X 2221
The People’s Choice Award was a bit more complicated. Our polling was hosted by Interact.com. Since I’m cheap, I didn’t spring for the paid plan which would have told me who voted and how many times they voted. However after reviewing the voting results and our site traffic, it was clear that a couple of cars benefited from a bit of ballot box stuffing. After conferring with the International Society of Online Concours’s’s, they recommended we give the People’s Choice award to L-837, which had 93 votes and was also one of our class winners. I apologize to the car owners that were passed over, I hope you understand and I’ll try to think of a good consolation prize.
People’s Choice WInner, L 837
We also decided to give out a Judges Award. This was to be given by our judges to one of the cars that did not receive a class award, but stood out due to a unique history or special story. There were a few great submissions, but the car that stood out was K1 239. Judge Mel Herman wrote, “Allard K1 239 used to be owned and successfully raced by an amazing lady - Mary Ellis-Wilkins. Mary was one of that elite band of females in the ATA (Air Training Auxiliary), which during World War ll flew combat planes between the airline factories and the RAF airfields around the UK. She single-handedly flew 76 different types of aircraft including Wellington Bombers with neither formal instruction nor navigational aids, just a handbook stuffed into the top of her flying boot. Her favourite plane was the Spitfire which she described as - “A gorgeous, lightweight little minx in the air”. After the war when she was no longer permitted to fly them she satisfied that love of speed in her Allard K1. The individual and combined stories of the ATA girls are amazing, true heroines and for your interest I attach the artwork for a graphic panel I produced about her when we featured her on our AOC stand at the 2016 Classic Motor Show, she was an honorary member of the Club. Sadly she died in July 2018 at the age of 101 and if you Google her you may read her obituary in the Guardian. Her K1 which survives in Australia with her nephew is in exceptional original condition and represents this amazing heroic lady.” '[For more about Mary, check out the fantastic 2018 documentary, Spitfire (on Netflix)]
Judges Award, K1 239
So there you go, thank you again to all of our participants! I hope you had a fun time and hopefully learned a thing or two. A special congratulations goes out to all of our award winners - good job. And to all of the cars and their owners did not win, we hope you try again in 2021!
PS: I’m currently printing out the trophies and hope to mail them out next week.
We have been blown away by the positive response to the 2020 AGOC! Many owner-exhibitors have written in to say how much fun they’ve had seeing their cars in the Concours…and several non-exhibitors have written to ask us if we can do it again so they can enter.
Before we announce the AGOC class winners, we want to thank our judges who had the challenging task of evaluating the 73 entries. They did a great job and we can’t thank them enough for sharing their time and expertise with us to make this event a success. THANK YOU JUDGES!
Alan Allard: Son of Sydney Allard and co-owner of Allard Sportscars
Tony Adriaensens: Head of Corsa Research & author of many fine books like “Weekend Heroes 1 & 2”
Chris Campbell: Head of The Vintage Connection, Allard Restoration Specialist
Colin Comer: Author, Shelby Expert, Car Nerd
Mike Dicola: Retired Allard Restoration Specialist
Mel Herman: Allard Owners Club Member, Allard Showman
David Hooper: Retired Draughtsman for Allard Motor Cars
Chris Lowth: Mr. Allard, Australia
Stefan Marjoram: Automotive Artist
We also want to thank all of the owners that took the time and shared their Allards with us, they all looked fantastic…THANK YOU!
Without further ado, here are the class winners:
(Best of Show will be awarded the weekend of May 9 after the class winners are reviewed with our judges.
