Allards in the movies

Bernard Dervieux sent us the screen shot above from the 1953 movie, "Paris Model" starring Eva Gabor, Marilyn Maxwell, Paulette Goddard, and Tom Conway (Maharajah of Kim-Kepore) who we assume is driving the car. If you look closely, the car is a light colored J2X with two fuel fillers and disc wheels....we're guessing it's chassis 3144 that was also featured in "Written in the Wind." The car appears within the first twenty minutes of the movie for 2 to 3 minutes. Thanks Bernard!

Keels & Wheels, 2013

The Keels and Wheels show was great and it's probably the most laid back show around so it is very enjoyable. After 6 years going to Keels & Wheels the "Bitch" finally won a "Best of Class" trophy in the Vintage Race Car Class. Bob Weiner took the Silver Trophy. Finally met Roger Allard who had a J2X MKII at the show. I really enjoyed meeting him and seeing the car for the first time. Everyone had a great time but I was getting sick the second day of the show which really sapped my strength and I had to have help standing to accept the trophy. Don't like getting old but it beats the alternate.

The "Yellow Jacket" boats were the featured class for the boat part of the show. I had to go to their site and tell the Owners about the boat as I had designed several item for the Yellow Jacket boats back in the 1950s and had also done exploded drawings for every type boat they manufactured.

-Bill Bauder

Old Magazine Covers, Part 11

This is another one of our favorite Allard covers. It features Editor John Bond (doing his best Fidel Castro impression) at the wheel of a J2X in the dirt. Additionally, this issue features a 2-page spread on the Allard company. As usual, you can find these issues on Ebay for $5-10.

Correction: The driver was actually Richard Losee. A correction that R&T published 15 years later!

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.

Scottsdale Barrett-Jackson Preview: J2X-3076

Barrett-Jackson will be auctioning off J2X-3076 on Saturday January 19. This particular car was exported to Shawnee Motor Co, in Kansas City on September 30, 1952. The car was red with red interior but restored with tan interior. The car was originally configured for DeSoto-Chrysler power, but the engine was later changed to a 365cid Cadillac V8. Fuel is delivered by an ultra rare Horne four carburetor intake manifold with four twin choke Stromberg carbs. 3076 was recently restored/refreshed by Mike Fennel just before he passed away. This J2X is being offered as lot 5016.1 with no reserve...what do you think it will go for?

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.

------------

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

A few walk arounds of old #65

Seeing that video the other day of that poor guy attempting to drive Bob Lylte's J2X inspired me to dig through my Monterey archives. I put together the footage you see here of Bob getting ready to practice at Monterey in 2006...and of Bob's car just before it was auctioned at RM. Seeing this footage was bittersweet and brought back a lot of fond memories. In the next week I'll post a gallery that shows off the guts of J2X 3162...I doubt you've ever seen a J2X like it. Cheers!

How Not To Drive an Allard

Just found this video on YouTube of the late Bob Lytle's J2X being prepped for auction at RM a few years ago. Bob's J2X was equipped with a Buick Nailhead and a Muncie 4-speed...As you can see in the video, the driver couldn't quite get the hang of the 4-speed!

Cadillac 331 Rebuild (UK – 1985)

[Jim Degnan has owned and raced his Cad-powered Allard K2 for the past 25+ years. He recently forwarded this article from the June 1985 Allard Owners Club newsletter. Roger includes a postscript at the end of this intriguing article.]

--------------- 

By Roger Murray-Evans

It’s never an easy task rebuilding old engines, especially when they’ve been obsolete for 30 years with the added complication of being of American origin. However in my humble opinion, an Allard should have a Cadillac engine, and as Jackie’s K-Type developed incontinence this winter, in its extremely loose flathead, and I had a similarly afflicted Caddy 331 lying around it seemed madness not to join the twain together, especially as the total rebuild of either engine would cost pretty much the same. That’s my excuse anyway!

Click to read more ...

2012 Monaco Historique Race Report

 

From Massimo Bettati…

It was a sunny weekend for the 8th Gran Prix de Monaco Historique. Our Allard was one of 24 cars entered in the Series C, for pre 1953 sport and sports prototypes cars.

Our class had 3 Allards. Our Allard, J2X 3053 is British Racing Green RHD, reg ORL 320. Next up was the always competitive Patrick Watts (an ex pro driver) in the black J2 1965, reg MTA 635. Finally, the American, Alan Patterson (still racing at 80 years old!) with his red J2X #3072.

Click to read more ...