A few walk arounds of old #65

Seeing that video the other day of that poor guy attempting to drive Bob Lylte's J2X inspired me to dig through my Monterey archives. I put together the footage you see here of Bob getting ready to practice at Monterey in 2006...and of Bob's car just before it was auctioned at RM. Seeing this footage was bittersweet and brought back a lot of fond memories. In the next week I'll post a gallery that shows off the guts of J2X 3162...I doubt you've ever seen a J2X like it. Cheers!

How Not To Drive an Allard

Just found this video on YouTube of the late Bob Lytle's J2X being prepped for auction at RM a few years ago. Bob's J2X was equipped with a Buick Nailhead and a Muncie 4-speed...As you can see in the video, the driver couldn't quite get the hang of the 4-speed!

J2X MkII in Shanghai

Roger Allard's Chinese demonstrator has been getting a lot of attention lately. This past weekend, his distributor, Keith Lomason, President of Jimmer's Classic Collectibles was invited to brink the MkII to the Shanghai F1 circuit to play with the Shanghai Super Sports Car Club. The attendees were primarily Lambos, Ferraris, Beemers, Porsches, Benzs, etc...with one orphan - the Allard.

Each car got 10 timed laps per segment. The J2X MkII was approximately 15 seconds behind the Lambos etc. Keith is is not an experienced driver on the track, plus he has a slight weight disadvantage. Not bad for a rookie on skinny tires! Hopefully we can get some in car footage next time...

Click to read more ...

Technical Difficulties

Unfortunately our pdf's are currently offline due to some technical issues at out host. Hopefully they'll be resolved soon. Sorry for the inconvenience! The Management.

Update on Sunday, July 1, 2012 at 2:19PM by Colin

The problem has been fixed, sorry for the inconvenience!

Handle with care

As with the previous letter, this one is also addressed to Mr. Cappy of the Britain Motor Co. It dates from June of 1948 and is probably typed on the thinnest paper I have ever handled. This letter is also the oldest Allard letter we have in our archives. Click here or the letter above to view as a pdf.

It's a small world...

Sometimes you get lucky. The other day I won an Ebay auction for an Allard brochure that I didn't have yet. Along with the brochure were a few other brochures and some old letters. The package arrived today and as I sorted through the items I noticed that both letters were dated from 1948. Upon further inspection; one of the letters was from J.B. Ferguson of Fergus Motors in NYC to Allan Cappy of Britain Motor Co. in Rochester, NY. Mr. Ferguson writes about receiving a used K1 that was imported in 1947 and was modified with a Grancor "Hot Rod" engine with over 150 hp. Grancor was of course Andy Granatelli's (STP) shop that also imported a few Allards. What's interesting is that the K1 in question must be chassis 108, that was recently sold on Ebay. Click here or the photo above to view the pdf.

R&T Misc. Ramblings: Allard J2 Cornering

An excerpt from the August 1951 issue of Road & Track...which was an excerpt from  the Jan-Feb 1951 issue of Sports Car magazine...

"In a recent regional news letter, the cornering powers of our 'J.2' are compared with another make and the fact that the 'J.2' holds the road like a leech up to certain speeds when it slides without warning, is mentioned.

Mr. Allard asks me to say that this is well known, but the speed at which this sliding occurs is greatly above the speed at which the other make mentioned starts to break away. At the speed where this breakaway occurs on other makes, the 'J.2' is rock steady and, if it is desired to corner at the maximum speed possible with our car, this must be done in the usual Grand Prix manner, in a four-wheel drift. The required angle of drift being maintained by conjuctive manipulation of steering and throttle.

When this technique is mastered we doubt if there is a faster sports car through corners extant than the 'J.2' Allard"

-H.J. Biggs, Technical Assistant, Allard Motor Co.

P.S. The photo above is from the March '80 issue of the Old Motor with Jim Tiller showing us how to corner his J2 at Goodwood in '69.

In the News...

The July 2012 issue of Classic Motorsports magazine has a large story on Martin Stickley's Ford Cobra engined J2#2121. Cheers.

For Sale: K1 #108 now on Ebay

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...

Old Magazine Covers, Part 10

From the December 1952 issue of Road & Track, a cover photo by famed automotive photographer Louis Klemantaski. The note below says it all...