A Mystery Solved

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A Mystery Solved

I bought L-852 in 1981 from my ex-wife’s uncle, Joe Fleming. According to the old registration book which I still have, Joe owned the Allard from at least 1960. But as this was a continuation book, it could have been earlier. At the time it didn’t seem that important to ask.

In 1966, an engine problem took the car off the road and Joe never got around to having it repaired so it never moved again. Until, that is, I was able to persuade Joe to let me buy the car from him. This was circa 1978, but it was another 3 years before he reluctantly let me trailer the car away. With the promise that I would get the car roadworthy so that he could have one more ride in it, I took it back to my farm in North Wales. Sadly some 12 months later Joe passed away without seeing the car again and I didn’t have the heart to continue the Allard rebuild. So, I decided to put the car into storage with a view to doing a full restoration at a later date.

Much later, circa 1988, with free time on my hands my thoughts turned to the Allard. I had purchased a cottage in the Snowdonia National Park in Wales, which came with a large stone outbuilding suitable for my passion of restoring classic cars. The Allard was rescued from storage and work began to strip the car down to the bare chassis. It became apparent that the car had suffered damage to the near side front of the chassis and the wing support arm, but it had not affected the integrity of the chassis so the repaired area was left as was. Later this damage would be instrumental in forming part of the car’s early history and provenance.

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Mystery Car...

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This mystery car was sent to us by Mr. Hawkes in the UK. He found the photo above here, which claims that the car is a 1952 Allard Special. If you squint, the car looks kind of like an edgier representation of a M2 or P2 with the inset headlamps. The car bears the registration number "MYP 515" in both photos. If you know anything about this car or what it is, please click here to send us a note or leave a comment.

Another Missing Family P1...

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We're not sure what it is about P1's, but they seem to have found a real soft spot in the heart of their previous owners. Of all the requests we get to track down missing cars, the vast majority of them are for P1's. It's not hard to see why...distinctive styling, big V8, sporty suspension (for a late 40's sedan), and suicide doors...very cool. Please see David's request below and click here if you can help us!

Hello fellow Allard lovers.

Firstly, thank you for your web-site that has motivated me to track down the Allard my father brought to Australia in 1956. It was a black P1 that was sold originally to the steel works manger in Swansea (Wales). Photo of it here in Australia attached.

My father sold it due to parts being difficult to access. He told me that he heard that the car was later used for racing in Victoria (Australia). Any help with tracking down this car (I am an avid car restorer) would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards, David Richards.

Mystery Car: P1 LKD 297

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Ian Rose recently contacted us to see if we had any news on his father's P1, registration LKD 297. Unfortunately our chassis database doesn't have a corresponding chassis number for the registration plate. If you know anything about this car, please leave a comment or click here to send us an email.

Ian writes..."It was involved in an accident in late 1958/early 1959 when a lorry ran into the back of it whilst waiting at traffic lights on the A.30 near Camberley in thick fog. It was probably written-off. I know my father never got it back again, though the damage was confined to the rear end."

An Interesting Palm Beach...

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The recent Bring A Trailer ad for Palm Beach 21Z-5155, created a lot of interesting comments about Palm Beach's. One in particular from Wayne Goldman caught our eye. Wayne bought a Palm Beach in the late sixties and threw the Ford Zodiac engine and gearbox away. In its place, he installed a 170 cubic inch Ford six with a three carb manifold, H & M cam, etc. and a 4 speed gear box. Wayne notes that the car, "went like a bat out of hell, but the 4:1 rear axle was too high for highway use so I narrowed a Ford axle which had the same bolt pattern as the original wire wheels and the car was great. I had a friend who was the top SCCA Corvette driver in New England and he could only beat me by 50 feet in a 1/4 drag race. The Ford 170 six was popular with midget racers and it would wind up to over 8,000 RPM…"

Sadly Wayne lost track  of the car and we haven't been able to decipher the chassis plate which was reattached to the dash. If you know anything about the car, please leave a comment or send us a note.

Incidentally, Wayne also has a bunch of interesting (and good) racing photos that he took back in the 50's. Click here to visit his site.

Mystery Car, L-315

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We received the letter below from an Allard owner that would like some help in tracking down the history of his car...
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I hope that your readers can help me identify the full history of my Allard L-Type, chassis 71L-315 but I was not very successful.

My Allard has a "custom made" 2-seater body on the long 112 inch wheelbase chassis. Hood, front and rear wheel arches are made of steel. The front panels, doors and tail are made of aluminum. First I assumed the rear bodywork is a fiberglass shell, but as I scraped some color from inside the bodywork, bare metal occurred and yes, it has a wooden sub-frame. As far as I know the original paintwork was black and the car was delivered in January 1948 to the official Allard dealer in Belfast/UK. In spring 1989 the car was offered on the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale/AZ, but was not sold. In summer 1989 the car was sold to Switzerland. From this time on the history is known.

I hope some Allard enthusiasts in the US will know the missing link of the history. Thanks very much for your support!

Kind regards,
Markus
Switzerland

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Our records indicate that the car was originally delivered with a full body and painted black with brown interior. It was delivered to Hamilton's in Belfast on January 5, 1948. If you know anything about this car, please click here to contact us.

Mystery J2

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Daniel Rapley is seeking help in finding the true identity of his Allard J2. Here's what is known:

  1. LHD
  2. Steel Wheels
  3. Looks to have been originally painted Red
  4. Later painted in a medium Green
  5. There are remnants of an old SCCA sticker on an interior panel
  6. The car was found in the Northeast in the mid 1970's
  7. It is believed that the body was lost in a fire. The old steering wheel is burnt.

If you known anything about this car, please click here to email Daniel. Click here to view the extensive photo gallery.

Mystery Car

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We found this photo of Sydney racing at the Poole Speed Trials in 1947 where he took the fastest sports car time (Motor Sport, October '47). The number plate isn't shown in our chassis registry. Know anything about it? Leave a comment.

Cheers!

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!

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.

 

Mystery Allard

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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.

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