Allard Tyres

Classic Allard Tyres

Allard J2X

Allard Motor Company Limited was a low-volume automobile manufacturer located in London. Formed in 1945 by Sydney Allard from tiny facilities in southwest London. Within a decade, car production had nearly halted. It built roughly 1900 automobiles before going bankrupt and ceasing operations in 1958. Before the war, Allard provided Adlards Motors in Putney with reproductions of his own Bugatti-tailed special.

Allards used huge American V8 engines in light British chassis and bodies, resulting in a high power-to-weight ratio and predicting the Sunbeam Tiger and AC Cobra of the early 1960s. Carroll Shelby, the creator of the Cobra, and Zora Arkus-Duntov, the chief engineer of the Chevrolet Corvette, both drove Allards in the early 1950s.

The original Allard automobiles were designed to compete in trials competitions, which are timed rally-style events held on terrain that is nearly inaccessible by wheeled vehicles. The first Allard was built in less than three weeks and was powered by a Ford flathead V8 in a body-based mostly on a Bugatti. To enhance traction, the V8 engine was relocated backwards in the chassis. In slow-speed racing, the automobile took advantage of the strong torque of the American engine to great success. It made its debut in the Gloucester Cup Trials and went on to win the 100-mile event at Southport Sands.

In 1937, Allard began constructing modified Fords, selling them for £450 apiece. Twelve Allard Specials had been completed by the time war broke out in 1939. During the war, the development of Ford-based trucks preempted Sydney Allard's intended volume manufacturing. By the conclusion of the war, Allard had amassed a sizable stock of Ford components.

The Allard Motor Company was established in 1945 in Clapham High Street in London. Three post-war models were introduced with a newly designed steel chassis and lightweight body shells, using its stockpile of easy-to-service Ford mechanicals accumulated during World War II and bodywork of Allard's own design: the J, a competitive sports car; the K, a larger car designed for road use; and the four-seater L. All three were designed on the Ford Pilot chassis and were driven by an 85 hp 3,622 cc side-valve V8 with a single carburettor and 6:1 compression powering a three-speed gearbox and low-geared rear end for optimum acceleration.

Allard was unable to compete with cheaper and more modern vehicles due to a lack of research and development. They were practically a year behind their competition, the K3 underperformed, and the Safari Estate was unable to find a market. Allard was struggling to stay viable by the mid-1950s, and with the market sluggish owing to a late-1950s US recession, the firm fell into administration in 1957, when automobile production ceased.

Allard Sports Cars Limited, a new Allard firm, was founded in 2012. In 2017, this business announced the construction of a new J8 model and developed a period correct continuation chassis 3408 of the JR. In September 2018, the firm reopened its doors and resumed manufacturing.