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Allard J2's were again successful with a class win and a 3rd place finish in the 60th Anniversary Geelong Speed Trials in Australia.
The 2016 Geelong Australia Speed Trials (Revival) was held over Nov 25-27 weekend along the original Geelong Waterfront Speed Trials course as set out in 1956. This year, two Allard's were on the podium for the quickest 1/4 mile times for the Sports, Specials and Racing Cars 1941-1960 over 1500cc. It is noteworthy that the two 1950 J2 Allard's of Graham Smith (1st place) and Ian McDonald (3rd place) are both circuit racing cars, and street driven, which competed against the specially constructed sprint (drag race) cars of the period.
Besides being a spectacular venue for a classic vintage event, the 1/4 mile Geelong Speed Trials course has always had a slight "right bend" mid-course to contend with at speed which has proven over the years to be very interesting for the drivers. This year the racing was single car passes, as opposed to the two-car side-by-side races of previous years, in the interest of safety for the aging cars and spirited drivers.
The Allard Hero's of the Weekend
Graham Smith, Bellbrae AU, 2016 Geelong Speed Sprits Revival Vintage Class Winner 1950 Allard J2, 13.00 sec/160 kph (99.4 mph) 1/4 Mile. Ex-Hawkes/Stan Jones Chassis #1731, Australian GP Contestant. One of the Original Entrant Cars in the 1956 Geelong Speed Trials invited to return for the 60th Anniversary Celebration. (Early history of J2 #1731)
Ian McDonald, Melbourne AU, 2016 Geelong Speed Sprits Revival Vintage Class 3rd Place 1950 Allard J2, 13.35 sec/154 kph (95.7 mph) 1/4 Mile. Ex-Murray/Firth, Chassis #1698, Bathurst and Australian GP entrant. (Early history of #1698)
Ian and Graham lining up in the "bowl" for the 1/4 mile pass along the waterfront strip of the Speed Trials run since the first event in 1956.
Both Allard's (Smith and McDonald) had their fastest pass in Run 2 making both Allard's podium finishers for the 2016 Speed Trials.
Graham Smith waiting to move into the pits before the Event for the day. The invited period cars were displayed in a pre-grid along the beautiful Geelong Waterfront Road adjacent to the track at the starting line "bowl" where the thousands of spectators could see the cars before the sprints commenced on the 1/4 mile street strip with a "bend" in the middle.
Geelong Speed Trials Overview
The Geelong Speed Trials was one of the rare occasions in Australia where you could see an array of awe inspiring vehicles in action, hear and smell their roaring engines while experiencing the carnival atmosphere of classic sprinting, held in a spectacular temporary venue along the waterfront in Geelong's redeveloped district.
If cars and motorcycles aren’t enough to get you excited, classic boats and vintage aircrafts will also be on display, so make sure you look to the seas and sky! Take a step back in time into our vintage lifestyle zone featuring live music, trade stalls, delicious food and entertainment. The lifestyle zone wouldn’t be complete without our Vintage Caravan Display and of course the National Vintage Fashion Awards, a crowd favorite! Motoring enthusiasts can top off their weekend in our trade expo zone, featuring great displays, sales and unique demonstrations.
Not only were there some of the most amazing vehicles, many of the world’s best drivers including Sir Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss, Dick Johnstone, Jim Richards, Glen Seton, Craig Lownes and Formula One greats Alan Jones and Mika Hakkinen also competed at the event.
The Geelong Speed Trials were based around the popular Brighton Speed Trials held in the UK. This event began back in 1905 and is regarded as the longest running motor event in the world. Like Geelong, Brighton is also a seaside town and offers spectacular vistas of the seaside; a perfect setting for such an event.
The Geelong Speed Trials were held along Richie Boulevard and took advantage of the heavily sloping amphitheater overlooking the track below. Each year the event attracted thousands to the palm shaded lush lawns in a family atmosphere to watch an incredible and quiet unique day of motorsport. In some of the later years crowd numbers in excess of 30,000 were reported and the event was regarded as the largest historical motor sporting event of its type in Australia.
A very special racing Allard has just come on the market. J2-1851, aka #15 is probably best known as the sister car to the famous West Coast racing J2-1850, aka #14 of owner Tom Carstens. You may recall that #14, as driven by Bill Pollack dominated pretty much every race it entered until it was nearly destroyed in a post-race demonstration lap at Pebble Beach in 1953. #15 was owned by Carstens racing partner Dave Fogg and you could say that Carstens drove for Fogg, just as Pollack raced for Carstens! In fact, Carsten’s raced and won in 1851 (original configuration) at the Pebble Beach Novice Race in 1951.
