A Short History of the Allard Motor Company: 1936 to 1959

A Short History of theAllard Motor Company:

1936 to 1959

by John Allard

Compliments of

Allard J2X (1951-1954) and K1 in background

“One can, if he’s so inclined,label the Allard the mostconsistently successful hot rod ofall time.” (Road & Track)

The first car to be officiallycalled an “Allard” was the resultof a marriage of an English FordV-8 Coupe and a Grand PrixBugatti body. This fusion ofcomponents was purposely builtto compete in that most Englishof all automobile competitions,The Trials.

For the uninitiated, an “Auto-mobile Trials” would remindone of a Jeep Rodeo, completewith boulders, mud, andimpossible gradients with theoccasional stream fordingthrown in for good measure. Intothis morass the intrepid

competitor would urge hismechanical steed, and follow acourse that cunningly takesadvantage of the surroundingsworst features in a series ofstages. The object of the coursedesigner would be to try andstrand the vehicle and driver. Thewinner of the competition wouldbe the team that completed themost stages with the fewestpenalties.

Prior to the arrival of the “AllardSpecial” these events were theplayground of diminutiveSingers and MGs many of themsupercharged, their tiny enginesscreaming at high RPM throughsubstantial gear reduction andskinny tires to navigate the bogsand mountains. Sydney Allardhad been competing with a

modified Ford, but its size andweight distribution were againstit. So when a brand new Fordwas totaled near his garage(Adlards Motors) in 1935, hebought it, dragged it into theshop. When it re-emerged,complete with the body off of aBugatti racing car, the puristsswooned. CLK 5 as the carbecame known (that was it’sEnglish registration or “licensenumber”) became an instant hit.It featured the tried and true FordFlathead V8, essentially thesame engine that Ford built in theUS. Of huge displacement byEnglish standards it onlyproduced 85 horsepower in itsstock configuration. But it didhave torque in abundance. Andtorque, combined with a chassisthat had most of it’s weightconcentrated on the rear axles,gave it TRACTION!!!! Now themost dreary of conditionsseemed to be conquered with thegreatest of ease. Othercompetitors took note, and someof the better-heeled ones beganto inquire about the possibilityof acquiring similar rigs. Almostby accident, Sydney foundhimself in the manufacturingbusiness.

THE ALLARD MOTOR COMPANY: a short history

The Beginnings.

A Lincoln Zephyr V-12 powered Allard Special completes a specialstage in a pre-World War II Trials in England. Note the attitude ofthe front wheels, a by-product of Allard’s infamous independentfront suspension.

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The cars were built to specialorder in the back of Sydney’sAdlards Motors (the name waspure co-incidence, an on-goingenterprise that Sydney’sfather bought for his son in theearly 1930s) which wasbecoming a thriving FordDealership.

Allard used Ford parts to buildthe cars and at least two of thefeatured the Lincoln Zephyr V12engine. It was during the pre-warperiod that Allard adopted afeature that was to haunt thedrivers’ of Allard’s cars forevermore. His own peculiarindependent front suspension.

In 1936 independent frontsuspensions were rare. Allardhad been experiencing loss ofcontrol as his front end wouldbob in the air, while climbinghills that no self-respecting billygoat would attempt. Also he felt

that adding one would improvethe handling. So Sydneyengaged Leslie Bellamy, asuspension engineer, to assist indesigning a simple rugged IFSsystem for CLK 5.

The result was a swing armsystem that in the beginning wasa straight axle that had been cutin the center. The two pieces thenhad one end bracketed to theframe at the center of the frontcross member, and still used

Ford’s transverse leaf springs. ItDID allow the front wheels tomove up and down indepen-dently of each other. But as timeand speed would tell, it wouldalso allow the front wheels tomove in other directions as well.This would result in Allard’sdeveloping a reputation forsquirrelly handling, and atendency to understeer underacceleration and oversteer underbraking. Subsequent “AllardSpecials” (as all of the pre-warcars were known) and virtuallyall of the Allards built after thewar would feature this set up.Sydney Allard remainedconvinced almost to the end ofhis car’s production run of themerits of this design. Later on,another manufacturer, ColinChapman and his Lotus carswould copy this system and withminor revisions and would useit in a very successful line ofsports racers that are praisedtoday for their handling!!!

