New Link - Classic Automobilist

We just added a new technical link to the site for a company out of the UK called Complete Automobilist. They carry a number of unique parts such as Lucas components, Brooklands wind screens, fuel fillers, wire covers, trim parts, etc. Check them out at http://www.completeautomobilist.com/

Found Fotos - L-852

One of the best parts of hosting this site is getting random emails from people who were going through old family photos and they came across some relatives Allard. In this case, a gentleman asked is we knew who owned an Allard with registration #KLO 128. After checking the database, we confirmed the car was chassis L 852, but unfortunately we had no ownership history. According to our new freind, the car was originally owned by Mrs. Hilda Charlotte Mary Lee. Apparently Mrs. Lee had a thing for speed. According to a newspaper clipping, she once had an accident on the M1 in a Mercedes 300 SL with "lift-up seagull-type doors" which at the time was the fastest ever crash on this motorway being in excess of 100mph. These photos are from a trip Mrs. Lee, a family freind of our sender took with his uncle to the south of France. Enjoy!

2013 Santa Fe Concorso

Sante Fe was a good show even if we did not score, but we did get a "Sponsors Award" and a yellow ribbon. I had a reaction to a Shingles Vaccine shot and had to go to a doctor in Santa Fe for a shot in the behind and missed the 50 mile tour; however I let my two son-in-laws drive the Bitch. They had a great time and made the whole trip without any problems. Needless to say they were greatly impressed with the Bitch and her acceleration.

The "History Channel" interviewed me and will  make a film about the Bitch, and Allard in general, that will air some time next year. I will report the time if I can find out the exact date. I finally got around to painting the sign, "The Bitch", on the drivers side of the car. Made quite a stir and a good impression. We were surprised at the number of women that photographed the sign.

Hope everything is going well for you and yours---Bill Bauder

Video: Graham's J2 Race at 2013 RMMR

Enjoy this video as Graham Smith races J2-1578 (placed 3rd at Le Mans in 1950) from 29th to 5th place in Group 5B at the 2013 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. The drive also earned Graham the Rolex Cup for Group 5B. Special thanks to Steve Schuler for sharing the video!

The Duntov Memo

We are very pleased to present to you this exclusive document...The 1953 Le Mans Duntov Memo. To our knowledge it has never been seen in public. Back in January, we shared a map of the Le Mans course with Zora Akus Duntov's notes on the speed zones around the track and that it was a part of a larger report that helped set the performance transformation of the Corvette. You may also recall that Zora was almost fired by GM for racing at Le Mans for the Allard team...saved only by the grace of Ed Cole.

The report is fascinating in that he provides an analysis of the competition, along with a scathing review of the Allard JR's handling...while remaining steadfast that the Allard team had the best engines in the field (which happened to be Cadillac V8's...was Zora kissing up to the GM brass?).

Click here or the image below to view the complete memo. Special thanks to Allard owner Steve Schuler and his mole within GM for sharing this important memo.

Monterey Car Week, 2013

For me, the 2013 Monterey ‘Car Week’ commenced on Thursday morning, when I took up my post to watch the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance participants turn into Ocean Avenue in downtown Carmel. There, they take a two hour lunch break, which gives a few thousand ‘folks like us’ a rare chance to get up close and personal with about 200 of the PB Concours entrants.

The Tour presents the chance to witness a broad spectrum of the world’s most elegant and exotic vehicles running on the road. I truly respect the courage of the participants who are willing to expose their prize autos to the rigors of an 88 mile road trip – a mere three days before show time. We were somewhat surprised to see our friend, Martin Allard, at the wheel of his green K3 approaching the corner and get directed into the lineup on Ocean Avenue!

Martin and his family are Carmel residents, and that morning he decided to take a little run down Hwy 1 to watch the Tour. His plan was to turn around at Bixby Bridge and return to Carmel in time to take his wife out for brunch. However, he suddenly found himself as a part of the lineup. Those directing traffic presumed that he was a part of the Tour, and summarily directed him to Ocean Avenue. While Martin and his Allard were not official entrants, it is our opinion that his extremely original K3 could qualify for PB’s Postwar Preservation class.

Two very nice Allards sold Mecum Auctions – an L Type that went for $44K, and an immaculate K2 for $95K. David Rossiter has done considerable work on his ’51 K2 in the ten years that he has owned it, and it gained a fair amount of well deserved attention at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering. The upcoming Ironstone Concours d’Elegance is featuring David’s red K2 on the poster promoting the September 28 event in the California Gold Rush town of Murphys.

On Saturday morning a few Allard folks got together for an impromptu breakfast. They included David Rossiter, Alan & Celia Tiley, Colin & Chuck Warnes, Lindsey Parsons, Mark Moskowitz, Bernard Dervieux, and Martin Allard. Over the weekend we also had a chance to visit with Al & Ursula Reynolds, Bob Weiner, Ron Hale and Alan Patterson.

