Motion Pictures Tom Carsten's Allard

Allards were just kick ass cars.Once upon a time my father was in correspondence with Sydney Allard in regards to importing the coupes (They weren't too sexy and you don't see many of them). I have a client with several roadsters. It is not always as easy as it seems to shoe horn a OHV (or flatty) in. Initially they are set up for RH steering.Sometimes this produces interference with things like starters and so forth. Kurtiss is along the same vein.
Cool Video.I'll bet it was awesome to hear those Caddys opening up!
Shoot the instrumentals were pretty good too!

 

Thanks for sharing that great footage. I love the in car footage, the view over that hood, or should I say bonnet, is great.

 

Real street racers that did well in American road racing and abroad in the 50's.

 

I like these things. Makes today's kit cars look like puke.

 

That period video enhances the negative spaces in the audio, like the bellow of the early Caddy V8 as it comes out of the pits and joins the raucous snarls and whines of the cars on the track. Tell me you didn't hear it.

 

There's a book written on Carsten's experiences. Ya gotta love those wide whites!

 

My favorite Allards are the Lemans entries

 

Ahh yes, the 'Blacksmith's Revenge'. Thanks Ryan. That was waay kool. Seems like each era automobiles has a car like this. The next era gave us the Cobra. Don't care for much that followed but there's always that 'one' that could send a shiver down your spine.

 

Sidney Allard brought Drag Racing to Europe with his slingshot drag car. His earliest exploits were with "trials" racing sort of early off road racing. That led him to split the Ford axle and add pivots to make a crude independent from suspension. Some street rod vendor is making a similar kit right now but I can't imagine it would work all that well with such a short swing radius.
The vintage races at Elkhart Lake WI are the weekend of 7/25. There are usually several Allards running; J2's Palm Beach and a "KK I think.
Fun Stuff

 

The black/red/white color scheme of Carstens' Allard was really distinctive. I think the only other competitive road racer to run whitewalls was Balchowsky.

I thought Carstens' next car, the "Stovebolt Special" HWM-Chevy, was even better looking than the Allard, but apparently it was an evil-handling pig that was never competitive.

Didja notice in the video that Ken Miles' "Flying Shingle" and Balchowsky's Deuce roadster both appear near the end?

 

Miscellaneous American iron in Allards

 

Allard's are one of THE most amazing cars out there. It is a miracle that they were ever produced. The Lemans cars are really beautiful, but the J2s are some tremendous cars, especially when you see them raced. I wish I had pictures of the one I saw with Ardun heads! Anyway here are some more pics to enjoy.

Historics 08






Radnor Hunt 08




Pebble Beach 08










Sorry, forgot to say, very cool video! Any idea where they were shot?

 

Flatty powered '48 "L" roadster

 

I worked for Tom , at his VW and Porsche/Audi dealership from around 1983 to 1988. I remember the day he had found one of his old Allards and was brought into the Porsche dealership, then it it disappeared from there. I remember going over to his to move some furniture while replacing the carpet in his place. And pow there was the Allard, it was so funny he started the car right at his place on the Golf course in the morning ! Something I will always remember. Tom was neat guy, had a 356 he would drive from time to time. But he also had Mercedes-Bend and other rigs. I one time had to go into the two car garage/shed to put away some obsolete parts, and sitting on the floor was one of the engines from his Allard days hadn't moved in 20 years along with some old VW painted door, odd ball roof racks, and Karmann Ghia deck . They raised the garage/shed when some remodeling was done. Wow what happened to that stuff,? my two cents ! He was good friends with Vic Edelbrock Sr. and also Jr.Which I had the chance to meet once while JR was at the Porsche Dealership , many moons ago. Tom raced alot, also midgets pretty well know on the west coast for that along with other modes of auto racing, rest in peace Tom

 

Back in '93,somebody here in KC discovered a J2 in the garage of a late Negro Leagues baseball player.I heard that Carriage and Motor Works did a complete restoration on it.

