Roy Richter and his J2

Did you know one of the most influential people in motorsports and the automotive aftermarket, owned and briefly raced one of the first J2's in the US? That man was Roy Richter, owner of Bell Auto Parts, Bell Helmets, and was the leading figure behind SEMA for many decades. He also won the first (and only) sports car race he ever entered...beating the likes of Phil Hill and Jack McAfee at Santa Ana. His racing career was tragically cut short when he confessed to his wife who had been away for the weekend.

Our friends over at the Blog, "Getting' a lil psycho on tyres!" have published another Allard related story, this time on Roy's J2, chassis 1513. Click here to read it!

Old Magazine Covers, Part 8

This issue of "Car Collector and Car Classics" magazine was published in January of 1984 and features two stories on Allards. The first story is about the J2X, using photos of the cover car. The second story is about the Palm Beach MkI, but unfortunately all of their photos are of a K3! To the untrained eye, it's an easy mistake to make, but an error like that shouldn't have made it past the Editors desk.

MYSTERY CAR: If you, or you know who owns this J2X, please click here to email us! 

Another J2X, Back on the Road!

Alan Beall has owned J2X 3062 since 1969 and has had the car "restored" twice before, but "not professionally.”

She is Cadillac powered with a 331 engine, Edelbrock intake, 6 Stromberg ‘97’ carbs, increased compression, ported heads, Schneider Cam. The engine will be dyno’d soon.

Trans is Lincoln Zephyr and all the running gear is original (except the engine) and all the original body panels were restored. J2X 3062 features (2) spare wheel carriers, (chrome wires wheels are on the way) and the fuel tank has dual fillers. The original gauges were missing, but it came with Stewart Warner gauges from the early 60's.

Alan entrusted the restoration of 3062 to Steve Dennish of Lime Works Speed Shop in Whittier, CA. Steve picked up the car from Alan in Hawaii of December 2009 and loaded the stripped car into a container. The restoration started in February, 2010 and she was ready for the LA Roadster Show by June, 2011. As you can see, the car still needs a few finishing touches, but everything should be wrapped up soon.

Alan is hoping to race the car, but now that it looks so good…he’s not so sure! You can read about 3062’s restoration on the H.A.M.B. , by clicking here.

Allard K1 #156

Our friends over at "Gettin' a lil' Psycho on Tyres" have posted their third Allard post in as many weeks. Click here or the photo above to view their post on the K1 #156 that's at the Haynes International Motor Museum in Somerset, UK. This particular car was raced in the 1947 Alpine Rally by Len Potter to 5th in class, or 17th overall. It was part of a three car team, consisting of Goff Imhoff and Maurice Wick who failed to finish. The cars were apparently painted red, white, and blue...think of it as a precursor to the Italian Job.

Allard Sales By Region

Over the next few weeks, we'll be presenting a number of charts representing various Allard statistics based on the database we received from the late Tom Lush. We hope you find them interesting...or at least not too boring!

The Farrallac...

Our friends at the Blog, "Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres!" have posted another Allard related story...this time focusing on the Farrallac MkII. Click here or the photo above to see the story!

Photo above by Richard Crawford Photography

The Crash - Watkins Glen 1952

While going through our archives, I found this amazing piece of history. The photo above is a small excerpt from a full page spread in a magazine that we believe to be Life Magazine (unfortunately all we have are these pages). The story was likely published the week after the infamouos 1952 Watkins Glen Grand Prix in late September. In addition to the photo above, the story features a large, disturbing photo of the post-crash scene. To my knowledge, these photos have never been seen outside of this article. Click here or any of the photos to view the large (7MB) image. If you have any more info on this magazine, please let us know.

As you know, this accident had a dramatic effect on sports car racing in America. It highlighted how vulnerable spectators actually were and that their safety was critical. The aftermath of this unfortunate accident led to the creation of dedicated road courses and airport tracks that kept spectators at a safer distance.

Note: The story and photos have been posted without permission and will be removed upon request.

Update on Friday, August 19, 2011 at 10:36PM by Colin

From Lindsey Parsons...

Those photos and article on the Wacker accident were indeed from page 34 and 35 of the Oct. 6, 1952 edition of LIFE magazine. If you look carefully at the picture, you will notice that Wacker's left door had been opened by the contact. At the time I was a spectator standing with friends about a quarter mile up the course on Old Corning Hill Road when the race leaders passed at full chat. Wacker's "Eight Ball" was surrounded by a bevy of Cunninghams but they all were definitely at full throttle climbing the hill. I am absolutely certain that Fred Wacker was totally unaware of the tragedy his "flick of the fender" caused back on Franklin Street. Although he appeared to be concentrating on his driving he was reaching out with his left hand on the left door trying to secure it closed when he passed us. When the cars passed from our view, he was still struggling with the door but was keeping up his position in the very rapid procession. Although I was intently watching Wacker specifically as he was a contending leader in a car I was about to order,  I didn't notice any damage to the left side of the the car except for the door being unsecured. We were on the south side of the hill road so we had a a good view although a very short one of the left side of the Allard when it passed. I did wonder about that later but figured that I was so interested in Wacker's efforts to secure the door, I simply didn't notice what damage was done to the left rear fender. It couldn't have been much however as it clearly was not effecting the car's performance as it would have been if it was contacting the tire. As I recall, it was some time before we actually heard the reason the race so abruptly ended. One of the nearby flagmen heard it on the race radio he had with him.

Mystery J2 Races Pikes Peak

This photo of a J2 was sent to us by Matt of the Colorado Hill Climb Association. The photo was grouped together with several from the 1953 Pikes Peak Hill Climb, but there are no records of the car running. If you know anything about this car, please click here to let us know!

H&H Tackle the Mille Miglia Storica– May 2011

-Simon Hope 

Click here or on any of the photos to view the rest of Simon's photos.

Some time ago I bought a 1950 Allard J2 that was supplied new to Colonel Rupert Larrinaga. An amateur racing driver and personal friend of Sydney Allard, Larrinaga was also a gifted skier who twice represented Great Britain at the Winter Olympics. ‘My’ J2 was one of several models he campaigned in anger during his four decades of stewardship. Though, by the time the two-seater passed to me it had been unregistered for several years was in need of some recommissioning, as well as painting.

Click to read more ...

An Interesting J2...

Click here or the photo above to go to the Blog, "Getting' a lil' psycho on tires!" to read about John Aibels very interesting J2. This car has had a very interesting history, part of which included a streamlined Sorrell body for racing at Bonneville.