Alan’s J2X, which he has owned and raced for the past 60 years is currently in Pennsylvania. He shared his excitement about his two most recent acquisitions – one of the two Allard GT’s, and one of the two remaining three-wheeled Allard Clippers. He reports that they have just arrived at the dock in New Jersey, and he is looking forward to commencing their restorations.

2013 saw one Allard entrant at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion races. This was Steve Schuler’s green J2 – the third place overall, first-in-class finisher of the 1950 24 Hours of LeMans. Steve turned the Allard driving duties over to Graham Smith. Graham owns and races a J2 in Australia, and did much of the restoration on Steve’s J2 a few years ago. Graham started race 5B in 29^th place, and in 8 laps worked his way up to a 5^th place finish. Graham’s great drive in Sunday’s race also netted him the prestigious Rolex Award For Excellence in race group 5B.

RMMR’s closing celebration on Sunday includes the Rolex Awards of Excellence presentations (see above) to in

dividual drivers in each race category, and also the event’s ‘Spirit of Monterey’ honor to the driver who excelled in the spirit of the weekend.  This year’s ‘Spirit of Monterey’ award went to John Harden, who drove his 1963 Genie in Group 4A.  John’s first race was in 1953 when he competed in one of the Pebble Beach Road Races. At age 81, Harden has taken his racing helmet off for good, officially retiring after Saturday’s race, where he finished a very respectable eighth out of 33 cars running in his class. 

I first met John at Laguna Seca in 1984, when he was racing his Hilborn injected J2X, and I was a newly hatched Allard owner in search of information and moral support. John, as a part of Vintage Connections in Oklahoma City, has restored and serviced many an Allard over the years, and continues to be a valuable technical resource to Allard owners worldwide. We offer our congratulations to John for this well deserved honor.

Photo: Rolex, Stephan Cooper

The Monte Shelton CLASSIC NORTHWEST RALLY XXV

Kevin Blount and Bob Lucurell are both veterans of the Classic Northwest Rally. This four-day event (July 25 – 28, 2013), sponsored by Monte Shelton Jaguar, commences in Portland with registration and opening celebrations on Thursday evening. On Friday morning the 100 car field embarks on two days of rallying in and about the Cascade Mountain Range of the Pacific Northwest.

Each year the time and distance rally visits a particular resort where the participants end Friday’s and Saturday’s rallying with social activities, special refreshments, tire-kicking and banquet dinners. They conclude the event on Sunday morning with the Awards Brunch. This was the maiden voyage for Kevin’s recently finished Allard J2X. Kevin’s report is as follows:

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This was my friend Paul Brewer’s and my 7th time running this rally, and our first time in the Allard.  Last year we won the vintage class (also known as the "seat of the pants" class) in my Mercedes and got 4th overall – beating many serious rallyists who were using calculators, stopwatches, etc. We were as surprised as anyone, and chalked it up to dumb luck rather than great skill. Time will tell.  

This year we didn't do nearly as well, finishing mid-pack for a number of different reasons, all of which of course illustrate the 'dumb luck' comment above.

I took the J2X to a local speedometer shop to have the speedo and odo calibrated to be spot on, but I realized about 1/2 way through the first day that they were off by about 8%. As a result we were consistently early, earning us many unwanted penalty points. Also, the rally master caught us with a "trap" that earned us a significant penalty. We should have known better too, since they caught us with the exact same trap about 3 years ago.

The Allard was more difficult to TSD rally than my other cars for a number of reasons.  First off, it's LOUD. We had a set of voice-activated headphones so we could communicate. Except that Paul's mic went out right at the start line, so we spent the next two days yelling at each other.           

Secondly, having the odometer in front of the navigator really threw us off. Many navigators love to have it there, but over the years Paul and I have developed the routine where watching the odometer is the driver’s job. So its location over in front of Paul really messed us up.

Lastly, I found it tougher to keep a constant speed with the speedometer out of my line of sight – especially so with 400 HP and a 3.25 rear end. As a result, a few extra rpm translates to quite a bit of speed. Even a one or two MPH error can add significant points. Anyway, so much for my litany of excuses...

The Allard ran brilliantly, and was great fun. It was a crowd favorite and I got lots of favorable comments from folks (as an aside, the week earlier I showed the car at the Forest Grove Concours d’Elegance placing 3rd in class. On the Concours tour the day before, I was at the back of the pack and a bicyclist who was watching the cars go by said "I don't know what it is, but that's by far the coolest car that's come by!").  What I've found is that everyone loves the Allard.  Hot Rodders love it.  Muscle car guys love it.  The European sporty car crowd loves it. Ok, maybe one or two snooty CCCA Packard or Rolls Royce folks turned up their noses, but that seems to be the exception.  

