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.

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...

Car Week, 2012

Allards have been conspicuous by their absence at Laguna Seca for the past two years. So it was great to again see two veteran Allards from the Monterey Historic days running in the 2012 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (RMMR). Steve Schuler brought his beautiful and famous J2 1578 – the 3rd place finisher of the 1950 Le Mans. He was joined in the Group 5B (1947-1955 Sports Racing and GT Cars) by Jim Degnan’s friend, Jon Le Carner at the wheel of Jim’s red 1952 K2 3035. Both cars attracted a good amount of attention from vintage racing fans throughout the weekend.

Click to read more ...

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

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.