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Allard
Sydney Allard was apprenticed as a motor mechanic, and in 1930 his father financed the setting up of a garage business in Acre Lane, Brixton, called Adlards Motors Ltd. There he built 'specials' which he raced and sold to other enthusiasts. During the Second World War Sydney's workshop in Fulham, repaired 30 military vehicles per week, mostly Fords and Ford-built Jeeps, so when peace returned he had large quantities of Ford components in stock. In 1946 Sydney Allard set up a new firm to build cars, the Allard Motor Co in Clapham. Large car firms were struggling to obtain permits for scarce materials from the government. Allard could get into production quickly with his vast stocks of engines and other components, so he announced three new cars, all powered by Ford V8 engines, the J, K and L, all styled by 'Goff' Imhof. The J and K were later renamed J1 and K1. The J type was a short chassis lightweight two seater. K was a: slightly larger two or three seater tourer or roadster. L was a four seater tourer. M was a drophead coupe. P was a closed saloon car. Godfrey 'Goff' Imhof, a wealthy businessman who owned the HMV record shop in Oxford Street, London, was closely involved with the Allard concern. Imhof ordered the first Allard built post-war in 1946, followed by a Mercury-engined coupe and another car for his mother. The early types were followed by the Palm Beach roadster of 1955, and the odd little Clipper three-wheeler. To pay the bills, Allard did all kinds of conversion and engineering work. In the 1960s Sydney turned to producing the Allardette (a hotted-up Ford Anglia 105E) and dragsters, but he died of cancer in 1966. Almost 2,000 Allard cars were built, each one a tribute to Sydney and his aim to combine the British sports car tradition with American horsepower.
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