One checkpoint worker said he listened to us for about 5 minutes as we roared through the switchbacks up the hill, and that it was a symphony.  We also got a fair number of comments about how uncomfortable we looked.  Neither Paul nor I are small guys, and in some of the photos it appears that we are almost comically stuffed in, and overflowing out of the car. We were happy to play the martyr so we didn't dispute the comments. However the car is more comfortable than it looks. While we were tired at the end of a full day of driving, we weren't completely used up either.

In two weeks my girlfriend and I are taking the J2X to central Oregon for the Oregon Festival of Cars. We'll put up to 1000 miles on it over about 3 days of very quick driving chasing Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, Porsche GT3 RS's, Audi R8's etc.  I'm really looking forward to a weekend of spirited Allard driving on great roads – weather permitting of course. With the Allard having no weather protection what-so-ever, I'll probably take a car with a top and windshield wipers if it looks like stormy weather.

So, in conclusion, the J2X is fantastic and I plan on keeping it and using it for a long time. While it's not the ideal TSD rally car for me, and I won't be taking it on the Monte Shelton Rally every year, I love driving the car and everyone loved having it there -- so much so that the Allard won "people's choice", the vote of all the rally participants for their favorite car on the rally!

Special thanks to Joe Cantrell for sharing his great photos!

VIDEO: Starting Up the Allard Motorsports PB MKII Restoration Project Car

I've always liked the lines of the PB MkII...looking forward to seeing it finished.

Allard Motorsports Palm Beach MkII Restoration

We're now in the final stages of assembly regarding the Palm Beach MK2 build of chassis 72/7000Z. It'll be exactly one year at the end of August since we took on this project, and if all goes well we should go to paint in the next few weeks.

The whole project has been an awesome experience as well as sheer hard work, however all worthwhile we feel. We've sought to keep this restoration build as original as possible unless there was no alternative but to replace like for like – i.e. rusted panels, etc.  

We’ve made a copy chassis while we had the original one available to us. This ate up the build time and took longer than expected. The chassis jig had to be precise and also took time to construct, but we felt it was essential. This also provided a chance for me to study fully the construction of such chassis designs.

We're discussing whether the new Palm Beach chassis will be made into a MK2 PB or the MK3 PB, which was proposed by Sydney but never completed in 1958.  The most exciting option is to shelve the new PB chassis just for the time being and press on with the JR build.  The new chassis jig can also be used for the JR chassis build, of course. We already have in place the base JR chassis parts ready for assembly.

I attach photos of the new PB chassis on its jig, which you’re welcome to publish on your site. I've attached photos of the PB MKII build from arrival to this day. I hope your club members will find it interesting. We now have available many new parts for Allards, also photos attached of such parts. In the next few weeks I shall add a parts listing to the Allard Sports Cars www.allardsportscars.co.uk website, along with further PB restoration photos on the blog attached.

I hope that your members will find it an exciting time for Allard.  My father and I have been discussing these ideas for many years now and it seems with the help of both the Allard Owners Club and the Allard Register we can achieve our goals. As for me, I've been behind the scenes for many years, watching and learning. 

I'm still learning each year that passes, but for me the time has come to go out on a limb and ring my bell so to speak. I've fifteen years experience in the automotive fabrication & design industry and feel quite confident that the construction of chassis and, even the build of complete turn-key Allards, is truly possible with the vast majority of work being carried out in house.              

We propose only to construct a few cars for exclusive enthusiastic customers, true followers of the marque.  The sole idea behind the JR project is an easy one to understand. The JR does not necessarily have to be road registered thus avoiding all IVA processes, which in turn means a much quicker build process. However the JR will still be constructed to HTP FIA level in order to be accepted to race in high profile events such as the Lemans classic in which I intend to do as soon as possible. We simply need to find an investor who wants to achieve the same.

My father has worked tirelessly on this project, and I wish his efforts will be recognized, as he's one of a kind. He brings much experience to the table. I'll keep you updated upon further developments as and when. As soon as the PB has it's paint we shall organize an open day, and perhaps all attendees can come to the workshop and then over to our local racing circuit for some photos.

Regards,

Lloyd Allard

Click here to view a gallery of the unrestored PB MKII

Click here to view a gallery of the restoration process

Click here to view a gallery of the chassis

Allard For Sale: M-808

Chassi #808 has been with the same owner for 20+ years. The car is mostly original with the exception of the cosmetics which appear to have been updated within the past 20 years. Cloth top is in good condition, windows and door latches work properly all the brakes, steering, etc. have been gone over. Carburetor was recently rebuilt; the car does not burn any oil and is in excellent original condition as far as the mechanical aspects are concerned. Our records conflict on the delivery...one set notes the car was delivered to Bristol Street Motors on October 12, 1948 (or December 14), while another set notes it was delivered to Birmingham on October 4, 1948. The car has a blue exterior with brown interior (originally blue). The car is located in Astoria, NY. For more info, click here to visit Gullwing Motor Cars web site (selling the car for owner's family). The asking price is a reasonable $49,500.