Sydney Allard

Born in London, England, Sydney grew up a member of a family owning a substantial Ford dealership, Adlard Motor, in Acre Lane Clapham.

[note 1] Educated at Ardingly College in Sussex he became a staunch member of the Streatham & District Motor Cycle Club followed by his brothers Leslie and Dennis and their sister Mary.

[2] Their son, Alan, drove Allard's first British-designed dragster with such success Sydney was made first president of the British Drag Racing Association.

On 31 August 1929 the new Cyclecar Club held a meeting at Brooklands where: "the first race was won by Sidney (sic) Allard's Morgan, at 73.37 m.p.h.

[12] That year Allard, with Ken Hutchison and Guy Warburton in the "Tailwaggers" Allard-Special team, competed successfully in trials, sprints, rallies and races.

A 1947 Allard-dealer advertisement stated: "Vacancies still exist on the 1947 quota-list for early delivery of Open Two-Seater and Tourer models.

"[19] Allard won the 1949 British Hill Climb Championship at the wheel of the self-built Steyr-Allard,[20] fitted with a war surplus air-cooled V8 engine.

[28] An advertisement from 1950 for the Allard J2 stated: "Some overseas purchasers have preferred to fit the more powerful engines suitable for this chassis such as American Ford, Mercury, Cadillac, Ardun, Grancor etc.

In the austerity period after the Second World War Allard struggled to source the raw materials for car construction, where the emphasis was on 'export or die.'

Allard preparations for Le Mans in 1951 were delayed as Cadillac engines were in short supply, due to GM concentrating on production for the Korean War.

Mrs. Eleanor Allard, Sydney's wife, also competed in this event, accompanied by her sisters Edna and Hilda, but retired.

In 1952 he and Jack Fairman drove the works J2X, chassis number 3055, fitted with a Chrysler hemi engine, where the car retired at 6.30 a.m. having thrown a rod.

Thus the successful Allard formula of an American V8 engine in a light chassis inspired the development of the Chevrolet Corvette and the A.C. Shelby Cobra.

"[36] He finished third in the unlimited sports car class at the Brighton Speed Trials that year, covering the standing kilometre in 25.99 sec.

[37] "Allard's air-cooled Steyr-Allard with Lotus front wheels and very compact body was third - although a sports car, it was started by means of an external battery.

"All this leads to 9 litres of motor car and a very brave Sydney Allard surrounded by chains, shafts and engines.

In the sixties Sydney Allard continued to compete in rallies mostly accompanied by Australian navigator Tom Fisk.

[44] Constructed in 23 weeks between January and June 1961 at Adlards Garage, Clapham, in London, the car featured a 354-cubic inch Chrysler motor with front-mounted 6-71 GMC blower.

Bill Boddy, editor of Motor Sport, called it a fiasco,[45] saying the mechanical problems had also occurred in testing at Boreham.

Denis Jenkinson writing in Motor Sport said:"Sydney Allard pointed the sleek blue dragster down the quarter-mile, let in the clutch, opened up and with a sound like a large bomber going down the runway disappeared through the timing traps.

[Congratulations, Sydney Allard- but a kilometre is a long quarter-mile and I still maintain that the dragster didn't live up to Allard high pressure pre-Brighton publicity.-ED.]"

According to Jenkinson: "Allard's temperamental machine eventually did 10.48 sec on its best run," [48] for the standing-start quarter mile, which took place at Debden, Essex on 14 April 1962.

Tire technology, with wider purpose-built drag slicks, was pushing speeds ever higher in the U.S. By the time Mickey Thompson showed up at Brighton in 1963 with his Ford-powered Harvey Aluminum Special the Allard dragster was looking distinctly dated.

But this charismatic car was the true pioneer of British drag racing and a game-changer as UK racers adopted American methods and style.

In January 1964 Sydney Allard launched the Dragstar Dragon, a low-cost dragster designed by John Hume, powered by a Shorrock-supercharged 1,500 c.c.

The Second International Drag Festival was held at Blackbushe Airport, Sat/Sun 25/26 September 1965, and RAF Woodvale, Sun 3 October 1965.

[64] This resulted from an incident at the Bugatti Owners' Club meeting on 15 June 1947, when Sydney: "shot through the hedge at the semi-circle and landed well out in the field in the single-seater Allard.