Coincidentally Lotus and Allardwere the only two marques thatstarted out as trials specialiststhat made the jump to becomingrecognized, mainstream auto-mobile marques.

Allard would build a total of 12of his “Specials” by 1939. Thecars were built in various config-urations, but by 1939 he had builtthe prototypes for his first threemodels and had brochuresprinted and press releasesprepared. But his plans weretorpedoed by a petty tyrantknown as Adolf Hitler.

During World War II; Allardconcentrated on rebuilding FordArmy trucks. The end of theconflict found him with a factoryfull of machine tools, and a hugeinventory of parts. He had toyedwith the idea of seriousproduction before the War. Withno personal transportation beingproduced for 6 years, a huge pentup demand for new cars existedand a dearth of product to satisfyit. So three models were announ-ced: The J, a car designed forcompetition events, the slightlylarger K, a classic two seat sportscar and the L, a four passengertouring car. The cars featuredstriking coachwork and wereheavily based on the Ford partsinventory that Sydney possessed.What the components lacked insophistication, they gained instrength, reliability and werereadily repaired by any Forddealer in the world. This relianceon FOMOCO contents wouldremain an Allard selling pointthroughout the company’sexistence.The cars were stylish, very fastfor their time and rare. Thus theyhad a cachet that made thempopular. Of course almostANYTHING that passed for anew automobile was in greatdemand during the yearsimmediately following W.W.II.But Allard was encouraged andbrought out the M a 4/5passenger drophead coupe in1947. Then, came the P a saloon(coupe), in 1949. But whileAllard was selling everything hecould build, he knew that thesituation would not last. And hefelt that there was a hugepotential market for his product

FPD 750

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in the US. But while the MG TCwas selling in impressivenumbers, there was little interestin America in British cars, eventhe Allard.

Sydney got the idea that anupgraded version of the J typecompetition car would get theYanks’ attention. He overhauled

the styling, put a De Dion styleindependent rear suspensionunder the car, and convinced hisAmerican agents to take a coupleof the new model, called the J-2in late 1949.

At the same time, GeneralMotors brought out the newCadillac 331 cid V8. It was amatch made in heaven. TheCadillac produced almost twiceas much horsepower as the FordV8, was higher revving and ran

This early J-2 Allard was originally theproperty of Zora Arkus Duntov andplaced second at Watkins Glen, NY.Engine is a Ford Flathead V-8 withDuntov’s Ardun ohv head conversion.This car was on display at the nationalCorvette Museum until recently. AllardP1 behind.

cooler. Allard had troubleimporting engines into Englandto install in his cars, so he agreedto ship the cars sans powerplantand have the engines installed inNew York. Several of the new J-2s were ordered with theCadillac engine, and a legendwas born.

The resulting sportscar was a rocket. It stillretained the archaicAllard frontsuspension, butbecause of the hugeamount of suspensiontravel this arrange-ment provided, it had

the ability to transfer weightbackwards under acceleration.The IRS helped to transfer thatpower to the ground. It’s weightat approx. 2500 lb. was light.Most of the weight was over therear axles which assisted thesearch for traction, (if, to thedetriment of handling) andthanks to the homegrownAmerican perform-anceindustry, the bits and pieces wereavailable inexpensively toprovide even more horsepower.Even those Allards that utilizedFlathead Fords could be madeblindingly fast, even by today’sstandards. And the car wasnot expensive. Atypical J-2 Allardwith Cadillac engineinstalled cost $2995in 1950. The equallynew and excitingJaguar XK-120 wasa p p r o x i m a t e l y$3500. For theadditional $500, theAllard owner could

