SOLD - Allard J2-1698

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Details: Delivered January 26, 1951, Chassis # J2 1698, Engine #  8M931, Red with red interior, Shipped to Gardiner’s Motor Service, Sydney. Factory records show this car was shipped with the above-mentioned engine number (most exported Allards were shipped without an engine).

Sold immediately to Jack Murray.

This car was raced with a Cadillac motor which, it is understood, was installed by Murray in Sydney. The Cadillac motor was subsequently given the number N57110P.

This car’s first Bathurst race was the October 1951 meeting (not the ’51 Easter meeting as has been reported elsewhere). Raced by Murray, who tended to confine his racing to the northern states, through to 1955, including to fourth place in the 1952 Australian Grand Prix held at Bathurst, and in the 1954 Australian Grand Prix at Southport Qld, where it did not finish.

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Shooting Brake

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According to Wikipedia, the first "Shooting Brakes" were developed "in the early 19th century, a brake was a large carriage-frame with no body, used for breaking in young horses, to restrict (or "brake") their movement, and train them as work horses. By the late 19th century the term extended to an open-bodied wagonette designed to carry a number of people. A "shooting brake" carried a driver and gamekeeper facing forward and up to six sportsmen on longitudinal benches with their dogs, guns and game carried alongside in slat-sided racks.

The term was subsequently applied to custom built luxury estate cars altered for use by hunters and other sportsmen such as golfers, riders, and polo players requiring easy access to larger storage areas than offered by the typical automobile boot."

This Allard Shooting Brake was likely supplied as a chassis only to an independant body builder. If you know anything about this car, please contact us!

What the!?

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Our friend Ralph from www.psychoontyres.blogspot.com sent us these photos the other day of this amazing Allard J2 styled track day special. The photos were taken at a Mallory Park test day this past week. Unfortunately Ralph wasn't able to speak to the owner so we don't know if the car started life as an Allard or if the owner just wanted something different. Either way, we like it and we bet Sydney would have loved it! The car features a big-block Chevy engine, tube frame chassis, and doubel A-arm front suspension. Ralph said tells us the car is fast and the engine sounds like heaven.

If you know anything about this car, please contact us!

Allards @ Silverstone Classic!

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By Mike Knapman

The organisers of the Silverstone Classic set out to make 2011’s Classic the biggest and best ever.  “Rocking & Racing” were the two keywords.  They succeeded. Over 1100 entrants ensured full 52 car maximum grids for the historic races that went on from dawn to after dusk.  120 Classic car clubs and 7,000 thousand classic cars were on display.  A staggering 800 E-Types paraded on Saturday.   80,000 members of the classic car public paid to come in. The weather was not bad either, cloudy with sunny periods or vice-versa. This was “the biggest race meeting ever staged in international motor racing history”.

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ALLARD & The 1953 Redex Reliability Trial

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By Chris Lowth

That original 1953 Redex Reliability Trial remains as a watershed in endurance rallies in Australia, up to that time it was the second longest trial ever staged in the world (the previous longest had been from New York to Paris in 1908). It was an expedition into the unknown.

It was organized by Dunlop executive Harry James, who in 1904 had organized Australia's first motor race meeting, a four event "demonstration" at Aspendale racecourse in Victoria. James, who was generally regarded as the father of Australian motor sport, was also a great-uncle to arguably the biggest name to ever grace an Australian racetrack Peter Brock.

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RM Monterey Auction Preview - K2 1804

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This August, RM will auction two Allards, the second of which is this K2 Roadster, chassis #1804. This K2 was delivered to an LA dealer (likely Noel Kirk or Moss Moss Motors) on December 1, 1950. Originally painted blue and fitted with Cadillac power, this K2 features Allards' De Dion rear suspension which was a rare option for K2's. The car now features Hallibrand disk wheels, Brooklands windscreens and looks very sporting. The car was featured in the June 2010 issue of "Auto Trader Classic Cars & Parts" magazine. This car is register as lot #142 and will be sold on Saturday evening. The estimate for this car is $100-120,000. You can view more photos of this car at the RM's web site.

RM Monterey Auction Preview - M 834

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This August, RM will auction two Allards, the first car is the M Drophead Coupe (DHC), chassis #834. At first glance, the car looks to be a nicely restored M type, but our records indicate that this chassis had a busy race history. Chassis 834 was sold by the Scottish dealer Alexanders on January 27, 1949 and was registered as GSF 756. The car was raced from 1950 to the mid 60's in a wide variety of events ranging trials, hill climbs, and even track races at Snetterton (1965). This car is register as lot #123 and will be sold on Saturday evening. The estimate for this car is $60-80,000. You can view more photos of this car at the RM's web site.

Mystery Allard - Custom K2

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Have you ever seen or heard anything about this custom bodied K2? Our build records don't note any K2's being shipped with partial bodywork so we must assume the car was rebodied at some time, likely after an accident. We're going to make a wild assumption that the car was rebodied in the mid to late fifties due to noticeable tail fins and 'continental kit' spare tire mount. If you know anything about this unique K2, please leave a comment or click here to email us.

 

Allard K2 races on the sand @ 1953 Speed Week

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Before the Daytona 500, Nascar hosted their Speed Week event in Spring on the sprawling sands of Daytona Beach. It's not known how many Allard's raced there, but in 1953 NASCAR had a sports car class. Robert "Bob" Hunt took his K2 there to compete and did quite well finishing second to probably the fastest sports at that time, a Jaguard XK-120C. Bob completed the standing mile with an average speed of 84.09 mph (the C-type was a hair quicker at 84.92!) and flying mile at 114.58 mph. The flying mile speed demonstrated superior aerdynamics [and gearing] of the C-type, which finished with an amazing average speed of 134.07 mph...besting Mr. Hunt by almost 30 mph (or 4 seconds)! Either way, the times and speeds posted by Mr. Hunt and his K2 were very impressive...although we must wonder what a Allard J2X-LM or JR could have done... Click here or the image above to view the full size image.

