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This photo of a J2 was sent to us by Matt of the Colorado Hill Climb Association. The photo was grouped together with several from the 1953 Pikes Peak Hill Climb, but there are no records of the car running. If you know anything about this car, please click here to let us know!
-Simon Hope
Click here or on any of the photos to view the rest of Simon's photos.
Some time ago I bought a 1950 Allard J2 that was supplied new to Colonel Rupert Larrinaga. An amateur racing driver and personal friend of Sydney Allard, Larrinaga was also a gifted skier who twice represented Great Britain at the Winter Olympics. ‘My’ J2 was one of several models he campaigned in anger during his four decades of stewardship. Though, by the time the two-seater passed to me it had been unregistered for several years was in need of some recommissioning, as well as painting.
Click here or the photo above to go to the Blog, "Getting' a lil' psycho on tires!" to read about John Aibels very interesting J2. This car has had a very interesting history, part of which included a streamlined Sorrell body for racing at Bonneville.
Special thanks to David Brown for letting us know about these videos from Mildenham in the UK. If you look carefully, you will find an Allard P1, aka "The Jackal" racing and wrecking it's way around the track.
Mike Knapman from the AOC was able to track down some info on the car, here's what he found...
"The car was donated to the racer on condition that it must not be sold before it was raced. The car had stood in a garden for a very long time so dash had rotted away and wings about to fall off. Rear axle and engine scrapped. Rear axle now a Ford Transit and the engine is from a Granada. Other drivers were not happy about the strength of the Allard's chassis.
In first race one steering arm broke but was welded. The P1 made it to the final "Destruction Derby" less its bodywork but clad only with its roll-cage and heavy gauge race mandatory roof. It was one of last three cars left running and received an award for Best Entertainer. A fitting end for a P1 maybe, but not necessarily the final curtain."
This M drophead coupe is chassis 859, and was delivered to Bournemouth England on Feb. 23, 1949 and registered as DJT 876. The owner has the original build and inspections sheets for the car. It was originally grey with grey interior and a blue top. Little of the car’s ownership history is known prior to 1978 and the current owner had the car shipped to the US in 1998. The car is in original condition, is mostly complete, but in need of a complete restoration. The car is equipped with a stock 3.6 liter (221 cid) Ford flathead engine with a Ford 3-speed transmission with column shift linkage that reverses the shift pattern from normal. All of the major mechanical components are the same as used in the English Ford Pilot. Click here to view additional information and photos. If you are interested, please click here to contact the seller. This car is available for $12,000/US.
Back in 1956, the International Association of Automotive Modelers (IAAM), featured the Allard Motor Company in their July-August Bulletin (Vol 6, #4). The Bulletin includes 12 pages of line art sketches of all the Allard models. Click here or the image above to download the complete Bulletin. Enjoy!
One of the more rare Allard cutaway drawings comes from the boys weekly comic book, "Eagle, Volume 3 Number 10, June 13, 1952." Although not exactly drawn to scale, it is impressive for a comic.
Click here or the image above to view the hi-res version. Special thanks to Kerry Horan for sharing this!
Chris Eames, Syd McDonald, Andy Robinson, me and John Hunt. The guy at the back is a Beaulieu ghost. Bob Roberts took the photo which is why he is not in the team pic. (source; Bob Roberts)
May 10th marked another important date in the restoration of the Allard Chrysler dragster – a full inspection of the rolling chassis (qualifying condition and identifying part numbers) and the fitting of the Booth-Arons recreated engine into the chassis. There had been worries about the spacers used on the rocker covers and inlet manifold creating fitting problems but these proved to be unfounded. We had to remove the injection unit and the blow-off valve to shoehorn it in, but once manhandled through the frame the engine fitted like a glove.
Bet you haven't seen this one before...
In August of 1965, the comic book, "Drag-Strip Hotrodders" published a brief history of the 1963 intercontinental drag race duel between the Americans Dante Deuce and Mickey Thomson and the Brit Sydney Allard. The story takes more than a few liberties, but c'mon, it's a comic book! Special thanks to Kerry Horan for sending us this jem. Click hereor the image above to download the pdf. This comic was published by the Charlton Comic Group, Illustrator/Author unknown.
Click here or the image above to download the latest issue of the Allard Register. Enjoy!
Found this video the other day of a J2 racing at Le Mans on YouTube. Click here to view the 30+ Allard related videos we've found on YouTube.
Don't you just hate it when someone writes their name on your car!? It's even worse when they scratch it in the bare aluminum. The nerve...
...of course the offense is forgiveable when it's Zora Arkus Duntov signing his old Allard J2 prototype, chassis #1515 currently owned by Jerry Lettieri
The Allards are heading back to the Texas World Speedway this November 4-6, 2011 in College Station, Texas. Please click here to learn more.
We hope to see you there!
Powder blue K3, chassis #K3-3261 with a Cadillac engine and Hydramatic transmission. The car was originally delivered to Noel Kirk Motors on September 16, 1953 and sold to D. Sanderson of Las Cruces, NM. The car was then purchased by Gary Peacock in 1977 who commissioned a complete restoration in the late 80’s. Upon Gary’s passing in 2009, Bob Lytle purchased the car who started a minor refreshing of the car. Upon Bob’s passing, his friends (including Allard GT owner Bob Girvin) helped complete the project. The car is located just outside of Phoenix, AZ. Contact Elaine Duden-Lytle at elsedu27@msn.com. Asking $125,000 OBO. Click here to view additional photos.
The October 1962 issue of AUTOSPORT features a great action shot of Jim Tiller and his J2. For those of you not familiar with Jim and his wife Sheila, they have actively raced their J2 for over 50 years, achieving several FTOD at the Brighton Speed Trials along with an attempt at breaking the 200 mph barrier at Bonneville in 2000. Sadly Jim was only able to achieve 197.3 mph...definately a record for an Allard!! To read more about his run at Bonneville, click here.
Do you know anything about this unique sports racer that's likely Allard based? The car appears to be 100% Allard between the front and rear wheels, but the front and rear are very unique. These screen shots are from the video below which was shot at the Palm Springs Road Race of March 26, -27, 1955. The car, number 192 must have been a late entrant because it wasn't listed as an entrant. To our knowledge, no formal race results were published.
Bonhams Collectors' Motor Cars and Automobilia Auction, April 11, 2011
Hendon, RAF Museum, Lot 309
This unique Allard, Chassis 21D-5151 is the only Palm Beach originally fitted with the 4.0-litre Dodge 'Red Ram' V8 engine. It was sold new to Bernardo Wolfenson of Buenos Aires, Argentina on April 2, 1954, who apparently toured Europe with it prior to taking it to Argentine, before returning to the UK in the 1960s. The car comes with a copy of the original Allard order (ordered March 16, 1954) confirming its first owner and 'Home delivery' as it was despatched on the Dover-Boulogne ferry. This car was the prototype for what could have potentially been an exciting relationship between Allard and the Dodge motor company. Dodge was hoping to add a car to their lineup that could compete with the Chevrolet Corvette.
Special thanks to Automobile Quarterly (www.autoquarterly.com for allowing us to use this amazing cutaway drawing of an Allard J2X by the amazing artist Yoshihiro Inomoto. Click here to open the hi-res version.
By Chuck Warnes
Allard, Kurtis and Duesenberg were honored as featured marques for the 16th annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.
