For Sale: K1 #108 now on Ebay

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After being auctioned last week for a reported $18,500 + buyers premium, Allard K1-108 has now been listed on Ebay. I spoke with an Allard owner who attended the auction and he said the car gathered a lot of interest. He says the car is in pretty good condition, all things considered. He also confirmed that the wood is in pretty good condition. The car is missing the waterfall grill (can be made in the UK) and the windshieldd. The bidding on ebay is currently just over $20,000, so that means our seller has made back his oringinal investment. Click here to go to Ebay...let us know if you buy it!

P.S.: for those of you who don't already know; this is the 2nd K1 built, the 8th production Allard, and the first Allard exported to the States. Here's what a properly restored K1 looks like...

An Interesting Barn Find...

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Updated 6-5-12

We've known about this car for a while now after helping the 'finder' with the history. We were sworn to secrecy while a fair offer was made by the 'finder', but the estate has now elected to go the auction route to sell this and a few other "barn finds."

What you see above is a very significant Allard...it is a K, chassis #108. Why is this significant? It represents the first of almost three hundred Allard's imported to the United States. The car was shipped to the US on March 31, 1947 - likey to NYC. It was originally painted white with red leather interior and powered by engine #7079928. As you can see, a healthy looking Cadillac now resides in the engine bay. The car looks to be complete, but it's a total basket case. The wood body is likely rotted so if you plan on tackling this project, you'll need to know what you're doing...or have deep pockets. The car is missing the windshield, radiator, and grill.

The car has been in the Russo family since 1948. The car is believed to have a race history, but we haven't been able to confirm any entries or results.

If you are interested in the car, you better contact the auctioneer Mr. Steve Dance of Dance Auctioneers  at 410-823-3993. The car will be sold on this June 13 at the Timoniun fairgrounds in Timonium, MD (just North of Baltimore). You can also click here to visit the auction web site. The preview starts at 10:00am and the car will be sold at 7:00 pm.

If you attend please take lots of photos of the car for us!

Cadillac 331 Rebuild (UK – 1985)

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[Jim Degnan has owned and raced his Cad-powered Allard K2 for the past 25+ years. He recently forwarded this article from the June 1985 Allard Owners Club newsletter. Roger includes a postscript at the end of this intriguing article.]

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By Roger Murray-Evans

It’s never an easy task rebuilding old engines, especially when they’ve been obsolete for 30 years with the added complication of being of American origin. However in my humble opinion, an Allard should have a Cadillac engine, and as Jackie’s K-Type developed incontinence this winter, in its extremely loose flathead, and I had a similarly afflicted Caddy 331 lying around it seemed madness not to join the twain together, especially as the total rebuild of either engine would cost pretty much the same. That’s my excuse anyway!

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2012 Monaco Historique Race Report

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From Massimo Bettati…

It was a sunny weekend for the 8th Gran Prix de Monaco Historique. Our Allard was one of 24 cars entered in the Series C, for pre 1953 sport and sports prototypes cars.

Our class had 3 Allards. Our Allard, J2X 3053 is British Racing Green RHD, reg ORL 320. Next up was the always competitive Patrick Watts (an ex pro driver) in the black J2 1965, reg MTA 635. Finally, the American, Alan Patterson (still racing at 80 years old!) with his red J2X #3072.

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The Allard of the Future

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The following is a imaginative look at what an Allard might be like today. This concept is brought to us by none other than famed Allard racer Bill Pollack (seen above winning the 1950 Pebble Beach Road Race). You can imagine the impact that racing these beasts has had on Mr. Pollack...where he still imagines them tearing up the tracks and turning the automotive world inside out. Thank you Bill!

I have often wondered what prompted Sydney Allard, to build a sports car. In the late 30s and 40s he was involved in a sport known as “Trials”. It was very popular in Great Britain. The trials consisted of 2 men, in a small car trying to negotiate deep mud. Often, the participants would find themselves heavily mired in an endless sea of the sticky stuff. Mostly, the cars were Austin 7’s or the like, with tiny engines, low power and little to say for themselves. The enthusiasts, would strip the fenders, lights, windshields etc. to lighten the cars as much as possible. I am sure, that Allard quickly noticed that those cars with the somewhat larger engines probably did better.

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Trophies...

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The latest from Bill Bauder...

"Well the Bitch did it again, we won our class as well as Best Sports Car, two trophies and ribbons. This time we made the Tour of about 75 miles without any trouble except maybe ruining Ginger's back when we hit a few bumps. Good thing she had on her safety belt. This was the inaugural event and was done by the people who started the Medowbrook show and headed up by Lolly Bezy who did a bang up job. We trailered over on Thursday and returned home on Monday and had a great time meeting old friends and making new friends. Every one liked the Allard, the Bitch that is, and she preformed flawlessly except when I forgot to turn on the fuel pump switch." ---Cheers, Bill

Congrats Bill and thanks for keeping the Allard flag flying!

The Last Checkered Flag, Carroll Shelby

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The car world lost an icon today. Carroll Shelby passed away today at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, TX at the age of 89. Carroll Shelby pretty much did anything that could be done in the automotive world...succesful Race Car Driver, Team Manager, Constructor, Consultant, and Philanthropist.

