John Fitch, The Last Checkered Flag

On Wednesday October 31, automotive legend John Fitch took his last checkered flag. John was born on August 4, 1917 in Indianapolis, Indiana. John was a renaissance man when it came to automobiles...he not only raced them, he was a mechanic, built succesful specials, invented new technologies, track proprieter, and safety pioneer. John was perhaps best known for his racing career where he raced MG's, Cunninghams, Maserati's, Jaguar's, Corvette's, Formula 1, and an Allard.

In 1951, John was invited to race in the inaugural General Peron Grand Prix in Buenos Aires. There was only one problem...he didn't have a suitable car. John talked his friend Tommy Cole into selling him his wrecked J2 (#1514) for cheap. John straightened the chassis, pounded out the body, bled the brakes, and then kissed his very pregnant wife goodbye as he left for Argentina. Two other Allard owners were entered, Fred Wacker and good friend Tommy Cole in his new J2. John led the race from the start with his only serious competition coming from Wacker who finished a lap down in second. It was John's first win and it earned him a seat at Le Mans with the Cunningham team later that year.

To learn more about the life of John Fitch, click here to visit his Wikipedia page. The photo above was taken of John at the 2002 Monterey Historics where Corvette was the featured maque.

Page Update: J1

We've updated the J1 page...

Page Update: K1

Sorry it's taken so long, but we're finally getting around to updating the car pages of the web site. First up is the K1, which previously had just one photo. Now it has (3) galleries, tech specs, and a few other goodies. Click here or the photo above to jump to the updated page. Enjoy!

Video: 1951 Carrell Speedway Foreign Sports Car Races

Another great video brought to us by the late Al Moss. This is the race that ended Al's racing career. This is a story he loved to tell...and he was lucky to have lived. If you are interested in the 4-DVD box set, send us a comment.

Video: 1950 Santa Ana Sports Car Races

The 1950 sports car races at the Santa Ana Blimp Base, was one of the first major west coast sports car races. The race featured many future stars of international racing. For the winner Roy Richter, this would be his first and last sports car race. Roy owned Bell Auto Parts and had a license to sell Allard J2's on the west coast, much to the frustration who had the license to sell all other Allards in the west. Anyway, Roy's wife was out of town, so he decided the best way to get the word out on his new business venture was to do some racing. Roy won the race and gave the J2 one of its first race wins. Unfortunately Roy had to give up racing once his wife returned home. Incidentally, this video features what is probably some of the first in car (color) footage. Enjoy!

Glenmoor Gathering - 2012

Allard was the featured marque for this year’s Gathering, with 19 Allards on display, and seven running in Saturday’s Glenmoor Passport Country Tour. Allards present included five J2’s, three J2X’s, three K1’s, three K2’s, a JR, an L-Type, a special coupe bodied M-Type, a Palm Beach Mk I and a Palm Beach Mk II.

The Gathering was spread over three days at the Glenmoor Country Club at Canton, Ohio, and included a mouth watering assortment of over 200 cars. Friday saw the first of the Allards arrive, which were displayed on the lawn in front of the clubhouse with Bruce McCaw’s J2 – winner at Watkins Glen at the hand of Erwin Goldschmidt – taking pride of the place. Also on display were Andy Picariello’s J2 and K2, Tom Kayuha’s K1, the K2 and PB Mk I of Axel & Hanko Rosenblad, Mike Fisher’s K1, Bill Wilmer’s J2X, Bill Boone’s J2X, Paul Schoonmaker’s J2X, Terrell Underwood’s L-Type, Tom Shelton’s J2 and Emil Loeffler’s J2.

Friday’s events included an interesting seminar on the trials and tribulations of the Studebaker Car Company, plus the start of the silent auction. A heavy rain shower caused a rush to fit tonneau covers. However it soon cleared and for the rest of the two days the weather was perfect.

The Glenmoor Passport Country Tour commenced at 8 AM on Saturday morning. A total of 40 cars took part in this truly unforgettable 90-mile tour through the rolling hills of northeast Ohio, over two lane country roads shared with Amish horse-drawn buggies. The seven Allards participating were Tom Kayuha and Mike Fisher in their K1’s, Axel & Hanko Rosenblad and Peter Bowman in their K2’s, Tom Sheldon driving his J2, Paul Schoonmaker in his J2X and Terrell Underwood piloting his L-Type. The first stop was at Carl Maxwell’s Sinclair Service Station in Berlin, with lunch being taken at the recently restored Canal Tavern in the quaint historic village of Zoar. The Tour included a special slalom section where drivers had to dodge Amish Buggy "debris."