You could say things changed a bit for 1851 after the demise of 1850. Fogg and Carstens had learned a lot about the challenges brought about by front & rear suspensions of the J2, so they set about improving things with 1851. First off was the front suspension, which was converted to upper & lower transverse leaf springs, which eliminated the unfortunate variable wheelbase design of the J2. In the rear, the diagonal trailing arms were replaced with dual parallel trailing arms. The transmission was replaced with a nearly indestructible mid-30’s Cadillac LaSalle 3-speed…and then with a more competitive Jaguar 4-speed. The wheels were changed to Hallibrand’s. Finally, the most visible change was routing the exhausts out of the right side body cowell. These modifications allowed #15 (at the hands of Carstens) to dominate club racetracks and hill climbs in the Pacific Northwest until 1958 when the car was sold. 1851 maintains all its unique features that made it so competitive, which isn’t surprising since it was restored by Tom Carstens and Dave Fogg!
In case you were wondering, 1851 was ordered on December 19, 1950 and shipped on January 30, 1951. It was delivered to British Motor Car Sales in Washington. It was originally painted black with a red interior. 1851 was equipped with Cadillac engine mods, wire wheels, windshield, and top.
Click here to watch an interview on YouTube with Tom Carstens about #14 & #15.
Click here to read about Dave Fogg's early years with #15; "First Remembrances of Allard"
Click here to read Dave Fogg's detailed review of the modifications to #15 (it's very interesting!); "Much Modified Allard"
See below for a few old letters about 1851 from the Allard Register archives.
May-June 1977 issue, letter by Tom Carstens
April-June 1987 issue, Letter by Dave Fogg
Eight years have passed since vintage racing enthusiasts have been able to witness as many as six Allards gracing the field of the Monterey Historics/Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Five of the six Allards that made up this year’s field have been Laguna Seca veterans over the years – and the sixth was recently imported from England.
All 15 groups’ Practice & Qualifying sessions were on Friday, and the Group 1B (Sports Racing and GT Cars 1947-1955) race took place on Sunday. That morning’s practice session was delayed by heavy fog, which left the field stranded on the grid for almost an hour while the pace cars made reconnaissance laps before practice could commence.
This caused some minor disruption to the starting grid where Steve Schuler found himself bumped down from third to eleventh spot for the afternoon race. However once the green flag fell, Steve steadily worked his Cad-powered J2 up through the field to a third place finish. We still have vivid recollections of the first time we saw Steve’s J2 in 1990 – essentially a burned out and drilled out hulk sitting on a trailer in the Laguna Seca paddock. A true inspiration to folks who might feel their ‘basket case’ is too far gone to rebuild. On a side note, Steve and his J2 were featured prominently on a wall sized graphic inside the Rolex Drivers Lounge.
Eleventh place finisher in Group 1B was Jon LeCarner at the wheel of his Cad-powered K2 – the very same red K2 that Jim Degnan raced at Laguna Seca and other west coast venues for 20+ years. Jim, incidentally, was a part of Jon’s ‘pit crew’ during the previous week’s ‘Pre-reunion’. It was great to get together and swap stories about the ‘good old days’ with our old friend.
Vince Vento was at the wheel of his ex-Fred Warner Cad-powered J2X that he brought all the way from Florida. Vince acquired this historic Allard a few years ago, and has been having fun with it ever since; running the Colorado Grand, showing at Amelia Island and racing at Road America.
A familiar looking blue K2 caught our eye as we were walking through the paddock area on Friday. This provided an opportunity to meet John Mote, the car’s new owner, who explained that he bought his Buick-powered K2 out of its 19 years of hibernation. This was John’s ‘maiden voyage’ – both at Monterey, and in the field of vintage sports car racing. This K2’s previous owner, Paul James was a regular participant in the Monterey Historics back in the 1990’s. Allard’s west coast distributor, Alan Moss, originally purchased this K2 in New York in 1950, and drove it out to Los Angeles (making it one of the first Allard’s on the west coast).
Bernard Dervieux reports that he has sold his two-cylinder Deutsch-Bonnet, and is now focusing his Allard, which is at the opposite end of the vintage racing spectrum. It was good to see Bernard again exercising his silver Cad-powered J2 (also one of the first Allard’s on the west coast) after a seven-year hiatus.
