Lot Ended
Description
Very rare 3.9 litre Allard
P1; one of only 559 made; current owner for 57 years; fully restored; won 'Best
in Show' at the 2024 Shrewsbury Classic Car Show; be
different!
Born in London in 1910, Sydney
Allard was a gifted engineer and race car driver who went on to produce some of
the most charismatic and quirky machines ever to grace the Queen’s
highway.
After racing a succession of
weird and wonderful specials in the pre-war years, he founded the Allard Motor
Company in Putney in 1945 and over the next 13 years his factory produced around
1,900 sporting machines, all powered by robust American V8 engines. Despite its
small size and limited resources, Allard's achievements were legion in the
immediate post-war years, Sydney himself finishing 3rd at Le Mans in a J2
sports-racer and winning the 1952 Monte Carlo Rally outright in a P1
saloon.
Introduced in 1948, the P1
sports saloon employed Allard's trademark independently suspended 'split' front
axle and a transverse leaf rear end. Like the vast majority of production
Allards, the P1 used Ford/Mercury components, these being readily obtainable
from Ford in the UK, the choice of engines being the 85bhp 3,622cc Ford V8 or
modified 110bhp 4,375cc Mercury, both with 3-speed column-change gearboxes.
Production lasted until 1952 by which time a total of 559 P1s had been made,
making it the best-selling Allard of all.
First registered in
Newcastle-upon-Tyne in April 1952, this Allard P1 has been in the current
ownership for 57 years. Our vendor bought the car in 1968, having found it
languishing in an alleyway between a row of terraced houses in a run-down part
of Birmingham in a very sorry state.
Relishing the challenge of
restoring the car, the vendor set to work on the bodywork, replacing the A posts
in oak, refitted roof gutters with appropriate sealants, new door, boot and
windscreen seals plus a few other tweaks to ensure it is waterproof. Stripped to
bare metal, it was then treated to around 17 coats of primer and coach enamel by
brush to achieve the excellent finish it shows today.
After the bodywork,
it was time to tackle mechanical side with a complete overhaul. The engine is
now a 3.9 litre 24 stud Mercury type with a rebore, reground crank, new pistons
and bearings etc. It is running very well, yet only just about run
in.
The logbook V5c shows the original engine details, the vendor never
updated the DVLA, the current engine in the car is a 3.9 litre Mercury which was
an alternative available from Allard’s when new and fitted to the Monte Carlo
car.
The car has been completely
rewired. Flashing indicators and improved rear lights seemed a sensible
upgrade.
Last year (2024) the Allard
was awarded 'Best in Show' at Shrewsbury’s large and well-attended classic car
show, a fitting tribute to the all the time, skill and effort put into the
restoration by the vendor.
A number of spares are also
available to the winning bidder if desired, including a good 3.9 24 bolt late
engine and the rather less good 3.6 unit originally fitted to the
car.
Contact
james.booth@brightwells.com