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.

Monterey Auction Preview - Russo & Steele

On Saturday August 18, Russo & Steele will be auctioning Al Reynolds beloved Allard L-type JLY 162. Chassis# L-390 was born in London on February 13, 1948 and delivered unfinished from the factory to Allard agent, Dagenham Motors. The new owner, Mr. Bentley had the car painted black. Early Allards were often shipped unfinished in and effort to bypass the tax man while also allowing the new owner to add their personal touches. L-390 started life as a RHD 4-seat tourer with a 2622cc Pilot Ford Flathead (21 stud) engine.

After a few years of hill climb and trials racing (and an accident in 1955), the car was redone as a 2-seat competition car by a London panel beater named Watson. Allards were modified quite often in an effort to harness the brute torque of the V8; every ounce of extra bodywork was removed from L-390.

The car has been in many shows. The first in 1965 with a 2^nd place. Since that time, it’s received a first, two thirds, and one winners circle award. It was also featured in the Allard Register, issues #28 (Winter 2000) and #32 (Summer 2001). The highlight of L-390’s life was racing in the 2010 Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca.

The car is currently equipped with a 24-stud 4-liter flathead that has less than 300 miles on it. The ported and balanced engine features a ¾” Isky cam, Ross racing pistons, (2) Stromberg 97 carbs, Mallory ignition, Offy heads and manifold. A number of additional parts are also included.

Click here or the photo above to learn more about the car. This is a great car for the classic hot rod enthusiast that's looking for something different...or the vintage racer that's looking to set themselves apart from the regular classics.

Monterey Auction Preview - Mecum

This year, Mecum will offer a K2 and a K3 in their annual auction at the Hyatt Regency in Monterey on Saturday August 18.

Keen observers will note that the K3 looks familiar. The car, chassis #3182 was sold at Mecum's spring auction in Indianopolis. There must have been a problem with the sale since it is being offered up once again. To review, 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. The K3 is listed as lot S127 and is estimated to sell around 2:40pm. Click here or the photo above to visit Mecum's site.

K2 chassis #3127 was one of the last K2's built. It was delivered to Noel Kirk motors on October 7, 1952. It was originally painted beige with brown interior, but later repainted black and upolstered in red. The car is equipped with a dual carb Cadillac engine with what is assumed to be a stock Ford 3-speed transmission. The K2 is listed as lot S169 and is estimated to sell around 4:15pm. Click here or the photo above to visit Mecum's site.

Need a lift?

Attention home mechanics – if you are looking for a good safe way to lift your Allard (or other cars) and you don’t want to invest in a huge, expensive hydraulic lift, you should check out the EZcarlift. My dad just bought one for the K3 and it’s great. It lifts the car up to 26” off the ground and allows for plenty of unobstructed access to the undercarriage. All you need to raise and lower the lift is a 7 amp, high rpm drill. The EZcarlift is really well built, it can hold up to 4,400 pounds, it’s portable, and it can be stored away when not in use. The basic EZcarlift sells for $1,995, but if you mention that you are a member of the Allard Register, they will give you a special $250 discount. For more info, you can call 1-800-392-2754 or visit www.ezcarlift.com.

The story behind the EZcarlift is pretty cool. The lift was designed by Boytcho Manev. He had an auto engineering company in Detroit for 17 years before moving to Santa Barbara in '98 on a contract with GM at the time. However after a couple years that GM operation got sold to General Dynamics and he had a choice to either move back to Detroit or stay and collect the remainder of his 2 year contract and retire. At that time he was working on his Corvair and was having car lift frustrations similar to ours so he designed his car lift, with plans for it to be a one-off for his own use only. However, some of his car guy friends encouraged him to make some more. He works out of his house, most of the components are made by contractors, and he has a couple college students help him with assembly and shipping. He says he does about 200-250 per year, and feels that if he did much more he'd have to rent some industrial space.

Let's go for a drive...

My dad and a friend took the K3 for a nice drive the other day. They drove from Fresno, CA to the end of HWY 180, which happens to be in Cedar Grove, part of Kings Canyon National Park. The total drive was 200 miles and the car averaged almost 14 mpg…not bad for a 392 Hemi. The photo above is taken from the ridge above Cedar Grove (approximately 6,000 feet).

Have you done anything fun with your Allard this summer? If you have...click here to send us a photo!

