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The media blitz has started on the upcoming auction sale of JR-3408 (ready story below). The car is being offered by RM-Sothebys at its London Auction this coming October 31, 2020. The publicity photos by Matt Howell were nicely shot. If you are interested in purchasing the car or having one built, you should contact Lloyd & Alan at www.allardsportscars.co.uk or via email at info@allardsportscars.com.
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.
Sorry for the late start on this, but both RM and Goodings will feature one Allard each at their auctions. As usual, please click on the links or photos below to visit the auction page for each car.
RM: Allard K2, chassis #2029
Our records indicate the car was originally intended to go to Holland, however at some point this was changed and it ended up going to R/P Motors in NYC on June 7, 1951. The original colors were intended to be blue with red interior, however this too was changed during the order process to bronze. This car was also ordered with the DeDion rear suspension (FACT: if you wanted a K2 with wire wheels, you could only get them if you ordered the DeDion option!). This car also features fender mounted spare wheels. Of the 117 K2's built, only a handfull came equipped with the DeDion/wire wheels setup and the fender mounted spares. The car features a 331 Cadillac with a 3-speed transmission. This car is Lot #149 at RM and will be sold on Saturday March 10. The estimate is $100,000 - $125,000.
Goodings: Allard K3, chassis #3189
Our records indicate this K3 was ordered on October 24, 1952, through the Allard Motor Company of New York City. It was ordered Chrysler modifications and painted silver with green leather upholstery and a fawn-colored top. The car was delivered to Leonard D. Henry of New York City on March 18, 1953. The car features a 331 Hemi with dual carbs and a 4-speed transmission. This car is lot #8 and will be sold on Friday March 9. The estimate is $150,000 - $180,000.
Also of note, RM: 1958 AC Aceca Coupe
One of our members will be selling his AC Aceca coupe to possibly fund the aquisition of another Allard. Please help him fund his addition by considering the purchase of this unique AC. This car is lot #148 at RM and the estimate is $95,000 to $115,000.
The experience of searching one’s way through Sunday morning pre-dawn fog, curves and pines of Pebble Beach is somewhat surreal. At times the only connection with the real world seemed to be the intermittent signals from random flashlights that eventually directed us to our parking lot. The experience gave us a special appreciation for the diligent efforts of hundreds of employees and volunteers who had been on duty half the night.
Our goal was to arrive at the Del Monte Lodge before the first of the Pebble Beach Concours entrants began to chug, purr or roar their way from the Polo Grounds to their designated spots on Pebble Beach’s 18th fairway overlooking Carmel Bay and Point Lobos. The low overcast sky and moderate temperatures were a photographer’s and spectator’s dream.
This August, RM will auction two Allards, the second of which is this K2 Roadster, chassis #1804. This K2 was delivered to an LA dealer (likely Noel Kirk or Moss Moss Motors) on December 1, 1950. Originally painted blue and fitted with Cadillac power, this K2 features Allards' De Dion rear suspension which was a rare option for K2's. The car now features Hallibrand disk wheels, Brooklands windscreens and looks very sporting. The car was featured in the June 2010 issue of "Auto Trader Classic Cars & Parts" magazine. This car is register as lot #142 and will be sold on Saturday evening. The estimate for this car is $100-120,000. You can view more photos of this car at the RM's web site.
This August, RM will auction two Allards, the first car is the M Drophead Coupe (DHC), chassis #834. At first glance, the car looks to be a nicely restored M type, but our records indicate that this chassis had a busy race history. Chassis 834 was sold by the Scottish dealer Alexanders on January 27, 1949 and was registered as GSF 756. The car was raced from 1950 to the mid 60's in a wide variety of events ranging trials, hill climbs, and even track races at Snetterton (1965). This car is register as lot #123 and will be sold on Saturday evening. The estimate for this car is $60-80,000. You can view more photos of this car at the RM's web site.
By Chuck Warnes
Allard, Kurtis and Duesenberg were honored as featured marques for the 16th annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.
One of the most enjoyable parts about working on the Allard Register is finding an Allard that has been missing from our database. In this case, RM Auctions contacted us a few months back about J2X 3044. Upon checking our database, I was surprised to find that we had no ownership history for the car; the only details we had was the factory build data.
(Click here or the photo above to view the gallery...)
The Monterey Classic Car Weekend has come and gone...Now it's time to look back at the photos to attempt to recapture the sights, sounds, and smells of a billion dollars worth of gorgeous metal, rubber, electrical bits. Unfortunately family obligations limited me to one day at the track, but that didn't keep me from making the most of it. This gallery contains a bunch of photos from the RM auction (Friday) and first annual Motorsports Reunion (under new ownership). You'll probably notice the photos look a little different... they were all taken on my Iphone 4 with the Hipstamatic camera application.
We'll post a more complete review of the Monterey Weekend in a few days, but for now...enjoy the memories!
On August 13, RM Auctions will sell Allard J2X #3162 (Lot 230) . To most, this is just another J2X; to me however, this is one of the most important Allards ever made. Ever since I was a kid, my dad would take me to the Monterey Historics; then he bought a basket case Allard K3. From that point on, my dad developed a friendship with All Knowing Allard Nut, Bob Lytle; and I fell in love with his black #65 J2X. For many years I dreamt that Bob would call me up to tell me he couldn’t race at Monterey that year and would ask if I wanted to race his car. Sadly that call never came, and unfortunately my dad and I lost a great friend to cancer this past December.
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.
