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).

Red Wheels and White Sidewalls - Reviewed

In honor of the reprinting of Bill Pollacks racing memoirs, Red Wheels and White Sidewalls, we are reprinting our review of the book from issue #40 (Spring 2004). To buy a copy of the book, you can go to Amazon or to Bill's publisher, Brown Fox Books. Enjoy!

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Many Allard enthusiasts got their initial inspiration from Tom Carsten’s immaculate white-walled, Cad-powered J2. Bill Pollack had the honor of piloting that imposing mass of adrenalin, testosterone, and charisma to outright victories in each of its five outings in 1951 and 1952. Bill continued his amateur racing activities for another 5 years after that car was destroyed in a post-race accident at Pebble Beach in 1953. During those years, he earned 18 more “podium” (in F1 parlance) finishes in 44 races.

Click to read more ...

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.