Last year Alan Patterson shared news about his two recent acquisitions – one of the few quaint, three-wheeled Allard Clipper ‘mini cars’, and the ‘other’ 1958 Allard GT coupe. Many vintage racing fans in the US are familiar with Bob Girvin’s Chrysler-powered Allard GT, which incidentally, now resides in Europe. The ‘other’ GT coupe (right hand drive and powered with a Jaguar C-type engine) was built specifically for Sydney Allard who used it for his personal transport for several years. It went through subsequent owners until Alan Patterson imported it to Pennsylvania where he embarked on a major rebuild. This event at Laguna Seca was the car’s maiden voyage.
Roger Allard was also present in the vendor zone with a silver J2X MkII. Roger had a prime spot at the foot of the Dunlop bridge and reported very good interest in the car. We also had an opportunity to test drive the car on the back roads around Laguna Seca…a full report is coming soon.
Two Allard’s were represented in the auctions. First up was Bonhams, which was selling the Ford Cobra powered J2-2121. Unfortunately, the car failed to sell and is now being listed for $325,000 via Bonham’s. Next up was K2-3017 that was offered by RM-Sotheby’s. This immaculate and unique deDion equipped hemi-powered (factory modification) K2 was a steal at $137,000 (it was unfortunately the first car to cross the block).
All in all, the 2016 Monterey car week solidified its reputation as the premiere destination car gathering in the world. Nowhere else do this many historic, unique, and exotic cars gather in one place. If you’ve never been…you should go…and hopefully we’ll be giving you a great reason to come with your Allard in 2017.
In looking for video of Allards racing at the Le Mans Classic last month, we were shocked to find the above video of a crumpled J2 on the back of a flatbed. We cross-referenced the car number with the entry list and found it to be Bob Francis's car. We couldn't find any news if Bob was hurt in the accident so we decided to contact him.
Bob wrote back and said, “Fortunately, I’m fine. The accident happened at the Bus Stop corner. And, fortunately the car is going to recover nicely. As bad as it looks, CKL Developments have been able to bang out the aluminum body and are not going to have to replace it. So, the originality will be intact. I have attached a photo showing the incredible work that has been done by CKL. Everything else is repairable. The chequebook was hurt the worst so it will take a little longer to recover.”
Photo and text by Charlie Warnes
Despite the much publicized Soberanes fire and token opposition from a handful of local activists, the ten-day long 2016 ‘Car Week’ got underway at Laguna Seca with the Pre-reunion (previously known as the ‘pre-Historics) this past Friday, August 12.
Just a bit of background – the Soberanes fire started in Big Sur, a few miles south of Monterey on July 22. It has burned nearly 75,000 acres and is now considered to be 60% contained. While fire fighting efforts are continuing to disrupt traffic on Highway 1, it is no longer considered to be a threat to Carmel Valley or the Monterey Peninsula. Concurrently, a local activist started on on-line petition to postpone ‘Car Week’ to better accommodate fire fighting efforts. Latest reports are that her effort has garnered a whopping 400 signatures. So – life goes on…
Three of the six Allards entered in the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion participated in this past weekend’s Pre-reunion. The Pre-reunion presents an opportunity for the owners become familiar with the Laguna Seca track, and to get their cars sorted out in a more low-key setting. Allards included Steve Schuler running his 1950 J2 that was the 3rd place finisher at the 1950 LeMans, Jon LeCarne driving the red K2 that he bought from his friend Jim Degnan a few years ago, and John Mote who is sorting out the blue Buick-powered K2 that he purchased from Paul James earlier this year.
This past weekend gave Allard enthusiasts and fans a chance to also inspect the other Allards present – the beautifully finished Cobra-powered (yes, Cobra powered dating back to the mid-60’s) J2 presented by Bonham’s Auctions, and the biscuit-colored K3 that Martin Allard drove out to the track on Sunday.
The three other Allards entered for next weekend are Bernard Dervieux’s J2, Vince Vento’s J2X, and Alan Patterson’s Jag-powered GT coupe.
This past weekend also gave us a get re-acquainted with old Allard friends including Martin Allard, Chris Campell, Jim Degnan, Lindsey Parsons, Camilo and Tommy Steuer, and Bob Weiner.
A brief rundown of some of the key events this week includes:
Monterey Car Week is just a few weeks away so we decided to put together a brief preview of what to expect as an Allard enthusiast. The big news is that there will hopefully be six Allards on track at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (RRMR). This is the biggest group of Allards racing at Monterey in over 10 years. You should see (2) K2’s, (2) J2’s, a J2X, and a…GT. Not Bob Girvin’s GT (which now resides in Germany), but Sydney Allard’s Jag powered GT, which is now owned by Alan Patterson. Alan and Vince Vento (J2X) will be racing Saturday in Group 1A while Bernard Dervieux and Steve Schuler will be racing their J2’s alongside the K2’s of Jon LeCarner and John Mote in Group 1B on Sunday.