have an impressive amount ofengine work done, and evenstock, the Jaguar would be hardpressed to keep up. There wasnever really a Cadillac-Allard orlater on, a Chrysler-Allard whichimplies that there was a formalarrangement between Allard andthe engine providers. When youordered an Allard, you specifiedwhat engine you were going tohave installed at the dealershipand the factory would ship thecar with the correct adapters andengine mounts etc. installed. Theauthor is aware of Packard,Lincoln, GMC 6 cyl, Oldsmobileand Buick powered Allards. Ifyou wanted a Ford Flathead,Allard would provide an Englishbuilt unit that differed only indetail from the ones built in theUS. In fact, it should be pointedout that the Ford poweredAllards were by far the mostpopular choice of buyers aroundthe world.

In 1950 Sydney Allard and TomCole drove their Cadillacpowered Allard J-2 to a thirdplace finish in the 24 Hours ofLe Mans. Only two Talbot-LagoFormula One racers, convertedto sports cars for the race, beatit. And it raced much of the race

De Dion Axle

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24-Hour Le Mans Grand Prix (note car 1 & 2)

with only 3rd gear in thetransmission, the lower tworatios becoming the victim of theengine’s torque. In the US itwas hard to find something thatcould keep up.

A typical starting grid of a majorUS sports car race during theearly fifties would find a host ofAllards both J-2s and its largerbrother, the K-2 at or near thefront. During that time anongoing argument raged in thepages of Road and TrackMagazine about the allegedsuperiority of the Hot Rod vs. theSports Car. And Allard was theprimary evidence of BOTHsides! The Motor Magazinetested a stock Cadillac poweredAllard J-2 in 1951 and measuredthe fastest acceleration figuresthe magazine had ever seen. 0-60 was achieved in 7.4 sec. froma stock engine rated by themagazine at 160 hp. Themagazine was impressed, yetdisappointed at the same time.They noted that the performanceof Allards in North America wasmuch higher!

The Motor article noted a 1/4mile with an ET of 16.25 sec. Carand Driver noted that they had

observed and wereimpressed with a15 sec. ET in aCadillac poweredJ-2X in 1954 (andnoted that this timewas faster than thatof a “production”Cobra). The lateTom Carsten’s

Tom Carsten’s spectacular J-2 Allardrestored to it’s racing configuration.

wonderful J-2 posted a quartermile in the 13-sec. range and 0-60 in approximately 5 sec. Thesetimes were achieved on 6.25 x16 in. STREET TIRES!

It’s hard to believe that a racingcar could be driven to a race,totally domin-ate its competitorsand be driven home. And whenit possessed side mounted sparewheels, a luggage rack and widewhitewall tires it seems evenmore incredible!

ThisAllard deserves closerattention. The car, serial no 1850was purchased in 1950 and whenit arrived in the US wasdispatched to Vic Edelbrock’sspeed shop, in Los Angeles, CA.There, Edelbrock installed amildly modified Cadillac V8, thefirst Cadillac engine he had ever

tuned. During the next two yearsthis car would become a legendas it won 8 major races in a row.Wins included venues at GoldenGate Park, Torrey Pines, Renoand Pebble Beach. Tom has asense of style and it showed inthe car’s presentation. The glossyblack automobile was finished inred, including the interior, and allvisible suspension parts.Mounted on custom made

Borrianni wirewheels (red) withwide whitewalltires, includingTWO sidemounted spares(purloined fromhis company’ssupply for it’s

delivery vehicles) bumpers anda LUGGAGE RACK, the carlooked more at home in front ofthe clubhouse at Pebble Beachthan on the racecourse. Butduring it’s inaugural run at thattrack, in 1951, it lapped the entirefield including the second placeAllard TWICE!

The J-2 was above all, a driver’scar. The combination of largedisplacement V8, with asuspension of questionablegeometry and brakes that weresimultaneously state of the artand inadequate appealed to thefearless and the talented. A shortlist of notables who would driveAllards include: Carroll Shelby,Zora Arkus Duntov, John Fitch,Tommy Cole, Masten Gregory,and Bill Pollack. They alsoattracted the attentions of thefamous including Clark Gable,Gen. Curtis Le May, DannyKaye, Peter Collins and SteveMcQueen.

