SYDNEY ALLARD
Sydney Allard
English
retired from F1 to build his own GP Cars
CAR BUILDER 1950iesSydney Herbert Allard died at the age of just 55.
Sydney Allard was one of those rare individuals who have managed to establish themselves as car manufacturers of some substance, despite very limited resources and intense competition from established companies. He will be remembered in America for his Chrysler and Cadillac powered Allard J2s and J2Xs, cars which were a familiar sight at Watkins Glen, Bridgehampton, Sebring or Pebble Beach during the late 40s and early 50s in the hands of John Fitch, Fnid Wacker, Bill
Pollack and other SCCA competitors of the period.
Allard was born and brought up in London. Despite an
early accident- that caused permanent damage to his left eye,
he entered motor sport while still in his teens as passenger in his brother's racing motorcycle sidecar outfit: a situation that he once described as "the ultimate testing of manhood." He
progressed through Morgan 3-wheelers to a series of cars of his own construction bearing his own name, which were built mainly from Ford components.
After the war he started building cars in earnest, using once again Ford components and Ford V-8 engines, and the long sloping hood line of his coupes and convertibles became a common sight in England. A great believer in competition successes as a means of promoting his products, Allard entered races and rallies with great enthusiasm and no little success. Apart from the cars that bore his name, his greatest
personal achievements were winning the 'Monte Carlo Rally
in 1952 and gaining 3rd place at Le Mans in 1950. Partnered by Anglo-American Tom Cole, Allard might have won outright if transmission trouble had not forced them to use only high gear for the last half of the race.
A jovial yet shy man, Allard was resourceful and courageous both in business and on the race track. His cars were of necessity a compromise, and often they were ugly and hard to handle, but at least they were never dull. Among the drivers of competition Allards, Sydney Allard himself was outstanding, and it often seemed that all of his six feet three
inch frame was needed to control one of the big J2s, which had a tendency toward understeering and oversteering almost simultaneously.
In later years, Allard was forced out of car manufacture by larger companies, and he turned instead to the speed equipment business. He then introduced drag racing to England after becoming a close friend of Dean Moon, and he was instrumental in bringing to England some of the leading American cars and drivers.
Undoubtedly Sydney Allard would have liked to have. won Le Mans, but to have placed 3rd overall and to have won the Monte Carlo Rally outright driving cars of his own manufacture is an achievement unique in motor sport, and a tribute to his persistence, ingenuity and resourcefulness.
Author: ArchitectPage
