c/o Brian Taylor
brian@petrolhead.vianw.co.uk

Allard Chrysler Action Group

Treasuring the past by keeping it alive

February 2009

Hi all

I’m pleased to announce that we have two more members.  Phil Brown became involved with drag racing in the 1970s marshalling at NDRC events.  Based in Chesham he has been reading about our project on the websites and offered his services as a graphic artist when he heard about the leaflet (more of which later).  The second new member is Howard Holmes based at Hebden Bridge.  He runs the unusually named ‘The Company Called Beyond Limited’ and has also offered graphic design services plus free printing.  All this will prove very valuable as we develop a range of saleable items to raise funds (more of this later too).

Back to our new leaflet.  Thanks to the support of three members and new member Phil Brown, we have produced what I think is an excellent A3 folded to A4 leaflet printed on 160 gr gloss paper in full colour both sides.  The front and back pages can be downloaded in 'pdf' format by clicking here, but pages 2 and 3 open out into an A3 landscape poster of the car.  I didn’t want to risk this being downloaded because it will provide a good fund raising opportunity when printed A1 size and signed by Nick Mason and Alan Allard as a poster.  The financial support for the leaflet came from Nick Pettitt of Time Travel DVDs, Alan Currans of The Acceleration Archive (who hosts this blog of course), and the gang at US Automotive.  Thank you all for this support.  I have run 500 copies and this should keep us going for a while.  We might need more later when I will need to find more funds.  ACAG members should have received a leaflet in the post during the week.

I prepared 77 mailers ready to go to prospective sponsors and these were posted on February 9th.  Each one includes a leaflet.  The Allard Owners Club has agreed to include a leaflet with its next newsletter.  Thanks to Paula Marshall, I had planned to place three on each table at the Annual Drag Racing Trophy Presentation Night held on February 7th at Northampton, but unfortunately the snow and ice put paid to that trip.

To raise awareness of our project, as a precursor to the mailer I have sent out another press release majoring on Nick Mason becoming our Patron.  It has produced good coverage in the South amongst local newspapers surrounding the Museum.  Sean Moriarty of Motorsport News also covered the story.  Unfortunately in his desire to write ‘off-piste’ a few errors were introduced – but hey it’s all publicity.  I plan to try for local TV coverage of the project and have started discussions about the possibility of creating a reality TV programme covering the progress.  It’s early days but one thing that always accompanies countries going into recession is a boom in nostalgia.  So the timing could be good.

I’ve been talking to two artists about producing a painting of the Allard Chrysler dragster.  The idea is to have the painting signed by Alan Allard and Nick Mason and then auction it for funds.  Alan has agreed to back a reserve bid covering the cost of the painting so the worst that can happen is that Alan gets a nice painting of the car for his wall.  Before we auction the painting we will get 100 prints produced and serial numbered – also signed by Alan and Nick.  These will be sold for funds.

I have decided to go for Norwegian professional artist Tommy Vågen based in Bergen.  I should say straight away that he is a nephew of mine and it was me that got him started after he came over to stay with my wife and myself in the 1970s when we took him to Santa Pod.  We bought him an airbrush kit and as soon as he returned to Bergen he was doing crash helmets, bike tanks and so on.  He is now well known on the West Coast of Norway and has a variety of styles.  A recent exhibition saw him produce a series of paintings using icing sugar, marzipan and food colouring.  At the end of the day the guests ate the exhibits; more or less in the Buddhist Mandala tradition that reflects the impermanence of all that exists.  Neat!  Another thing he does is under-water painting.  He has even built a submarine and people use it to watch him paint.  If you Google Tommy Vågen you will find his website and lots of other sources of information.  Some of it is in Norwegian but you’ll get the idea.  He is an absolute nutter so he fits in with our profile very well.

I chose him because he is interested in our project and made creative suggestions about the colour shot I sent as a reference – bringing the front wheels out at the corners to give a 3-D effect for example.  But the thing that clinched it was when he asked for some bits of metal from the original dragster so he could grind it down and mix with the paint.  Hence, the original Allard Chrysler dragster will become part of the painting.  That will make it really unique and to me it reflected the essence of our project – bringing the car back to life.  The museum cut up a piece of one of the old blowers and this is on its way to Norway.

I’ve also entered our project in the Performance Direct Non-Standard Motoring Awards Competition.  The challenge we have set ourselves fits the requirements brief and the maximum prize is £10,000.  There are smaller awards as well.  As well as the finance, winning the award would bring us more exposure.  If we make the short list we may have to attend an interview so I will be looking for an ACAG member to support me with technical knowledge.

