The Clapham-built Allard that battled Mercedes at Le Mans

European and UK manufacturers ranging from Iso to De Tomaso and from Jensen to Sunbeam saw an easy route to performance by fitting big American V8 engines into their relatively light sports car chassis – but British engineer Sydney Allard got their first.

Allard, the scion of a successful family of Ford car dealers based in Clapham, south-west London, began to prove his worth as a competitive driver after taking up the sport in 1929 with a Morgan three-wheeler.

Then only 19, he went on to compete in long-distance events, the Brighton Speed Trials and the Prescott Hill Climb (where he set a sports car record in 1938) before founding the Allard Motor Company in 1945.

Although tantalisingly successful at times, the business was never set to last and Allard shut down in 1958 after little more than a decade of serious trading and with only around 1900 cars built – but it was also in the early years of that decade that both marque and founder enjoyed some of their finest moments, not least while competing in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Allard took part in the event four times (1950, ’51, ’52 and ’53) – with the J2X on offer at the Classic Motor Hub being the actual one in which he contested the 1952 race.

Built in January of that year, chassis 3055 was fitted with new, all-enclosed aluminium bodywork to comply with the latest ACO rules banning cycle wings.

Under the bonnet lurked a 5.4-litre Chrysler V8 driving though a four-speed gearbox and, in the best Le Mans tradition, the car was driven from the UK to the start line at La Sarthe. A ground-breaking radio control set-up in which the Allard pit team could communicate with the drivers through a trio of cockpit-mounted warning lights proved successful in practice and, in the race proper, co-driver Jack Fairman put in a promising first stint before handing the wheel to Allard at 7pm on Saturday.

The powerful V8 and the new, more streamlined bodywork saw speeds of more than 150mph on the Mulsanne Straight and by 5am, with Fairman back at the controls, the car was running fifth overall – but, within the hour, Allard was forced to retire after limping back in with big ends knocking.

Chassis 3055 was subsequently factory fitted with a replacement Cadillac engine and sold to US-based racer Paul Pfohl, who won four events on the trot with it before confining it to storage for more than 50 years. After his death the J2X returned to the UK where it was recommissioned for competition use before taking part in the 2014 Le Mans Classic and the following year’s Le Mans Legends.

Now presented in “extremely original condition” and still sporting many features visible in photographs from the 1952 Le Mans race, the car is once again running a Chrysler engine – and will be sold with both the original, damaged unit and the replacement Cadillac engine fitted by the Allard factory.

A vast and fascinating history file also accompanies this most evocative of Allards, with its continuous and indisputable provenance making it eligible for major events such as the Goodwood Revival and, of course, the Le Mans Classic.

It’s road-registered, too – so you could make like Sydney Allard and drive to the track. And hopefully back home again, too.

1952 Allard J2X Le Mans
On sale with The Classic Motor Hub, Bibury, Oxfordshire. Asking: £1.5m. classicmotorhub.com

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