Allard enthusiasts should be aware that Carroll Shelby holds a special place in Allard history. He raced both a J2 (#2179) and J2X (#3146) from 1952 to 1954 with considerable success. Probably his most notable race took place at the 1954 Buenos Aires Kimberly Cup Race. Carroll and Dale Duncan man-handled a J2X to a hard fought tenth place. It was at this race where he caught the attention of Aston Marton's John Dwyer...and the rest is history.

Well not quite...Carroll Shelby's racing career was cut short by heart problems in 1960. Carroll was out of a job and his marriage was on the rocks. He moved out to California and opened a Goodyear Racing Tire Dealership. Carroll also had a stacked a Rolodex full of auto industry contacts from his racing years. In 1962, he started a partnership with AC Motors in the UK and Ford in the US to mate their new 221 Ford V8 with the engineless AC that he called the Cobra...and the rest is history.

It's widely documented that Shelby got the inspiration for the Cobra from his time spent racing Allards. He knew that a lightweight English chassis paired with a powerfull American V8 would be a formidable foe on the race track. One hopes that Sydney Allard looked at Shelby's racing success in the Cobra with admiration.

We could go on and on about Shelby's post-Cobra life, but there are enough books out there that cover that. Instead, we invite you click here or the photo above to read a story my dad, Charlie Warnes wrote for the January 1997 issue of Vintage Motorsport.

Thanks Carroll, you will be missed.

The Moss Files, Part 6

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In this instalment, Al writes to the AMC about his near success at the first Pebble Beach Road Race, which very likely would have resulted in an Allard victory if it weren't for a bit of bad luck! Mr. Moss also provides some constructive criticism while sharing a bit of growing frustration with the build quality of the cars. Click here or the image above to read the 2 page letter.

Rallye Notes...

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Special thanks to the Allard Owner's Club for letting us repost this story...

Notes from a Nervous Navigator on
Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique 2012  -  29 Jan to 4 Feb

Car No:239:- 1950, Allard P1
Driver – David Loveys, Co-driver – Roger Loveys

In January 2011 David announced his intention to enter the rally to mark the achievement of Sidney Allard winning the Monte-Carlo 60 years ago. It was only when I was presented with the application form to check that I knew this was a serious project. I immediately started my research and discovered Richard Disbrow, a driver who had completed the rally in 2011. Richard proved to be brilliant. I met up with him and he always responded immediately to my email requests for information and did his best to alert us to the extreme nature of the event – “Its unbelievable, a flat out road race from start to finish. I don’t know how the French allow it on their roads”. I also arranged to drive to Nice to visit friends so that I could check out part of the route and familiarise myself with driving and navigating in France, something I had not done for over 20 years.

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Mecum Auction Preview - K3 3182

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On May 19, Allard K3 3182 will be sold at Mecum’s Spring Classic Auction in Indianapolis,  IN. This K3 was ordered on 9-9-52 and shipped on 5-25-53 to Noel Kirk Motors in Los Angeles. The car had “bright red” paint with black leather interior and disc wheels. It was shipped with Cadillac engine modifications. The car is currently painted burgundy with brown interior and was converted to wire wheels. Powered is delivered via a Cadillac 331 and automatic transmission. It should be noted that the left hand shift linkage (between driver & door) has been retained with the automatic transmission conversion. No estimate is provided. If you are interested in this car, please click here to visit Mecum’s web site.

Two Green K3’s on a Play Date

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To the casual observer these two ‘British racing green’ Allard K3’s might seem identical. However, in many respects, they are at opposite ends of the Allard K3 spectrum.

3192 left the Allard factory set up for Cadillac power, and was delivered to Noel Kirk Motors in Los Angeles in July 1953. The original owner put 23,000 miles on it before knee problems forced him to park it in 1962. It spent the next 17 years in hibernation until Dr. Martin Allard purchased it in 1979. The only work required to get it roadworthy was some minor tweaking to free up the stuck Lincoln Zephyr gearbox. The 59 year-old Caddie, along with entire drive train and suspension, are original and virtually untouched.

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The Moss Files, Part 3

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Today's installment features a letter from Mr. Davis confirming Moss Motors as a distributor. It's interesting to note that the J2 was not priced at a premium...in fact it was their most affordable car! This isn't a big surprise since the J2 is such a simple car in comparison to the K2, P, and M-types. As a bonus, page 2 is a brief announcement of Allard's 3rd place finish in Le Mans just a day earlier. Click here or the photo above to view the 2-page pdf.

The Moss Files, Part 2

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Here's a great letter from January 30, 1950. Mr. Davis is writing to Al about Roy Richter who's Bell Auto Parts have been given the rights to sell the J2...the only problem is that Bell Auto Parts is located within Moss Motors' exclusive sales territory. Additionally, Mr. Davis also outlines all of the exterior paint, interior leather, and cloth top colors. Click here or the photo below to view the pdf.

The Moss Files, Part 1

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Apart from being a shrewd businessman, Al Moss was also a historian. Whereas most Allard dealers tossed out their old papers, Al saved a treasure trove of air mail letters and telegram correspondence between himself and the Allard Motor Company. We are pleased to announce that Al has passed this documentation onto us so we can share them digitially with all Allard enthusiasts. Over time, we'll share the more interesting documents.

To get us started, here's a letter from the Guv'nor himself. This is the only letter from Sydney addressed to Al. All other correspondence was from either Mr. Davis (Export Manager) or the Service Department. Click here or the image below to view it as apdf. Enjoy!