Sunday was Concours day. Being the featured marque, the Allards were not a part of the main Concours. However all 19 Allards were subject to their owner’s voting for the best ‘road car’ and ‘competition car’. Judging was to be completed by 10:30 am, and before the awards were made the Allard exhibitors attended lunch on the patio. During that morning, Palm Beach Mk II owner Robert Hartson gave a demonstration of how to ride a ‘penny farthing bike’ – very impressive when ridden in a relatively small area!

Allard winners were:

-The J2X of Annabelle & Bill Wilmer – Best Racing Allard

-The M-Type couple of Dawn & Mike Fisher – Best Street Allard

The Gathering produced a fine field of Allards – thanks to all the hard work of Andy Picariello and Tom Kayuha.

Many thanks,
David Hooper

UPDATE from David (Oct 21): I would like to apologise to Bill Magavern for omitting to include not only him, but his K type from my report. His K type has cycle wings along with a representation of the original Allard grille, which can best be described as a work of art.

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Click here to view David Hooper's Concours Gallery

Click here to view Peter Bowman's Tour Gallery

Click here to view Peter Bowman's Concours Gallery

What's my Allard worth?

We get asked this question constantly. Truth is, we don't know. We are constantly surprised by what Allard's sell for. It seems like they either sell for less than expected, or for more than expected.

Thankfully the good folks at Hagerty Car Insurance and Hemming's have created a valuation tool for classic cars. Is it perfect? No...but it's pretty good. Click here to check it out.

Ted Turner, The Last Checkered Flag

Ted Turner, son of Tom and Yvonne Turner, passed away unexpectedly on June 6, 2012. Longtime Allard owners will remember Ted’s father, Dr. Tom Turner, who was the major Allard cheerleader in the US until he passed away 20 years ago. Ted accompanied his father to racing events and assisted him in the restoration and maintenance of his many cars. Ted was actively involved in working with his father in the collection, restoration and racing of Allards throughout the late 1980’s and early ‘90’s.

Ted’s interest and enthusiasm for Allards continued after Dr. Tom Turner’s sudden passing in 1994, as he supported and assisted his mother, Yvonne as she continued to campaign Tom’s beautiful and infamous flathead powered J2. Other Allard owners have since come to appreciate Ted’s assistance as he has continued to share items from his father’s extensive Allard archives and parts bins.

Ted graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Ted was an Adjunct Professor of Biology for Dallas County Community College District at El Centro College and Brookhaven College.

Ted is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Hinkle-Turner; 2 sons, Jerry Turner and J.T. Turner; a sister, Anne Turner Rhodes and a brother, Bob Turner.

For Sale: Allard J2 1575

We just received word that Allard J2 1575 is coming onto the market. This car was originally ordered by "Mr. Hyde" through Nunns, a UK dealer. It was registered as BJV 365 and equipped with a Mercury flathead and for 3-speed. The car was originally painted steel gray with black interior. Mr. Hyde then sold the car to Mr. Hill, who then sold it to Dr. Tom Turner. The late Tom Turner was a noted Allard enthusiast who owned a number of Allards...in addition to publishing the Allard Register. Tom restored this car to be his personal race car which he, and then his wife Yvonne raced from the early 80's to the mid 90's.

According to the current owner, the remains in the same condition as it was owned by Dr. Turner. The asking price is 222,222E /177,488GBP / 286,755USD. Click here to contact the owner. The car is currently located in Salzburg, Austria.

PS: Tom Turner received permission from Fred Wacker to use the 8 Ball livery.

Back on Ebay: K3 6017

K3 6017 is back for a sale on Ebay, with a starting price of $55,000. Click here to visit the posting 221131935629.

To learn more K3 6017, click here to learn more. Or you can click here to visit Bring A Trailer.

Al Moss, The Last Checkered Flag

We just received news that Allard distributor Alan 'Al' Moss just passed away at the age of 80. Al was a legend in the West Coast sports car scene...ever heard of Moss Motors? It's tough to even start describing Al's amazing life. Not only was he an entrepenuer, but he was an absolute character and jokester. I am honored to have had the brief chance to get to know the man...enjoying several long phone calls reminicing about Allard's and the people that raced them. We'll come back soon with a more fitting tribute to this legend.

The photo above is of Al Moss sitting in Hastings Harcout's J2X in front of Ak Miller's shop.

God speed Al.