Allard Dragster Debuts @ Dragstalgia

We are pleased to announce that the Allard Dragster…Europe’s first dragster is back! Brian Taylor and the loyal team from the Allard Chrysler Action Group have completed the restoration and debuted “Ally” at Dragstalgia @ Santa Pod on July 14. The crowd went crazy when the dragster was fired up for its’ first “cacklelfest”, where a bunch of historic  dragsters are lined up and fired up and revved one by one. Click here or the photo below to view the gallery.

Photos by: Mark skinner, Jon Spoard, Ingrid Chesworth, Jamie Mcconnell, Elizabeth Rowland, Dave Rudd

Everybodies favorite Allard Racer, Bill Pollack

Here's a few video clips of Bill Pollack promoting his racing memoirs, Red Wheels and White Sidewalls with Bob Schmitt. Bill has led a long and full life...with that he has accumulated many stories, most of which are true (we think).

An Allard Sunroof?

Most people think that the Allard Motor Company closed up shop after they built their last Palm Beach MkII in 1958. Not so. The Allard name was synonymous with speed in the UK and they built a thriving after market business. They had a partnership with Shorrock superchargers, built custom Ford Anglias, tuned suspensoins...they would even install a sunroof in your car! As you can imagine, very few Allard sunroofs have survived the elements, but we got a tip today from Scotty Bevis that one had shown up on Ebay! It's nothing fancy, but it's a testament to how ingrained cars were in the life of Sydney Allard. He could have easily closed up shop and joined the family construction business, but no, he kept on playing with and racing cars...thanks Syd!

A Close Look at Bob Girvin's GT Coupe

We just got a tip on this post from www.britishracecar.com about Bob Girvins GT Coupe #2 of 2 built. As you can imagine, Bob's car can get around a track pretty well...it doesn't hurt that Bob is a pretty good driver either. Click here or the photo above to read a VERY detailed review of this unique GT Coupe.

Silverstone Auction Preview

On July 20-22, Silverstone will be summoning vintage cars from all over Europe to it's famed track for the Silverstone Classic event. Once again, the AOC will be there in full force and are hoping to have 20+ cars in their corral. In addition to some great racing, club parades, and general car watching, Silverstone Auctions will be selling an interesting Allard.

M-type #321 is pretty interesting. It was originally sold as a chassis only through dealer George & Jobbing on November 7, 1947. From there, we assume the car sat around for a few years unfinshed. At some, the car must have been sent back to the factory to be completed, including: a hybrid M & K body, coil spring front end conversion (these did not appear until late '49), and a 24-stud Mercury V8 was added with Allard heads & intake. The car was originally owned by BBC broadcaster Randall Herley and has only had two owners since. The car is listed as lot #110 and is estimated to sell for 20-25,000 GBP ($31-39,000). To learn more about the car and see additional photos, click here or on the photos above.

The stuff you find on Ebay...

I've never seen one of these before...it a sports coat with an Allard Owners Club - America patch sown on the breast pocket. The jacket is a size 42.

I must confess that the seller contacted me before posting the Ebay ad. It looks like the previous owner was in the military and the last name might have been "Harper." These assumptions were made because the coat was part of a lot purchased with military items that had the name Harper on them.

Click here to view the auction.

It lives!!!!!!!!!!!

From Brian Taylor...

"OK historians log these details in your book of legends. The date - Sunday July 1st. The place - the workshop at Andy Robinson Race Cars in the UK. The time - 2030 hrs local time. Those present - Andy Robinson, Bob Roberts, Martin Dunks and Brian Taylor. After a long days work and fueled with methanol Sydney Allard's 1961 Allard Chrysler dragster burst into life. The first time since 1964.The sigh...t, sound and smell was amazing. Thanks to all those who have backed us and to an amazing team of people working on the car we have brought drag racing history back to life. There is still plenty of work to do before Brian Golder's original restoration has been complated but nothing that will not wait until after Dragstalgia. We will be able to attend the Cacklefest Ball on the strip on Saturday evening on July 14th and during July 15th and for the first time since 1964 those attending will be able to see and hear the car that started it all in European drag racing terms. Make sure you are there. The start-up was recorded on video and we will release lots more info soon. How did I feel? Relieved, proud and so excited. I didn't sleep much last night just re-running that moment in my mind. Wow."

Congrats to everyone that's working on the restoration...the end is near!