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 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