1948 Allard L-Type

Sydney Allard was a talented car constructor and racing driver who, in the 1930s, built several Ford-based racing specials with some receiving power from Lincoln engines and many using a split-axle independent front suspension developed by Leslie Ballamy. During World War II, his London garage, which went by the confusing name Adlards, Ltd., rebuilt Ford vehicles for British forces. When peacetime resumed, Sydney Allard seized upon even larger American engines installed in his own chassis with deDion rear suspension and a split Ford beam front axle with coil springs and radius rods.

In the immediate post-war era, the public was eager to resume a normal life. Since automobile production had ceased in the early 1940s to support the war efforts, automobile manufacturers struggled to keep pace with demand. Most used pre-war designs with mildly updated styling.

Mr. Allard's early postwar sports cars were both brutal and beautiful, with their elemental bodies and potent American overhead-valve V-8 engines. The later J2 and J2X models of the early 1950s were attempts at making road-going cars more 'civilized' while retaining their visceral performance. The models that preceded the J2/J2X included the Allard K1 which had been introduced in 1946. With an abundance of engines and parts and no government contracts, Allard designed a two-seater on a box-section frame with transverse leaf springs and an independent front setup inspired by Leslie Bellamy. Power was supplied by either Ford or Mercury flathead V8 engines. A longer wheelbase version, called the L-Type, had seating for four occupants and continued in production through February of 1950, with most being built prior to 1949.

In 1947, Allard introduced the J1, K1, and M1. The K1 had a shortened chassis and was intended for sprints and trials. The M1 was larger with seating for four.

The Allard L-Type used a six-inch longer chassis than the contemporary K-Type and employed Allard's trademark independently suspended 'split' front axle and transverse-leaf rear end. As with the majority of Allards products, the L-Type used Ford and Mercury components with engines being the 221 cubic-inch Ford or 239 CID Mercury V8. Most of the L-Types received coachwork from the Hilton Brothers' workshop in Fulham. There, they received ash-framed, hand-crafted bodies with a fully carpeted interior with leather-trimmed seats, a fold-flat windscreen, and a removable hood and side screens.

Between 1946 and 1950, Allard built a total of 191 examples of the L-Type.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2020