Goodwood Revival 2009

 

By Mel Herman

Everyone I had spoken to about the Goodwood Revival says what a great event it is. I have been to many Classic race meetings and expected just another of the same. Wasn't I wrong.

The sheer volume of great cars, the enthusiasm of those attending in period costume, the sideshows and events put on by the organizers all, in my mind, add up to a fantastic, not to be missed spectacle with something for all the family. The Henly and Ascot for Classic Cars.

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Monterey Auction Preview

For 2009, no less than six Allards will cross the various auction blocks setup throughout Monterey this August. Of the six Allards, two are most notable in my opinion.

First is the Allard J2 at Mecum (their first Monterey auction). This is one of two Allards that was raced by Carroll Shelby and it should command big numbers, although it did not reach its reserve price at a previous Mecum auction.

The second car is the M Coupe at RM (shown above). This is a very unique car as only three M Coupes were made out of 500 produced. The car is very attractive and unique…hopefully it will bring more than the estimate.

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Silverstone Classic 2009, A Driver's Perspective

 

(Click here or the photo above to view the Silverstone Classic Photo Gallery)

I have trouble keeping my core (freeze) plugs in and sure enough, hammering down the M1 at 7.45am last Thursday, en route to Silverstone racing circuit, that familiar "Turkish Bath" moment struck again, and I pulled up onto the hard shoulder. Two bits of luck, I had my good friend and co-driver for the weekend behind in his Honda Civic, and I still had my core-plug bodgers repair kit in my tool box. Co-driver went off to look for water while I started mixing the epoxy metal. I wont bore you with the details, but I spent the rest of the week-end running with the radiator cap undone because the bodge had to stay bodged.

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A Love Story, Part 5 of 5

The cowl was painted first then the nose, tail and other parts. After cleaning the aluminum with an aircraft cleaner, the aluminum was primed with PPG epoxy primer followed by a sanding primer. I used an enamel for the finish coat so I could polish out any defects. At this point I discovered my spray gun was totally worn out and causing problems in the paint. I could not stop, and hoped that the defects could be polished out. Some could not. I installed the nose section first so I could install the lights – then the tail, fenders and doors.

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A Love Story, Part 4 of 5

 I had been working on the car for about 12 hours when I quit for the this June day, went to the house, had supper and went to bed. About midnight I woke up with chills and a fever of 104. Early the next morning I headed for the emergency room where they admitted me to the hospital with pneumonia. A week later I came home but was too weak to work on the car. This set me back a whole month. At this point I was not sure that I could complete the restoration by the October deadline. (A word of caution for those of you who spray paint: even though I used a proper mask and filters I think the cause of my pneumonia was due to paint fumes. My recommendation – get a respirator with an outside air supply). During this month I did do some machine work and fabricated new door latches from brass, then had them chrome plated.

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A Love Story, Part 3 of 5

 THE SECOND RESTORATION

The Texas World Speedway at Bryan, Texas was chosen as the site for the 2004 ‘Gathering of the Clan’ reunion for Allard owners. In 1969 I had opened the then-named Texas International Speedway with my Allard, the only one there. So I felt it imperative that I attend this Gathering. The car was not in shape for show, so in December 2003 I started a clean up that grew into another frame-off restoration. The completion date had to be no later than October 31, 2004.

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A Love Story, Part 2 of 5

 

THE FIRST RESTORATION

It was quite evident early on that this car needed a total restoration. The years of hard racing had taken its toll. At only 9 years old it was completely worn out.

#3059 was shipped without engine or transmission to a dealer in Wisconsin in 1952. The original color was British Racing Green with cream colored leather upholstery. The dealer installed a full-race Chrysler Hemi and a 1937 Cad-LaSalle transmission. The car was raced in this configuration until the late 50’s when SCCA changed the rules to prohibit cycle fenders. Thus ‘The Bitch’ was retired. The engine was removed and placed in a dirt track car where it expired by exploding. When we bought the car, the owner had replaced the Chrysler with a junkyard Cadillac. After a careful inspection I found the engine had three cracked main bearing webs, so decided to scrap it and a search for a replacement.

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A Love Story - Part 1 of 5

By Bill Bauder

All true car enthusiasts have had a love affair with a car at some time in their life. When I say “love,” I don’t mean the kind of love you have for your mother or children – but the kind of love that’s foot-stomping passionate, obsessive, secretive and suicidal. The ‘I can’t live without’ kind of love. Well this story is about my love affair for one automobile, how it was obtained, why it was so named and how it was restored. Hope you enjoy it.

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Frank Burrell and the Allards

Click here or the photo above to view a Gallery of photos from Barry Burrell 

-Barry Burrell

My earliest memory of an Allard was sitting in the cockpit of Fred Warner’s J2X (chassis #2192, now owned by David Mundy) as we loaded it onto the trailer to go to some race in 1954. The sound and vibrations of the open exhaust left a lasting impression in me. My father, Frank Burrell, often spoke about the incredible acceleration of the Allards with the Hydramatic transmissions. Zero to sixty in 4 ½ seconds in the early 50’s was quite impressive.

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