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The J-2s biggest failing, asidefrom its suspension and weightbias, was its lack of legroom,thanks to the rearwardinstallation of the engine. Thisproblem was addressed in anupgrade, the J-2X in 1951. Theengine mounts were movedforward, the foot wells extendedand the nose lengthened toaccommodate the suspensionlocation arms. The new look wassomehow more aggressive thanthe J-2’s and this is the Allardthat continues to be the mostsought after. Oddly, the J-2X wasnot as successful on the track asit is predecessor. Part of thereason might be attributed to it’s

slightly higher weight, anotherwas the fact that the competitionwas getting faster, and third wasthat handling and braking wasnever a strong point of either car.In 1952 to conform to new LeMans regulations, Allard broughtout an envelope bodied variationof theJ-2X as an alternative to themotorcycle fendered styling thathad been the trademark of thecompetition cars from thebeginning. Both the Le Mans andthe conventional bodywork wereoffered simultaneously.

The other area where Allardsexcelled was rallying. We are not

talking about the genteel TimeSpeed Distance Rallies thatmany of us have been exposedto. One of the most popular postwar competitions in Europe werelong endurance rallies, over wardamaged roads, throughinclimate weather. One ofAllard’s first post war successeswas a win in the Paris to LisbonRally in 1946. During the newfew years Allards would beamong the forefront of rallycompetitors.Allard’s finest hour came in 1952when Sydney Allard, driving oneof his staid P-1 saloons won theMonte Carlo Rally after comingclose in previous years. The

weather that yearwas abysmal, andof the 328 cars thatstarted the eventonly 15 wouldarrive in Monacowithout incurringpenalties en route.The next day a

regularity test was conducted todetermine the winner. Sydneytook first in a car of his ownmanufacture, anaccomplishment that willprobably stand for all time. “We were having tea when thenews came through that we hadwon the rally.”This victory in one of the mostgrueling competition events ofits day should have gained Allarda great deal of publicity. But thedeath of England’s King Georgea week later, buried theaccomplishment.

The demand for the J-2 seriesand the companion K-2s faroutstripped the capability of the

factory to deliver them. Thiscoupled with some questionablebusiness practices by some of theAllard distributors soured manypotential purchasers. Studebaker,

wishing to cash in on theburgeoning sports car market,talked with Allard aboutdomestic production of the Js,but the talks came to naught.Because of Allard’s reliance onforeign sources for his engines,the factory did little or nodevelopment work on them. TheFord Flathead was still theengine of choice from thefactory, though now it could beequipped with Allard’s own highcompression heads and intakemanifolds. From 1950, Allardalso offered the Ardun overheadvalve conversion for the Fordengine as well. Allard hired theArdun developer, Arkus ZoraDuntov in late 1949 as chiefengineer. He stayed until 1953,

Early Allard Palm Beach, circa 1952.This is the original design, minus thedisappearing head-lights. This is alsothe design used by Anchorage Plasticsto build several fiberglass bodies forPalm Beach chassis. At least onesurvives today.

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J2X LM

M1

This is John Allard’s later model PalmBeach with the restyled front end. Thisis the general appearance of the bulkof this model, though no two were alike.Note the attitude of the left front wheel.Engine in this car is a 400 hp.Chevrolet.before going on to become chiefengineer of the Corvette. Allardalso undertook themanufacturing and distributionof these fabled hop up kits,eventually building over 200sets, some of which found theirway into his cars. But theconversions were hardlyinspiring to someone interestedin buying a real performanceAllard.

Of the other original models, theL was discontinued in 1949,though there is evidence that oneor two might have left the factorylater, on a special order basis.The M and the P continued to bebuilt but demand was beginningto wane.

