Description
1951 Allard P1 V8 Sports Saloon
This Car:
On the button and ready to jump in and drive anywhere, this Allard is a rather special example, well-travelled having been to Monte Carlo (following in Sydney Allard’s footsteps after his famous Monte Carlo Rally win) and Le Mans on more than one occasion and having just returned from a trouble free 500 mile trip in the UK.
It has a great history having been in a major Allard collection in the 1990’s, featured in Classic & Sportscar magazine and exhibited at the most recent NEC Classic Car Show. If you want a reliable, torquey, post-war sports saloon that is relatively cheap to maintain yet also rare, then you want this Allard.
The 3622cc flathead Ford V8 engine was rebuilt by specialists Belchers and sounds very sweet with excellent oil pressure. It never overheats, the radiator having been enlarged a few years ago by Serck Radiators. The exhaust, including manifolds, is custom stainless steel and sounds fantastic. The gearbox and clutch have just been rebuilt in the last few months with all new parts from the US. The rest of the transmission, including differential were rebuilt by a previous owner who also sensibly decided to upgrade the differential to a higher ratio for more relaxed cruising. It’s just had 5 new tyres and tubes (Michelin X to the front) and all bulbs changed to LED.
The interior is supple brown hide, west of England cloth headlining (renewed) and lovely refurbished wood. It is a very nice place to be and the seats are very comfortable. This car has an optional heater fitted which was very welcome on the recent February run.
The body is largely aluminium although the front wings are steel. It is in excellent condition although the paint is tired in places. I would absolutely not paint the car but you might decide that you want to. The wooden frame is in excellent, rot-free condition and, of course, the chassis is tip top. The front bumper is creased in places but I do have a replacement, which I have yet to fit.
This car left the factory on 18/ 12/ 1950 and was first registered on 12/ 1/ 1951 with the number it still sports today, KRU602. The car was supplied by Bournemouth agents F. English to a Mr G. R. Read of Salisbury in black with brown leather. It has been white since, at least, the 1980’s. Brian Sharp, a well know Allard collector had the car in his extensive collection for around 15 years and took the car on a club trip to Monte Carlo. It was featured in Classic & Sportscar on two occasions (copies of the articles on file). It was later bought by an Allard club member in Somerset who kept if for 18 years and who completed some 30, 000 miles in that time during many trips with his wife, including Monte Carlo and Le Mans. The Allard was then sold to a gentleman in the Shetlands (invoice on file for £21, 000) who kept the car until I bought it. It has had 6 owners from new including me. I carried out the recent recommission (engine out to rebuild the gearbox etc). It runs beautifully, as it has always been a well used and well loved car that has had money spent on it and had significant work carried out by all the right people.
The Make and Model:
Allard was a London based manufacturer run by Sydney Allard. The cars using largely V8 Ford components mated to Sydney’s chassis and clothed in bespoke aluminium coachwork. His cars were light, rugged, torquey and fast. Allard cars gained many competition wins in the late 40’s, early 50’s. In 1952 Sydney drove a P1 to victory in that year’s Monte Carlo Rally. There were 559 P1 sports saloons built and it is estimated that around 44 examples are out on the road across the globe.