Photo courtesy Patrick Ernzen
On the auction scene, two Allard's, a J2 and a K2 will be crossing the block. First up is J2-2121 at the Bonham's Quail auction on Friday afternoon. 2121 is a very nice J2 with an interesting history; it features a Shelby Cobra 289 Hi-Po V8 and a top shelf restoration. To learn more about J2-2121 (Lot 8), click here; the auction starts at 11:00. Next up, RM Sotheby's will be selling a very nice K2, chassis 3017 as lot #101. This is the only K2 known to be equipped by the factory for the Chrysler Hemi, side mount spare, wire wheels, and the De Dion rear suspension (one of only a handful so equipped). The car will be first across the block (auction starts at 4:00) so get there early. Click here to learn more about this car.
Roger Allard will also be the Peninsula during Car Week with one his very nice Mk II’s. If you’d like to connect with Roger and test out a J2X Mk II for yourself, you can contact him at info@allardj2x.com or 514-866-9309.
Finally, you may recall that in years past we’ve had an Allard breakfast in Carmel on Saturday morning. Breakfast is off the table this year since we’ll have Allards racing on both Saturday and Sunday. The new plan is to meet up at 4:30 – 6:00pm in the bar of the Embassy Suites in Seaside (1441 Canyon del Rey, Seaside, CA 93955). This means you’ll have plenty of time to bid on the K2, then pop over to the Embassy Bar to brag about your new purchase.
See you in a few weeks!
This past weekend, the Patterson clan was on track at their "home" race at the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. Specifically, they were racing in part 2 of the PVGP race week, or the "Schenley Park Race Weekend. Alan Patterson, in his red J2X-3072 is likely one of the few original Allard owners...and definitely the only original Allard owner that still races their car! Nephew Peter liked uncle Alan's J2X so much, he decided to buy an Allard of his own, in this case, the bare aluminum J2-1732. The Patterson Allards were on track Saturday in Group 1 for Pre-War & Select MG t-series cars.
Special thanks for Mike Matune for sharing the great photo!
This year, four Allards showed their stuff at the Monaco Historique in mid May. The cars ran well, with all of them finishing 18th or higher out of 36 cars. Til Bechtolsheimer placed a strong third with Patrick Watts coming in two places back at fifth; both were in J2's. Bob Francis finished 17th in his J2 and Massimo Bettati finished just behind in his J2X. Massimo was frustrated as he would have finished in ninth, but he accidentally cut a chicane and received a 25 second penalty. Shown below are Bob, Til, Massimo, and Patrick enjoying a nice day in Monaco.
(Special thanks to Terry Allard for retouching the photo above to correct the original photo coloring!)
Motorsport Magazine, August 1949
Thanx to Andy Picariello & Tom Porter
Deb and Mike Korneli, organizers of the September, 2015 Elkhart Lake Vintage Festival (ELVF) contacted Andy in the fall of 2014 on behalf of the Vintage Sports Car Drivers Association (VSCDA). They asked Andy if he could get some Allards to attend their annual event at Road America. If so, Allard along with Jaguar, would be the featured marques at this event. Andy got the word out, and succeeded in getting 17 Allards there – including his own burgundy Hemi-powered J2 and his blue Cad-powered K2.
Events started that Friday, with an Allard display at the Road America Center, followed by the Driver’s Dinner at the venue. Saturday was a busy day, starting with the Road Course Re-enactment. This was a tour of the original road course, where the Road America event started 65 years ago. Several Allards attended this, along with the race cars and the display Jaguars. Following this, all the cars assembled on the lawn of the Osthoff Hotel. Andy Picariello’s J2 was placed beside Augie Grasis’ J2X. Both cars had competed against each other in 1953 – Augie’s being driven by Carroll Shelby, Andy’s by Dale Duncan. This was followed by an Allard dinner at Siebken’s Pub, arraigned again by Jere Krieg. Sunday was the race day. Allards were afforded a parade lap before the feature races.
Andy had hoped that 4-5 Allards would be racing, but in the end was glad that two J2X’s would be able to thrill the crowds with their on-track bravado. Augie Grasis was at the wheel of his Carroll Shelby veteran. He started in second spot on the grid for Saturday’s Sprint Race, quickly took the lead, and had a great time dicing with a ’33 Ford Indy car to his first place finish. The Elkhart Lake Road Coarse reenactment tour was soon to follow – a great show for the spectators, but the slow stop & go driving caused heating problems for Augie’s Allard. The result – a blown head gasket that relegated his J2X to a static display role for the rest of the weekend.