In 1952 Allard realized that heneeded to revamp his productline. The first concern revolvedaroundbringing out an inexpensivesports car. This car, to be calledthe Palm Beach would be basedon Ford ofEngland’s small cars the Zephyrand Consul. Prices would be keptdown by utilizing as many partsfrom these cars as possible. The

frame would be tubular steel,manufactured on jigs, and thechoice of engines being limitedto a 4 (Consul) or a 6 cylinder(Zephyr). The original bodydesign was to featuredisappearing headlights and afamilial resemblance to the J-2XLe Mans mentioned earlier. Theresultingdesign raised howls of protestfrom Allard’s North Americandistri-butors and the design wasrapidly changed. However therewas interest in producing this caras originally designed in the USand Anchorage Plastics ofProvidence, Rhode Islandactually built some bodies infiberglass to prove the viabilityof the project.The Palm Beach was anattractive little car, and had itbeen deliverable as planned in1952 it could have been a hugesuccess. But a year later, when itwas finally ready, the AustinHealey 100-4 and the TriumphTR 2 were both available andwere being produced in volume.The Allard on the other hand,

The Allard K-3. This beautiful examplebelongs to Gary Peacock of Tempe,Arizona. Engine is a Cadillac V-8.

was primarily built to order, wasmore expensive and because ofit’s reliance on a three-speedtransmission, was slower.Allard’s next release was the K-

3. This car can best be describedas a grown up Palm Beach. Itwas built to accommodate theAmerican V8s, and wasprojected as being a fastluxurious touring car.Several were ordered in astripped down format for racingwhere they did moderately well.Road and Track magazinedescribed the car as being “. . .thehandsomest car the company hasyet built.”The example that Road andTrack tested went from 0-60 in8.6 sec. and the magazinecommented that the location ofthe gear shift (on the left side ofthe driver’s seat) probablycaused a second’s delay in thattime). The car featured 4 wheelindependent suspension and was“. . . the roomiest of all sportscars” with three abreast seatingin the cockpit.

Flaws were noted as well.Among the criticisms Road andTrack labeled at the car wereinadequateventilation, small gas tanks, awindshield that was too short,doors that did not open farenough, a lack of owner’smanual and tiny windshieldwipers. The author went on tonote that “...and one soon gainsthe impression that the cars wererushed out of the shop longbefore they were ready for thepublic.”

The factory also brought out twoother vehicles during this timeperiod: The Safari Estate and theP-2 Monte Carlo Saloon. TheSafari Estate has to rank as themost exotic “Woody” station

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wagon of all time. These uniqueautomobiles with tilt forwardfront ends housing Allard’s usualmix of V8s possessed seating forup to 8 passengers in three seats.Liberally adorned with Ash

Wood on the outside, andpossessing four-wheelindependent suspension, Allardtried to fill a niche that no oneknew existed. The P-2 or MonteCarlo Saloon, was it’s coupecounterpart. These cars weresumptuously appointed andexpensive and did not sell well.

Allard also brought out his lastinterpretation of the J seriescompetition cars in 1953, thefabulous JR.Smaller, than it’s predecessors

with a sleek body that could havebeen penned in Italy, anddesigned specifically for theCadillac engine, the JR was astudy in contrasts. It was the firstracing car designed specificallyto take an automatictransmission. It featured 4 wheelindependent suspension whenmany of it’s opponents still usedlive rear axles. It was fast, butstill relied on the Allard splitfront axle that made all of his

products “interesting” to drive.Jaguar had been utilizing diskbrakes on the C type for a year,but they were not available toAllard who had to make do withdrum brakes that were less thanadequate. In its debut at Le Mansin 1953 the JR lead the first lap,but a broken rear axle soon tookthat car out of the race. Thesecond JR running at a slowerpace retired after a few hoursfrom overheating and fadeingbrakes.“The older I get the more fascinated Iam by mechanical complexity”[Sydney Allard]The Allard Motor Company wasin trouble. Sydney had alwayslooked on his car company as away to finance his competitionefforts and as a combination oflark and hobby. His AdlardsMotors had evolved into thelargest Ford Dealership inEngland, but he was not awealthy man, and did not havethe resources to shore up AllardMotor Co. Ltd. when the new

line of cars failedto excite the carbuying public.Most of theproduct line wasexpensive, andeven the relativelycheap Palm Beachcost more than theTriumph TR 2 thatit matched in

performance, and paled whencom-pared to the Austin Healywhich it matched in price.

