Beautiful and Brutal British Classic

Although only seven were made, the 1952 Allard Cadillac JR "Le Mans" Roadster were the epitome of early '50s sports car design

by Thor Thorson

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1952 Allard Cadillac JR "Le Mans" Roadster

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If hot rods had been invented in England, Sidney Allard would have been their originator. The first postwar production models of the Allard Motor Company featured American Ford flathead V8s, more often than not fitted with Sidney's own alloy speed parts such as intake manifolds and cylinder heads.

By the early 1950s, larger American OHV V8s like Cadillac and Chrysler Hemis became available, so, in true hot rod fashion, Sidney wasted no time shoehorning these into his J2X and JR sports racing models.

Beautiful or brutal -- take your choice -- these Allards were the epitome of early '50s sports car design, with their slim alloy bodywork and huge, throbbing power plants. Cornering at speed was a challenge as a result of Sidney's affection for a semi-independent front suspension created by chopping a Ford solid axle in half before mounting the two pieces in a swing arm fashion, which gave the front end a radical and unusual positive camber appearance.

Allard's J2X cycle-fendered sports cars looked both beautiful and brutal, but Sidney knew they were aerodynamically disadvantaged on longer circuits such as Le Mans. Accordingly, the new envelope-bodied and streamlined JR model was introduced for 1953. These were essentially identical mechanically to the J2X, though seriously modified for circuit racing.

Only seven JRs were built, with two cars serving as factory entries at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1953. This historic Allard JR, #NLN 650, was one of the two, driven by none other than Zora Arkus-Duntov. The sister car, NLN 652, was driven by Sidney himself and led the first lap of the race, only to retire after three-quarters of an hour. Duntov's JR survived until 1 am, before it too was withdrawn with engine problems.

The SCM Analysis

This car sold for $341,000 at RM's Monterey auction on Saturday, August 18, 2007.

There were two significant Allards in the Monterey auctions this year -- this one and a J2X LM that ran Le Mans in 1952, which was offered by Bonhams & Butterfields on Friday night. RM sold this JR, while the Bonhams LM, though apparently bid to something close to twice what the JR sold for, didn't make reserve. This profile is officially about the JR, but the real story here is about both cars.

Sidney Allard, like Carroll Shelby a decade later, was an iconoclast, a maverick, and a hot-rodder at heart. He cheerfully defied the conventions of the era and followed his convictions that horsepower was far more important than chassis design, and that American V8s were the most cost-effective way of acquiring such horsepower. His cars were the sledgehammers of their day, crude but remarkably effective.

To be fair, they probably weren't more or less crude than most of the competition in the late '40s and early '50s. With the exception of C-type Jags and 300SL Mercedes, all the chassis were pretty elementary. Allard's insistence on using what was essentially a "Twin I-beam" front suspension set the image for the cars; it gave them an in-your-face crudeness the rest of the car really didn't deserve. The deDion rear suspension with inboard brakes was in fact very current racing technology.

Light, fast, and uncivilized

In the Allard line, the "J" cars were the competition-oriented series, starting with the original J in 1946. In 1949, what became known as the J2 showed up and made quite an impact. With a minimal body and cycle fenders at the front, it was light, powerful, and fast, if not very civilized. In 1951, this was succeeded by the J2X, which, among other things, moved the engine forward by seven inches, allowing adequate leg room for American-sized drivers to fit comfortably. It also made provision for fitting the new Chrysler Firepower (Hemi) 331-ci engine, which made more horsepower than the Cadillac but weighed an extra 150 lbs.

The new J2X looked pretty much the same as the J2, but there was trouble brewing. The FIA changed the rules in 1952 so that cycle fenders were no longer acceptable in major European events like Le Mans. Allard responded with the "LM"