Vince Vento decided to enter his J2X just ten days before the event. Through diligent efforts on the part of his team and a certain measure of luck, he was able to get his car set up and delivered in time. Vince was experiencing some shifting problems with his Hydramatic during practice, so he prudently decided to forgo Saturday’s Sprint in favor of Sunday’s Allard/Jaguar Feature Race. Throughout that event both Vince and the race fans had a wonderful time experiencing and witnessing the Allard’s adrenalin imbalance as he wrestled his beast to a respectable finish.
Tom Porter had a great time piloting his Allard J2X on the Allard Parade lap while wearing a 1955 driver’s suit and his late father’s vintage helmet. Bill Porter, incidentally, had owned and raced all four of the Porter family’s cars (a Jag E-Type, the J2X and two TIGA’s) at Elkhart Lake, so Tom and his brother Willy felt this occasion was especially nostalgic. Tom’s weekend was topped off when his J2X won “Best of Show – Allard Group” for Saturday night’s Gathering on the Green.
The J2X field was filled out by Colin Comer and Barb Pinkenstein who brought their Allards over from the local Milwaukee area, along with Richard Hansen’s and Jim Netterstrom’s J2X’s.
The J2 contingency was represented by Andy Picariello’s and Dana Mecum’s cars, along with Tony Cove’s ‘work in progress’ J2 that he trailered over from his home in Ontario. Many an Allard owner is intrigued by the opportunity to inspect an Allard project car that effectively displays so much of an Allard’s unique ‘innards’. Seeing these projects also gives encouragement as we work on our own projects. Keep up the good work, Tony!
Bob Girvin’s unique Hemi powered Allard GT (one of two Allard GT’s, the last production Allard, and the only GT set up for racing), and was honored with the well deserved People’s Choice Award.
The rest of the Allard field was rounded out by the three pristine K2’s of David Gaunt, Peter Zimmerman and Andy Picariello, Tom Kayuha’s K1, Terrill Underwood’s L-Type, Jere Krieg’s Palm Beach and Wilson Ryder’s J2X Mk II. Harold Haase made the trip from his home in CT – but alas, without his original and well preserved J2X – which is now on the way to its new home in Belgium.
Per Andy, it was a memorable event, thanks to the hospitality shown to us by all involved. Deb Korneli did an outstanding job to assure that we had a good time. Jere and Julie Krieg served us well as our social secretaries. The long journey for most of us was well worthwhile.
-Augie Grasis
Allard and Elkhart Lake. Carroll Shelby and Elkhart Lake. Carroll Shelby and the Allard. All linked together in sort of a “six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon” way. Allards have been inextricably linked with Elkhart Lake as they dominated the front of the field in the early ‘50s when the races were held on the roads and streets surrounding Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Burt Levy immortalized the Allard in his story The Last Open Road, which culminates at Elkhart Lake and features fictional ex-RAF-fighter-pilot-turned-racer Tommy Edwards wrestling his Allard in famous tracks across the country. Real life drivers such as Fred Wacker truly did race Allards on the open roads surrounding Elkhart Lake.
Carroll Shelby started his career in an Allard. As a matter of fact, he drove MY Cadillac powered Allard J2X (#3146) in 10 races in 1953 and won 9 of them. In January 1954, Shelby raced the car #11 the 1000KM in Buenos Aires Argentina. His 10th place performance (with co-driver Dale Duncan) landed him a ride with Aston Martin and the rest, including a LeMans win, is history. And Shelby is a legend at Elkhart Lake too where he won the Road America 500 in 1957 in a Maserati and later dominated with his Shelby Cobras.
Needless to say, when George, Mike and I learned that Allard would be the featured marque at Road America for the Elkhart Lake Vintage Festival we were excited beyond words. We wanted to make a good showing among our Allard brethren. We were excited to show the racing world the coolness of one of the most successful combinations of sports car and hot rod. And mostly we were excited to run the Carroll Shelby J2X at Road America—a true horsepower track. We raced there in July 2014 at the Hawk and it was awesome—heart-stopping acceleration, diabolical Allard swing axle handling punctuated by non-stopping brakes! A true 50’s hot rod sports car experience.
We put our learnings to work in our preparation. A taller rear end would get us to our 5500 red-line at the end of the straight. Racing brake linings would stop us better for turn 5. No need to work on the motor—sounded strong to us!