But Allard was acompetitor. In 1955,the Allard distributorin the US had talkedto a number ofDodge dealers in theNorthEast, to see ifthere would beinterest in a Chrysler

powered Allard for theirshowrooms as a counter to theChevrolet Corvette and Ford’sThunderbird. As a result of thissurvey, new bodywork wasdesigned for the Palm Beach’schassis, and a Dodge Red RamHemi was installed in a regularproduction Palm Beach. The V8powered Allard was a success. Ithad outstanding performanceand good handling. The newbody promised a continuation ofthe Italian influence on Allard’sstyling that first became evidentin the JR.

But there was no backing fromChrysler, the Corvette wasselling poorly and in 1956 Fordhad announced that the 1958Thunderbird would become alarger, personal luxury car,abandoning the sports carpackaging that the model hadbeen introduced with. Allardwent ahead with the Palm BeachMK II and later with a limitednumber of GT Coupes built onthis new design. The PalmBeach Mk II was the firstproduction Allard to dispensewith the Allard/Bellamy frontsuspension system, usinginstead, McPherson Struts. Theywere available with a choice ofFord Zephyr or Jaguar engines(the first instance of Jaguarallowing any other manufacturerto utilize their powerplants) andcould be fitted with disc brakes.They were gorgeous designs thatsuffered from some minorexecution flaws. They were also

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expensive, and the factory,reduced to building cars only tospecial order, ceased manu-facturing in 1959.In his later years, Allard’sattentions turned to drag racing,building England’s first“slingshot” dragster. BecauseEnglish law required that allcompetition cars possess 4 wheelbrakes and bodies, the Allarddragster did not look exactly likeit’s American counterpart. It washeavier, possibly betterengineered, and had Lotusmagnesium front wheels and abeefier front end to withstandthe usage of its front diskbrakes.Powered by a Ford engine, thecar became the focus of severaltrans-Atlantic Drag Festivals inEngland. Such luminaries asDon Garlits, Danny Ongias, andTommy Ivo took their steeds toEngland and compete before theamazed British crowds at variousvenues. Allard’s dragster,operating under different ruleswas not competitive with itsAmerican cousins, but

succeeded in upholdingEngland’s honor anyway. Allardthen build a few Jaguar poweredAllard Dragons for resale andpromoted other drag racingevents. Today Sydney isrecognized as the “Father ofBritish Drag Racing” as a resultof his efforts.Another late project for thisinventive mind was a twin V-8powered sprint car. Powered by2 WWII era Steyr Air Cooled V-8s, mounted side by side in awide chassis and possessing 4-

wheel drive, it must have been ahandful to drive. It utilized twothrottles, two transmissions andwould have required the utmostin concen-tration. In it’s time itwas a quite famous curiosity, butit was never successful as acompetition car.

About 2,000 Allards were builtin all. The exact number is indoubt. Of these approximately180 of these were J-2s and J-2Xs.There were 7 JRs and 13 of theoriginal J-1s.

The Allard Motor Co. wouldcontinue on as a manufacturerand marketer of performanceequip-ment, and a limitednumber of Allardettes, modifiedEnglish Fords were also built.On April 12, 1966 Sydney Allarddied, and the same evening, a firedestroyed much of the factoriesrecords.

The building that the Allardfactory resided in still stands. Afew years ago the BritishGovernment erected a plaque infront of it to commemorate it’splace in England’s history. Thecurrent occupant is a Block-buster Video store.

Sydney Allard (‘The Guv’nor’)

www.allardj2x.com

AMW J2X .... the legend lives on!

1-877-J2X-1953

8.Special thanks to author John Allard (http://www.ptinet.net/~jallard/allard.html)

The Allard ‘Dragon’

Roger P. AllardPresident