This week: ALLARD
Born: 1935 Nationality: British
In the early 1930s, an English Ford dealer and trials enthusiast, Sydney Allard, built a "Special" with a Bugatti race-car body and a Ford Flathead V8 engine. It began making its mark in competition and trials.
Using Ford parts, Allard began building his Special for other, mostly powered by the proven and reliable Flathead V8s, though some had even more powerful V12s normally used in Lincoln Zephyrs.
Not happy with the suspension in his early cars, he hired engineer Leslie Bellamy to devise a "split axle" that provided a simple independent front suspension. The extraordinary articulation of the wheels gave the car some very odd handling characteristics.
Although he had built only a dozen or so Specials before WW II, Allard had also built prototypes for three production cars before the war forced him into rebuilding Ford army trucks.
In 1945 he began production of the J competition car, the K classic 2-seater and the 4-passenger L touring car. Cheap and reliable Ford underpinnings combined with very distinctive bodywork helped build an early success in a country starved for new cars. The M drophead coupé came in 1947 and two years later the P coupé/saloon.
Eyeing the US market, Allard introduced the more powerful J-2 in 1949. Subsequent interest resulted in early shipping of cars with the standard Flathead V8, which was familiar in the US where it had been designed and was much used in racing. But buyers also wanted a choice of a new Cadillac V8, a 331 cu in unit that produced twice the horsepower of the Ford.
Unable to import the engine to Britain, the company sent cars without engines to US dealers who fitted engines of choice for customers. So, power units from Packard, Lincoln, GMC, Oldsmobile and Buick ended up in this very British sports car.
Successful encounters in Europe included a third-place finish in Le Mans - and strong representation taking the chequered flag in US track and road meets made the J-2 and K-2 hot properties in the early 1950s. They were also cheaper alternatives to the Jaguar XK 120, the nearest competitor from the home country.
Among top US drivers who favoured the Allard was Carroll Shelby - he said later that his Allard that gave him the idea to produce his famous Cobra. Clark Gable, Danny Kaye, Dirk Bogard and Steve McQueen were among movie stars who drove Allards.
A J-2X produced in 1951 was less awkward in handling terms, and gave some much-needed extra room for the occupants, but its extra weight and different characteristics resulted in it being less successful on the sports track. Back in Europe though, Sydney Allard in 1952 won the Monte Carlo Rally in a P-1 saloon.
In 1952, he brought out a small 2-seater sports car, the Palm Beach, based on the underpinnings of Ford's Consul and Zephyr cars, with the choice of those cars' 4- or 6-cylinder engines. Unfortunately it couldn't compete against the Austin-Healey 100-4 or the Triumph TR 2.
The more powerful K-3 was developed using various American V8s. It could hold three sitting abreast. Other Allards of this time included the Safari Estate with seat for up to eight and the P-2 Monte Carlo Saloon, actually a coupé aimed at capturing the "halo" from the winning of the famous rally.
In 1953 came the JR, a smaller sports car with a Cadillac engine - the first race car designed with automatic transmission. Downsides were oddball front suspension and inadequate brakes for the power.
Though Allard's original Ford dealership was now the largest in England, his car-making business was financially stressed. A Palm Beach Mk II and a GT Coupe built on an uprated chassis and powered by a choice of Ford Zephyr or Jaguar engines was produced in 1957: though the prototype had been fitted with a Dodge Hemi V8 that didn't make production because of lack of Chrysler support. The new cars had a more normal McPherson strut front suspension. But they were too expensive against much-improved, mass- produced competitors, and in 1959 the Allard Motor Company ceased making cars.
Sydney Allard later developed some dragster one-offs that helped establish that motorsport in Britain. He died in 1966.
BEST CAR: Arguably the stillborn Palm Beach Mk II prototype with the Hemi engine
WORST CAR: Perhaps the K-3, which had a number of design flaws related to passenger comfort
WEIRDEST CAR: A sprint car of the early 1960s powered by two Steyr V8 air-cooled engines mounted side by side, with 4WD, two throttles and two transmissions ...
- BRIAN BYRNE