Besides the mechanical work to prepare for the race, we began corresponding with Andy Picariello, the Allard Reunion organizer and were surprised and disappointed that, though there were 18+ Allards entered for the weekend, we were the only ones thus far who planned to race. Then, at the 11th hour, enter Vince Vento with his J2X. Vince is a new owner of a beautiful black Cadillac powered J2X, and one of only two with a hydromatic transmission.
Vince’s car had been used as a prototype by Zora Duntov in designing the 1955 Corvette.
Vince and his girlfriend Estelle, are brave, optimistic people. Vince decided just 10 days before the event that he was going to race. While running his business and traveling for other events Vince arranged new tires, new brakes and shipping from Florida to Wisconsin for a car he had never raced, over his cell phone. Though I have often heard in my business life that “hope is not a strategy,” Vince’s optimism and hope were clearly the core of his plan!
Our caravan, including Dan & Brenda’s motor home, rolled into Road America Thursday night. After setting up camp for Team Allard and going through tech we headed for Siebkens for a couple of pre-race beers and the world’s #1 race bar. Surprisingly we arrived at the track Friday on time and ready for the first of our two practice sessions. Vince and Estelle found us, but couldn’t find their car, which was supposed to be shipped to a tire dealer to get racing tires mounted. After several phone calls to the driver and tire guy and many rental car miles, the tires were finally mounted and Vince and his black beauty arrived at the track for the afternoon practice session. The shakedown sessions for both J2X were successful but not without some challenges. The hydromatic transmission on Vince’s car was slipping out of gear and not shifting properly. While the #11 Shelby Allard set the fastest time for the group, we experienced a late session spin which we later learned was from a differential oil leak spraying oil on the right rear tire.
Friday night Road America hosted a dinner at the track for the competitors Friday with all 18 Allards on display. Despite the cool temperature, the threat of rain, and the free beer inside, many of the racers from other classes spent an inordinate amount of time drooling over the fabulous gathering of Allards. Just as the party wrapped up it started to rain; and rain it did, all night until morning.
Qualifying for our group was scheduled to be first on the track on Saturday morning. While it had quit raining an hour before our group went out, the track was slick as snot and the group 1 drivers tiptoed around the turns. In the meantime, Vince decided that, given the transmission issues, he would forego any preliminary sessions and save the car for the Allard/Jaguar feature race on Sunday. In the end, the #11 had qualified second behind a well driven MG for the afternoon’s Sprint Race.
Saturday’s Sprint race turned out to be a real barn burner. Our #11 Allard took the lead from the start followed closely by the 1933 Ford Indy car of Rex Barrett. The two cars were never more than a couple of car lengths apart the entire race, but the Allard ultimately prevailed by a mere .5 seconds at the checkered flag.
There was no time to celebrate as the Elkhart Lake Road Course reenactment was immediately following our race. The parade of 15+ Allards, many Jaguars and an assortment of other racing sports cars toured the 1951-52 road course around picturesque Elkhart Lake to the waves and applause of fans and locals on lawn chairs in the countryside. The track finally weaves its way on to Main Street where hundreds of race fans are gathered to see, hear and smell the fabulous cars of the past.
I am sure the reenactment was a fun experience for most drivers, (it started that way for my bride Pami and me) but soon became stressful and worrisome as the temperature gauge pegged out as we approached Main Street. A blown head gasket proved to be the end of our race weekend as we finished our “tour” with Pami at the wheel being pushed down Main Street by the crew and myself.
Undaunted, we found our place in the Gather on the Green Concours at the Osthoff Resort facing Elkhart Lake, with a stunning display of 18 Allards of all types. After our long push down Main Street we decided to leave the #11 in “as raced” condition, adorned with the oil, radiator overflow and grime of the track. We were placed next to Andy Picarillo and his famous J2. Our cars had met before—at a West Texas Air station SCCA race! Andy brought a photo (below) from 1953 of our cars on the front row, his driven by Dale Duncan and the #11 by Carroll Shelby. The weather was fabulous, the company was interesting, and the cocktails were flowing—life was good, despite our broken car!
Dale Duncan in #54 and Carroll Shelby in #11
Dana Mecum’s J2. Carroll Shelby drove a couple of races in this car in 1951.
Andy Picariello and his two brides!
Sunday dawned a fabulous day and it was all hands on deck in the Allard pit, to help Vince make a good showing in the Allard-Jaguar Feature Race. The grid truly looked like a blast from the 1950’s as Vince was lined up next to the ex-Briggs Cunningham Lister Jaguar from the Collier Collection. Vince drove an inspired race as he lowered his time on every lap. Estelle and I watched from turn 5 and were sure we could see Vince grinning through his full face helmet every time he hammered the big Cadillac motor up the hill! As the checkered flag fell on this beautiful black J2X, it was mission accomplished and a strategy well played!
