1952 Allard J2X Roadster

This 1952 Allard J2X is serial number 3067. It is powered by a 1957 283 cubic-inch Corvette engine with McCulloch Supercharger. It has been owned by its current owners since March 1974.

From 1946 to 1959, Sydney Allard produced 1908 largely hand-built automobiles in a factory near Central London. J2X Serial number 3067 is one of 83 of this Allard racing model produced between 1951 and 1953. In August of 1952, it was shipped to the R/P Imported Car Company in NYC, where a Cadillac engine was installed. Preston Gray from Scituate, Massachusetts, the first owner of J2X number 3067, raced it through September 1955. He then sold it to Philadelphia-based Harry Payne Whitney, son of Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney and stepson of W. Averill Harriman.

Both owners achieved extensive success with #3067 in SCCA National and Regional races, hill climbs, and time trials. Track venues included Thompson Marlboro, Lime Rock, Hatfield, Beverly, and Lockbourne AFB, with hill climb successes at Mt. Washington, Burke Mountain, Mt. Equinox, Giant's Despair, Duryea, and Yorklyn, Delaware.

The Allard J2, J2X, and JR racing variants, with their powerful American V-8 engines, were very significant factors in American and road racing in the early 1950s on both coasts. To maintain the competitive edge of this J2X in 1957, at a time when the Allard had become outclassed by Ferraris and other more sophisticated race cars, Bill Frick (then well-known for his Fordillac and Studillac engine conversions) replaced the original Cadillac engine in #3067 with a much lighter McCulloch supercharged Corvette engine. Whitney was then able to add further to the J2X's distinguished racing history until its retirement from competition in 1958. In the early 1970s, the current owners were fortunate to obtain from the Whitney family the 26 trophies awarded to Harry Payne Whitney during his three years of competitive activity with the J2X.

This J2X was owned by the Whitney family unit at the beginning of the 1970s. While many surviving competition J2X's have been modified and updated for vintage racing, an original example is extremely rare. Except for repainting over 35 years ago, this J2X remains in the exact configuration in which it was last raced in 1958, even down to the original SCCA Racing Car License/Registration on the dashboard.

The 2004 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance is the first national automobile show in which this J2X participated. It was awarded 'Best in Class - Race Cars (1946-1959).' Its second national show was the Concours d'Elegance of the Eastern United States in June 2007.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2009