This scan came from the March 13, 1953 issue of Motor World magazine.

Tick Tock

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One of our generous members sent us this amazing clock the other day for our archives. The free-standing clock is made from cast pewter and measures 8" wide X 5 1/4" tall and weighs several pounds. Little is known about the clocks except that they were made here in the US several years ago, with a limited run of 100...this is clock #14. The clock movement is nothing special, it's just a AA normal battery powered unit like you'd find in most wall clocks nowadays. If you know any more about these clocks, please let us know!

 

July 23 Demo Day @ Simeone Museum

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On Saturday July 23, The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia will feature their Allard J2 #1975 in one of their monthly Demo Days. The theme of the Demo Day is "American Mega Motor Racers" and will feature the Allard, and the museum's '53 Cunningham C4R, '63 Corvette Grand Sport, and '66 Ford GT40 MkII. If you live in the Northeast, you should make plans to check out the demonstration and the rest of Dr. Simeone's amazing collection. The Museum features a large parking lot, which allows them to put on a good show. You can click here to learn more about the event and museum.

Click hereto read about our visit to the Simeone Foundation Museum last year and view our photo gallery.

Allards Running in the ‘Wet’ at Sonoma

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By Steve Schuler and Cordell Bahn

Two Allard J2’s ran in the 2nd annual Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival at Infineon Raceway (formerly Sears Point) on the weekend of June 4 - 5.

Activities commenced with Wednesday’s practice in the rain. They then took advantage of a 'quick and dirty' practice session on Thursday afternoon after tech. They were glad for it, because it was the only hot period on the track with a completely dry road course.

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Roy Richter and his J2

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Did you know one of the most influential people in motorsports and the automotive aftermarket, owned and briefly raced one of the first J2's in the US? That man was Roy Richter, owner of Bell Auto Parts, Bell Helmets, and was the leading figure behind SEMA for many decades. He also won the first (and only) sports car race he ever entered...beating the likes of Phil Hill and Jack McAfee at Santa Ana. His racing career was tragically cut short when he confessed to his wife who had been away for the weekend.

Our friends over at the Blog, "Getting' a lil psycho on tyres!" have published another Allard related story, this time on Roy's J2, chassis 1513. Click here to read it!

Old Magazine Covers, Part 8

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This issue of "Car Collector and Car Classics" magazine was published in January of 1984 and features two stories on Allards. The first story is about the J2X, using photos of the cover car. The second story is about the Palm Beach MkI, but unfortunately all of their photos are of a K3! To the untrained eye, it's an easy mistake to make, but an error like that shouldn't have made it past the Editors desk.

MYSTERY CAR: If you, or you know who owns this J2X, please click here to email us! 

Another J2X, Back on the Road!

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Alan Beall has owned J2X 3062 since 1969 and has had the car "restored" twice before, but "not professionally.”

She is Cadillac powered with a 331 engine, Edelbrock intake, 6 Stromberg ‘97’ carbs, increased compression, ported heads, Schneider Cam. The engine will be dyno’d soon.

Trans is Lincoln Zephyr and all the running gear is original (except the engine) and all the original body panels were restored. J2X 3062 features (2) spare wheel carriers, (chrome wires wheels are on the way) and the fuel tank has dual fillers. The original gauges were missing, but it came with Stewart Warner gauges from the early 60's.

Alan entrusted the restoration of 3062 to Steve Dennish of Lime Works Speed Shop in Whittier, CA. Steve picked up the car from Alan in Hawaii of December 2009 and loaded the stripped car into a container. The restoration started in February, 2010 and she was ready for the LA Roadster Show by June, 2011. As you can see, the car still needs a few finishing touches, but everything should be wrapped up soon.

Alan is hoping to race the car, but now that it looks so good…he’s not so sure! You can read about 3062’s restoration on the H.A.M.B. , by clicking here.

Allard K1 #156

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Our friends over at "Gettin' a lil' Psycho on Tyres" have posted their third Allard post in as many weeks. Click here or the photo above to view their post on the K1 #156 that's at the Haynes International Motor Museum in Somerset, UK. This particular car was raced in the 1947 Alpine Rally by Len Potter to 5th in class, or 17th overall. It was part of a three car team, consisting of Goff Imhoff and Maurice Wick who failed to finish. The cars were apparently painted red, white, and blue...think of it as a precursor to the Italian Job.

The Crash - Watkins Glen 1952

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While going through our archives, I found this amazing piece of history. The photo above is a small excerpt from a full page spread in a magazine that we believe to be Life Magazine (unfortunately all we have are these pages). The story was likely published the week after the infamouos 1952 Watkins Glen Grand Prix in late September. In addition to the photo above, the story features a large, disturbing photo of the post-crash scene. To my knowledge, these photos have never been seen outside of this article. Click here or any of the photos to view the large (7MB) image. If you have any more info on this magazine, please let us know.

As you know, this accident had a dramatic effect on sports car racing in America. It highlighted how vulnerable spectators actually were and that their safety was critical. The aftermath of this unfortunate accident led to the creation of dedicated road courses and airport tracks that kept spectators at a safer distance.

Note: The story and photos have been posted without permission and will be removed upon request.