PS: The Allard Register was honored when Al passed on all of his Allard correspondence to us. To read some of it, just type 'Moss' into our search bar.

On track in Monterey

Special thanks  to Steve Schuler for sharing this in car video of his race to 2nd place in Group 5B at the 2012 RMMR at Laguna Seca this past August. And yes...Steve is aware his speedo isn't working...

Speaking of Jim Tiller...

Here's some in car footage of the Brighton Speed Trials...

Public Service Announcement

This is an Allard J2:

This is an Allard J2 on drugs:

This is Jim and Sheila Tiller's J2-1784, affectionately known as "The Old Fella". This car is fast, seriously fast. It nearly hit 200 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats and it regularly dominates the Brighton Speed Trials. Jim's run at Brighton this past weekend started off great with a practice run of 10.44s (@133 mph), but his first official timed run was hurt by mechanical issues.

Photo: www.ukpix.com

Allard Register #60

We are pleased to present you with issue #60 of the Allard Register. Please click here or the photo above to download the pdf version of our newsletter. Inside you will find a recap of the Sonoma Vintage Races, rebuilding a Cadillac 331, Bill Pollack imagines the Allard of the future, two K3's go on a play date, and the latest Allard news. We hope you enjoy!

Brooklands Auction: K1 467

On September 1, The Brooklands Museum will be hosting an auction that will include an Allard K1, chassis 467. The car is expected to go for £65,000 - £75,000 ($102,000 to $118,500). Click here to visit the auction web site. The following text comes from the Brooklands auction:

The car was delivered on July 5, 1948 to Ratcliffes Garage and registered as GRK 384 (gray paint with gray interior), little is known of the early history of this motorcar except to note that it was abandoned, it is thought, in the 1970’s in a field and left there for approximately 20 years before it was acquired by a Mr. John Aldridge, an architect and amateur racer from London in 1997. Appreciating the Allard marque for its performance potential, he set about breathing life back into it. John Simmons of Lowestoft were instructed to restore the body with Nordian Exports of Leadon Roding re-building the engine. A period of racing, sprints and hill-climbs then ensued.  It then moved into the hands of the current owner in 2007. Interestingly, the vendor of this extraordinary example has a mindset not unlike Sidney Allard. In as much there is a focused mind at play with one goal and no deviations. Unlike Sidney Allard though, it is not the need for power and performance but that of quality workmanship, attention to detail and a thorough mechanical pursuit of zero tolerance derived from an engineer’s critical eye.

BAS 120 now began a restoration process unlike any other. The car was de-constructed into its constituent parts and those parts restored or replaced if even the slighted imperfection was found. This included re-building the door handle mechanisms, complete drive train and every mechanical and electrical component in-between. The stainless steel exhaust was replaced with a better stainless steel exhaust and the rear axle ratio was changed from 4.11-1 to 3.25-1providing improved fuel economy and top speed without compromising the performance of the high torque engine. It now runs with a ¾ race cam and still retains the original three speed gearbox. The original cast iron heads have been swapped with improved aluminium Offenhauser units and the manifold mated to quad-barrel Holly carburettors instead of the previous two barrels. The aluminium radiator has 50% more capacity and the crankshaft, clutch, flywheel and pistons have all been dynamically balanced to give a smoother power delivery and overall performance. The attention to mechanical perfection (as well as the recent comprehensive service and oil change) would make Sydney Allard proud.

The exterior is equally immaculate with lustrous green coachwork and matching green leather interior. Full weather gear is included to make this prize-winning, fast road specification Allard one of finest on the planet.

Allards @ Le Mans Classic

Special thanks to Patrice Cosseau for writing to tell us how the Le Mans Classic went this year…

The Le Mans Classic was very wet this year, which put a small damper on the party. The car (J2 1557), without rain tires - did not like the rainy weather so much, neither did I! In the first race we had two spins : first in Dunlop curve and second at Playstation in the sand. Sunday was sunnier and the car was much easier to drive we were much more comfortable. Patric was joined by Michel Lorielle and Francois Cointreau.

Race 1: 44, Raining
Race 2: 59, Many competitors spun, two laps only behind safety car
Race 3: 32, Sunshine!
Overall: 42 with 97 laps completed

A very good progression indeed ! The car perfectly work in all the races and practices. Very easy to drift on the dry. With more time we could have got a better ranking.

Thanks Patrice and keep racing!

PS: Bob Francis from Canada also competed in J2 1971. Bob and team mate John Thompson finished 40^th overall, also with 97 laps completed.