Lot Ended
Description
Very
rare Allard P1; upgraded to the 3.9 litre Mercury engine; 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
similar to that fitted to the Monte Carlo car.
The car has been
completely rewired. Flashing indicators and improved rear lights seemed a
sensible upgrade.
On
completion of the main restoration in 2012, the car was presented for MOT
testing. It passed with no advisories. Since then it has been used only on
special occasions.
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