ALLARD J2. Sydney Allard was a pioneer constructor of Anglo-American hybrids, using big American eng

Sydney Allard was a pioneer constructor of Anglo-American hybrids, using big American engines with British chassis, body and running gear. He built his first special on these lines in the mid-1930s, started to make replicas late in the decade, then returned to his embryro company in 1945 to become a more serious manufac-turer.

The first post-war Allards used the British Ford 3622cc V-8, in models designated by body styles: L (four-seater) and K1 (two-seat roadster) which ran from 1946 until 1950, and the short-chassis two-seat J1 of 1946-47. The M and P1 were slightly later models in a bespoke line, and in mid-1949 the company introduced the archetypal J2.

This was a new design, with a rigid tubular-braced ladder frame, and a stark alloy body with cycle wings and small aero screens, or a full-width screen in 'road trim' — as with most Allards, there were many variations on the base specification.

A de Dion arrangement was used at the rear, with coil spring ifs in place of Allard's previous split axle and transverse leaf scheme (further modification came with the J2X in 1951, which had radius arms ahead of the axle and engine set further forward in the chassis). 'Standard' engine was the side-valve Mercury V-8, bored and stroked to 4375cc, which gave the J2 a 175kph (110mph) top speed, and the fierce acceleration which was an Allard speciality.

Later, the Ardun ohv conversion became available for standard capacity units, giving approximately 140bhp and diminished reliability. Most J2s, however, were supplied without engines to US cus-tomers, for the chassis would take almost any combination of V-8 and transmission.

The Cad-Allards from among these held almost undisputed sway in US sports car racing for a brief period. The most powerful of the ohv Cadillac V-8s used gave over 300bhp, and married to Allard's peculiar brand of roadholding, that made for a very hairy sports-racing car. Thus cars with even modestly sophis-ticated handling, exemplified by the Jaguar XK120, saw off the J2s by the mid-1950s.

By that time Sydney Allard's great racing moment had been achieved by a 5.4-litre Cadillac-engined J2 at Le Mans in 1950, when with Tom Cole as co-driver he finished third, not far behind a pair of Talbots. Fewer than 200 J2 Allards were built, and although Allard would win the 1952 Monte Carlo Rally in a P1 coupe, none of his later cars lived up to the awesome brute-force reputation of the J2 series.

Specification (J2X) Engine: Mercury 90-degree V-8; 81 x 95.2mm, 3917cc; Ardun ohc; two Solex carburettors; 140bhp at 4000rpm. Gearbox: three-speed manual. Chassis: ladder frame; front suspension independent by split axles radius arms, coil springs and dampers; rear suspension by de Dion axle, coil springs and dampers; four-wheel drum brakes. Dimensions: wheelbase 254cm/100in; track 142cm/56in.