1948 Allard L-Type news, pictures, and information

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Roadster
Chassis Num: L 390

British racing driver Sydney Allard obtained a bunch of Ford V8 engines purchased by the British government but not needed for the war effort and he built a sports car around them. He launched the Allard K1 in 1946. Two years later he had produced more than 400 vehicles. Allard production ended in 1960 and Sydney passed away in 1966. Sydney competed extensively in his own cars, in the British Hillclimb Championship, at LeMans, and in the Monte Carlo Rally. He was a British pioneer in his own dragster.

This 1948 Allard LCC roadster was purchased in London in 1961, driven throughout Europe and then brought to the United States.

'The new Allard', said The Autocar in February 1946, 'has changed its sporting tweeds for a lounge suit.' There were other changes. Allards were no longer specials, for their builders had taken on a new identity. The Allard Motor Company, formed in 1945, now operated from a kind of factory in South Hill Park, Clapham, and a whole collection of workshops around South and West London. On the strength of a stockpile of Ford V8 engines and parts built up during the war years Sydney Allard launched into full-scale production of a range of aggressively styled modern looking touring cars while most British car manufacturers were still planning theirs. It hardly mattered that they were mostly Ford; in the car-starved Britian of the 1940's there was soon a waiting list for the Allard. The formula was very much as it had been in the 1930's only now the Ford Pilot V8 engine was installed well back in a chassis frame of Allard's own devising. Helped by the excellent Marles steering and that rearward weight bias, the handling was considered to be excellent. The independent front suspension, for all its simplicity, was seen as thoroughly up-to-date. There was power and acceleration in abundance and the 'long' rear axle ratio of 3.6:1 used at first gave these tourers an easy gait up to a maximum of around 85 mph. After the chassis destined to become L-Type open tourers were built in South Hill Park, they were towed across London to the Hilton Brothers' workshops in Fulham where the hand-crafted, ash-framed, coachbuilt bodies were installed. By the standards of the time, they provided roomy accommodation for four people in comfortable leather-trimmed seats. They were fully carpeted and the hood and removable sidescreens were practicable and weatherproof, although a sports-type fold-flat windscreen was also provided. The L-Type remained in production from late 1946 to 1950, during which time 100 were built.

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