Vince Vento in his gorgeous J2X
As we packed up for Kansas City and bid farewell to our old friends and our new friends, I noted a little smile on George and Mike’s faces. Was it the satisfaction of a good race weekend? A successful gathering of so many cool cars?
Or maybe it was the anticipation of tearing into that Cadillac motor when we arrived home! Until next year
The #11 Crew—Brenda & Dan Rapp, Mike Caraway, George Hull and Pami Grasis
Dennis Simon created the print above for the Allard Register back in 1990. Honestly, we think it's one of the best Allard prints out there. Dennis still has several of these 6 color silkscreen posters available from an edition of 95 posters. The 24x36" prints are signed and numbered. They are available for $175 each, which includes postage. For more info, go to: http://www.centuryofspeed.com/Dennis_Simon/Poster_Originals.html
Hi there,
Please below find below a few lines concerning the work done on my Allard - I had planned to provide a comprehensive update for the Allard Register. After my Alpine trip, now I have to do this differently.
- October 2011: Obtained the Allard at RM Auction in London (99J2089) built 1951
- It came from the US, but the car was originally delivered to Cuba
- The car came equipped with a 8.4 ltr Cadillac and Hydramatic automatic gearbox, which I found unbearable. It got awfully hot and the automatic and the huge weight on the front axle made driving it unpleasant
- I decided to swap the engine and bought a complete correct engine (331. ci / 1950) - and had the auxiliaries added to it (pretty challenging)
- Work was completed earlier this year (to a state where the car was drivable) - but not completely finished (shocks , instruments to be fettled with)
- It took quite a while to find a mechanic who was brave enough to get on the Allard - after an initial drawback I convinced my mechanic who deals with my 1964 Mercedes to work on the Allard with the help of a Corvette race mechanic who did the engine work.
- Drove a couple of hundred kms to run the engine in - and then joined my fellow vintage car folks (from the Talbot Club) - for a tour through the Alps.
- The Allard went like a rocket - everybody was stunned by power and the verve
- Finally axle broke just on top of the Furka Pass in Switzerland (2.400 m / 7.200 feet) - fortunately w/o any other damage neither to Car nor driver.
- Enjoy the photos!
Fred H.
Graham Smith
Tom Hawkes caresses his powerful Allard around the twisty, challenging gravel confines of South Australia’s Collingrove Hillclimb at its inaugural, public, 15 March 1952 meeting…1st in the over 1500cc Sports Car class. (State Library of South Australia)
Chassis #99/J/1731 fitted with Ford Pilot engine # 5338/26 was the first of 6 Allards imported to Australia, the car arrived in September 1950 to Rube Gardner’s order. Gardner was appointed the local concessionaire having travelled to the UK to do the deal with Allard himself early in 1950. Gardner’s premises were on the Princes Highway, Carlton, a southern Sydney suburb.
Gardner drove the car to the October 1950 Bathurst meeting. He didn’t race, but took it to Mount Panorama for display purposes. The red painted, side valve Ford Pilot engined car immediately impressed Stan Jones, the 1959 Gold Star and Australian Grand Prix Winner and father of 1980 World Champion Alan Jones.
Stan was well aware of the car’s competition record in the UK and US and bought it on his inexorable rise to the top of Australian Motor Racing. I wrote an article about Stan’s career, click on this link to read it; http://primotipo.com/2014/12/26/stan-jones-australian-and-new-zealand-grand-prix-and-gold-star-winner/
The J2 in the Bathurst paddock during Stan Jones ownership at Easter 1951. Color red, ‘standard’ Ford Pilot side-valve spec V8. 5 of the 6 J2’s imported to Australia entered this meeting,3 started! (Ray Eldershaw Collection)
Jones first J2 competition event was the 1950 Australian Hillclimb Championship at Rob Roy in November, he finished 2nd in his class. In 1951 he raced the car successfully at Rob Roy, at Bathurst he was timed at 104.8mph on ConRod Straight, and at other meetings.
Jones sold the car to Geelong, Victoria, driver Tom Hawkes in a deal which involved Jones taking over a Cooper MkV 500 Bill Patterson and Hawkes had raced in England in 1951.
Hawkes raced the car in standard form for a while and then engaged Melbourne’s Ern Seeliger to modify it by fitment of an Ardun OHV engine kit and Jaguar 4 speed gearbox with ‘C Type’ ratios, to replace the 3 speed Ford Pilot ‘box.
