The Moss Files, Delivery Day.

Along with the paper records that the late Al Moss donated to our archives, he also shared with us a number of rare color slides. The first batch of slides presented today give us a look at what it was like to take delivery of a new Allard in the US. These are the "skeleton" crates that all exported Allard cars were shipped in. Additionally, we get to see the joy of a new owner, in this case Basil Panzer receiving his new car. What an exciting day it must have been! The cars were delivered to Al's first shop, which he shared with Jack Gilchrist on 3200 W Olympic Blvd. Both cars were shipped from the Allard factory in late April of 1950. The black J2 of Bazil Panzer is chassis #1571 and the silver/grey L-type is chassis #1701 was ordered by Morgan Sinclair. We should note that the J2 was soon raced by young Phil Hill up Pikes Peak, more on that coming soon...

Allard Art

We received a nice thank you note the other day from an Allard enthusiast with the image above on the front. We thought it was pretty cool so we decided the share it with you. The card was printed in 1994 by the Helmet Goggle and Company in PA....no word on the artist though. The caption on the back reads, "1950 Allard J2, This British sports car, powered by either Ford, Chrylser, Cadillac V-8 engines, gained much success throughout Europe and the United States." It looks a bit more like a J2X to us though.

John Fitch, The Last Checkered Flag

On Wednesday October 31, automotive legend John Fitch took his last checkered flag. John was born on August 4, 1917 in Indianapolis, Indiana. John was a renaissance man when it came to automobiles...he not only raced them, he was a mechanic, built succesful specials, invented new technologies, track proprieter, and safety pioneer. John was perhaps best known for his racing career where he raced MG's, Cunninghams, Maserati's, Jaguar's, Corvette's, Formula 1, and an Allard.

In 1951, John was invited to race in the inaugural General Peron Grand Prix in Buenos Aires. There was only one problem...he didn't have a suitable car. John talked his friend Tommy Cole into selling him his wrecked J2 (#1514) for cheap. John straightened the chassis, pounded out the body, bled the brakes, and then kissed his very pregnant wife goodbye as he left for Argentina. Two other Allard owners were entered, Fred Wacker and good friend Tommy Cole in his new J2. John led the race from the start with his only serious competition coming from Wacker who finished a lap down in second. It was John's first win and it earned him a seat at Le Mans with the Cunningham team later that year.

To learn more about the life of John Fitch, click here to visit his Wikipedia page. The photo above was taken of John at the 2002 Monterey Historics where Corvette was the featured maque.

Video: 1951 Carrell Speedway Foreign Sports Car Races

Another great video brought to us by the late Al Moss. This is the race that ended Al's racing career. This is a story he loved to tell...and he was lucky to have lived. If you are interested in the 4-DVD box set, send us a comment.

Video: 1950 Santa Ana Sports Car Races

The 1950 sports car races at the Santa Ana Blimp Base, was one of the first major west coast sports car races. The race featured many future stars of international racing. For the winner Roy Richter, this would be his first and last sports car race. Roy owned Bell Auto Parts and had a license to sell Allard J2's on the west coast, much to the frustration who had the license to sell all other Allards in the west. Anyway, Roy's wife was out of town, so he decided the best way to get the word out on his new business venture was to do some racing. Roy won the race and gave the J2 one of its first race wins. Unfortunately Roy had to give up racing once his wife returned home. Incidentally, this video features what is probably some of the first in car (color) footage. Enjoy!

Glenmoor Gathering - 2012

Allard was the featured marque for this year’s Gathering, with 19 Allards on display, and seven running in Saturday’s Glenmoor Passport Country Tour. Allards present included five J2’s, three J2X’s, three K1’s, three K2’s, a JR, an L-Type, a special coupe bodied M-Type, a Palm Beach Mk I and a Palm Beach Mk II.

The Gathering was spread over three days at the Glenmoor Country Club at Canton, Ohio, and included a mouth watering assortment of over 200 cars. Friday saw the first of the Allards arrive, which were displayed on the lawn in front of the clubhouse with Bruce McCaw’s J2 – winner at Watkins Glen at the hand of Erwin Goldschmidt – taking pride of the place. Also on display were Andy Picariello’s J2 and K2, Tom Kayuha’s K1, the K2 and PB Mk I of Axel & Hanko Rosenblad, Mike Fisher’s K1, Bill Wilmer’s J2X, Bill Boone’s J2X, Paul Schoonmaker’s J2X, Terrell Underwood’s L-Type, Tom Shelton’s J2 and Emil Loeffler’s J2.

Friday’s events included an interesting seminar on the trials and tribulations of the Studebaker Car Company, plus the start of the silent auction. A heavy rain shower caused a rush to fit tonneau covers. However it soon cleared and for the rest of the two days the weather was perfect.

The Glenmoor Passport Country Tour commenced at 8 AM on Saturday morning. A total of 40 cars took part in this truly unforgettable 90-mile tour through the rolling hills of northeast Ohio, over two lane country roads shared with Amish horse-drawn buggies. The seven Allards participating were Tom Kayuha and Mike Fisher in their K1’s, Axel & Hanko Rosenblad and Peter Bowman in their K2’s, Tom Sheldon driving his J2, Paul Schoonmaker in his J2X and Terrell Underwood piloting his L-Type. The first stop was at Carl Maxwell’s Sinclair Service Station in Berlin, with lunch being taken at the recently restored Canal Tavern in the quaint historic village of Zoar. The Tour included a special slalom section where drivers had to dodge Amish Buggy "debris."

Sunday was Concours day. Being the featured marque, the Allards were not a part of the main Concours. However all 19 Allards were subject to their owner’s voting for the best ‘road car’ and ‘competition car’. Judging was to be completed by 10:30 am, and before the awards were made the Allard exhibitors attended lunch on the patio. During that morning, Palm Beach Mk II owner Robert Hartson gave a demonstration of how to ride a ‘penny farthing bike’ – very impressive when ridden in a relatively small area!

Allard winners were:

-The J2X of Annabelle & Bill Wilmer – Best Racing Allard

-The M-Type couple of Dawn & Mike Fisher – Best Street Allard

The Gathering produced a fine field of Allards – thanks to all the hard work of Andy Picariello and Tom Kayuha.

Many thanks,
David Hooper

UPDATE from David (Oct 21): I would like to apologise to Bill Magavern for omitting to include not only him, but his K type from my report. His K type has cycle wings along with a representation of the original Allard grille, which can best be described as a work of art.

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Click here to view David Hooper's Concours Gallery

Click here to view Peter Bowman's Tour Gallery

Click here to view Peter Bowman's Concours Gallery

For Sale: Allard J2 #2090

Click here or the photo above to view the photo gallery.

Allard J2 #2090, with UK license OUG601 was transported new to Leeds UK on 15 July 1951. The first owner was a Mr. R W “Dick” Petty who fitted it with a flathead Mercury engine. He raced it at Goodwood and other venues vs. Sydney Allard and Peter Collins.  Mr. Petty describes running against “the superior skills and equipment” of Allard and Collins in a 1961 letter to a subsequent owner, John Richards of Santa Paula CA. A photograph in the October 2009 Motorsport magazine shows a 1951 race at Goodwood, with Allard # 44 cornering in traffic with its partially obstructed UK license plate showing “…601”.  Dennis Carter, current President of the British Automobile Racing Club, very kindly provided me with a copy of the 18 August 1951 Goodwood program, listing car # 44 as Petty’s Allard. Sydney Allard is listed as racing car # 42. 

Click to read more ...

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.

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...