 

50Fraud,

I saw Balchowsky's Deuce Roadster & I recognised the Ken Miles car but couldn't think of the name of it. Very, very cool video footage - thanks

 

I am surprised that nobody has mentioned that the Allards are being made again.

Well ... sort of.

Here is a link:

Allard Motor Works J2X MKII

From their web site:

 

An Allard Coupe needing complete restoration and with a 1938 Ford Flathead V8 was recently sold in New Zealand for NZD $3,800 (about USD $2,370). Ouch!

 

I had the honor of meeting en elderly lady towing a car trailer at a motel about 10 years ago if I remeber right. We were in the elevator together, so I offered to carry her bags for her. I took them to her truck and we got to talking and she was taking her's and her husband's Allard around the country to all of the vintage races as a victory lap in his honor. He had passed away that year. She had a driver and team lined up at every venue to run the car. They had road raced the car together for ever and did just a few things to it to take it on the vintage circuit, it was perfectly maintained. I wish I had gotten her name. She had some stories, and I wish I could have sat down with her, they lived the life.


These cars were amazing, consider that they had a swing axle front end like Twin I-beam Ford, they didn't just get driven, they got thrown around the track. You had to be able to drive thats all there was to it.

 

Wow, neat. Would have liked to hear him wake up the golf course folk with that car too

 

Good that Allards are being made again - but with fibreglass bodies??????

 

saw one racing at the fist NAS NI in San Diego event, guy cooked it coming out of the chicane. have a shot of him sideways surrounded in smoke.

entertaining as all hell to watch race.

 

Carsten's J2 still exists-it's in a collection in Seattle. It doesn't have the whitewalls anymore, last time I saw it, it had vintage Dunlops. It hasn't been run for awhile, but the owner is an active vintage racer, so it'll probably be on the track again.

 

The book, written about Carsten's Allard J2X, is called "Red Wheels and White Sidewalls, a confession of an Allard racer", was done by the first competition driver Carsten's put in the car, Bill Pollack. Pollack, and the Allard owned the West Coast sporstcar races for several seasons, until the Ferraris and a prewar Alfa Romero bested the duo. The engine, I understand, was prepared by Vic Edlebrock, Sr.. The front swing axle, a split early Ford, I think was Allards attempt to reduce unsprug weight. It made for some interesting, sometimes scary handling. Some of the early Lotus cars had the same setup, using a smaller English Ford axle.

There are a number of Allards running vintage races out here in the West. All that I've noticed, are Cad powered. The Allard J2X seen at Coronado Speed Festival by Fur Biscuit is owned and driven by Bob Lytle. Lytle has run that car for decades (and has lived to tell about it). A year ago, at Buttonwillow Raceway, I ran up against two Cad Allards. One was a J2X, the other was a K2 (similar to the blue, full fendered 0ne pictured elsewhere in this thread). In the Saturday qualification race, I could catch the Allards; but, I couldn't get past them. Once they straightend out, after each corner, hammer down, they employed their thunderous acceleration; and jumped slightly out of reach until the next series of corners. Finally, the J2X blew the guts out of the rearend; and, having no rplacement parts, he was done for the weekend. I finished second to the K2. In Sunday's Main Event, though, I used a little treachery of age at the start; and jumped the pole sitting K2 into the first turn. The tables turned he could catch up to me; but, could pass me. I won, start to finish. Fun!

Below is the little car that could, passing an Alfa Romero-Volpi (a special that looks like a type 158/159 Gran Pix car.

 

The old joke is "Allard will always be the first to cross the finish line, but won't win unless it does so front end first."

 

Allards are bad ass. Pick up any sports car mag from the early fifties there is always at least one letter that's like, "I'm building a special, kinda based on the Allard..."

I'm not totally sure, but i think that's the first version of the Edwards Special lined up next to the Allard at about 2:25.

 

This is Tom Carsten's Midget that was restored by Jim Monaco. I did a story on Tom, Jim and the Midget for Hop Up Special #2... the car is still owned by Jim's family.

Sam