The tail of the Allard was replaced with a narrower one, the front and rear guards removed and wire wheels adapted to Lancia hubs fitted. The light car now developed circa 300bhp. It was a formidable, noisy and spectacular weapon at the time.
Hawkes ahead of Eldred Norman’s Maserati 6CM at Adelaide’s Sellicks Beach. This meeting in 1953 was the first all car beach program post-War. Sellicks Beach 55 Km from Adelaide. Tom is kicking the tail out, no shortage of power on the soft sand! Eldred Norman and his many cars are fascinating stories for another time. (forum.fefcholden.club)
Over the next couple of years the J2 competed widely, mainly driven by Hawkes but occasionally by Reg Robbins who maintained it. It was also driven by John Sawyer and Adrian Gundlach. The car raced at Fishermans Bend, in Albert Parks inaugural meeting in 1953 and Rob Roy, all in Victoria. Hawles competed at Collingrove Hillclimb, Sellicks Beach and Port Wakefield in South Australia.
He travelled to New Zealand for the 1954 NZ Grand Prix meeting at Ardmore in January. There the car blew the OHV engine in practice, a stone pierced the radiator with the side valve engine fitted for the race, famously won by Stan Jones in the Maybach. The J2’s Ford engine was brittle and ‘popped’ comprehensively at least 3 times, twice with rod failure, the errant component carving the cast iron block in half on both occasions.
The J2 was quick, it recorded 137 mph on Longfords ‘Flying Mile’ during the 1955 Tasmanian Trophy meeting. Hawkes advertised # 1731 for sale in October 1955 but continued to race it. The car was finally bought by Reg Robbins who had been preparing the car for Hawkes as noted above. He raced it at Phillip Island and Rob Roy in late 1956 and early 1957 respectively before sale to Geoff McHugh in Tasmania.
Melbourne’s Ian McDonald repatriated it from a Tasmanian ‘chook shed’ in 1964, he restored it, a process which took 2 years. He first raced the car in an historic event at an open meeting at Sandown in 1966.
The car has passed through numerous sets of caring hands since then and is still in Australia.
The Hawkes Allard in the Collingrove paddock March 1952. The modifications referred to in the text are not yet evident, this is early in Hawkes ownership of the car. Compare with the other later Collingrove shot below and the Sellicks Beach shot above where the car is running sans guards and with the wire wheels referred to in the text. (State Library of SA)
This later Collingrove shot in 1954 shows the Hawkes J2 in its later modified form; with Ardun head, ‘skinny tail’, sans guards front and rear and with its wire wheels. (State Library of SA)
Butt shot showing the Hawkes J2’s modified tail, fuzzy shot but modifications clear; #1731 sans guards, wire wheels. On ‘The Wall’. (Collingrove Hillclimb)
Graham is the current caretaker of J2-1731. The car has been restored and is actively raced in Australia. The car retains Ford power, albeit with a set of ARDUN heads.
Here's some really good video of the 1952 Grand Prix of Watkins Glen. The first half of the video is for the Queen Catherine Cup for small displacement cars. The last half of the video is from the infamous Grand Prix race that features several Allards. You will recall that this is the race where Fred Wacker accidentally hit a young boy that was standing too close to the course. This video includes footage of the cars stationary after the race was stopped.
Very cool color racing footage from the 1954 Andrews AFB races. You'll see a number of Allards including Fred Wacker and his 8 Ball.
This year's event saw only one Allard racing...Bob Francis in his ex-Mille Miglia J2. Bob started out on the 10th row in 25th position. By the end of the 90 minute Freddie March Memorial Race, Bob and his co-driver worked their way up to 12th place. Congrats!
Click the below to watch a brief recap of the race along a with a graceful spin by Bob.
We’ve always been fans of automotive art, specifically Allard related art. One of our favorite artists is Stefan Marjoram (www.stefanmarjoram.com/art.htm) and we commissioned him to create an Allard sketch, which is shown above. We’ll be printing a limited number of t-shirts, note cards, and maybe a few prints – all available for reasonable prices. We’ll let you know on the web site when they are available.
We are excited to share these recently unearthed photos from Le Mans in 1951. It's interesting to note the dramatic change between Le Mans in 1951 and what the race has become today. The #2 car of Alfred Hitchings & Peter Reece is featured prominently. The team crashed on lap 22, but managed to make the end of the race, finishing 214 laps. Unfortunately their last lap took more than 30 minutes, which disqualified the team.
Who can you spot in the photos?