June 20th and 21st are dates to go in the diary – particularly for ACAG members living near the museum.  It is the annual Hot Rod and Custom Drive-In weekend and providing the dragster is not being worked on it would be good to have a couple of members there to talk about our project and to hand out leaflets to those really interested in joining us.  I would get a couple of special T-shirts made up for those on duty.  Let me know if you would like to be on the team.

The other exercise I have been carrying out is to regionalise the ACAG.  Although we are not a big group at the moment and some might feel this restructuring a bit premature, I wanted to give us more oomph with the media and have a structure that gave members the chance of meeting locally as well as meeting up with those in other areas when they are travelling.  Also, when the car is at an event it would be nice to know that there is some regional support out there to capitalise on its appearance.  Hence I have just about completed a regional structure with Regional Officers to co-ordinate these sort of activities.  At the moment I’m still acting as ACAG Chairman, Press and PR Officer, Membership Secretary and I will be one of the Regional Officers at first.  Hopefully I will be able to hand over some of these duties as we get bigger.  The current situation is:-

That’s all for now. I’ll let you know the response from the mailer in the next blog.  Any ideas for raising funds always welcome.

December 2008

Hi all

The big news this month is that Nick Mason has agreed to become Patron of the ACAG.  Nick is one of the museum’s Trustees and an avid collector and racer of classic cars.  He is also the President of the Guild of Motoring Writers. When he has the time he plays drums for a small band called Pink Floyd.  He is really keen to support the project and, along with Doug Hill and Alan Allard, will be one of the car’s registered drivers.  On top of this he will help with sponsorship ideas and attend meetings with possible corporate sponsors when his schedule allows.  Some of these will be at the museum.  Having Nick on board gives us the extra horsepower we will need in these tough times.

I am currently working on a coloured A3 folded to A4 leaflet about the project.  Once the copy has been signed off by the museum and Nick, it will need some design expertise - so if any of you have such skill that can save us money let me know (in return for a name check on the leaflet of course).  We will then need to print it on 80 – 90 weight gloss paper, and it would be nice if the print costs could be covered by a project supporter (again with a name check on the item).  This leaflet will be included in all mailers and available for hand out to corporate parties interested in the project.  I can get it printed locally and I do not see the costs being great, but if there is a printer out there who could do it let me know.

Had a surprise e-mail from Jim Muldoon the other day concerning the Allard Chrysler and I thought you would be interested as it reflects the quite different atmosphere of the early days.

Brian,
I have been reading with great interest your story on rebuilding Sydney Allards dragster.  In order that you understand why I am so interested I need to go back to 1963.
My friend Chris Allen and I were attending the Racing Car Show at Olympia in early 1963.  We were making our way around the exhibits when we stopped at the Shorrocks blower stand when a young chap came up to us and asked if he could help.  We said that we were merely looking but were interested in superchargers as we were both drag racing fans.
He then announced that he was Alan Allard and that his father had built the first dragster in England and planned to run it at the Brighton Speed Trials in the summer and had invited Dean Moon to attend with the Mooneyes Dragster.  After about an half hour he asked if we would like to see his father’s dragster.  He then did no more than ring the Clapham showroom and arranged for us to go and see the car.
When we arrived at the showroom the young lady on reception was aware who we were and directed us to the rear of the premises where the dragster was kept.  We met John Hume who got the car outside and showed us around the design and construction.  Then to our great surprise he started it up so we could appreciate the sound.  What an experience!  Who today would go to such lengths for a couple of twenty-two year olds who they had never met before.  Chris and I left on ‘cloud nine’ having heard, for the first time, an alcohol dragster.
We then attended Brighton Speed Trials in September 1963, made our way to the pits looking for the Mooneyes and Allard Chrysler dragster, when to our great surprise in front of us was the Harvey Aluminium car of Mickey Thompson - with the great man stood next to it with Fritz Voight who was looking after the mechanics.  We spoke to them both and received a very warm greeting.  When we then learned that they were going to do a series of demonstrations around the country, we took some time off work and followed them, culminating at RAF. Debden where Mickey tried to get permission to make an attempt on an F.I.A. record.  While he was attending to paperwork (that was never agreed) Fritz asked Chris and I if we would mind helping him change the rear axle ratio, which we were only too pleased to do.  After this series of events we got to know Sydney and liked him very much.  But we were young with new wives, mortgages and all that goes with it.  In closing can I just say that we live very close to Beaulieu and if we can be of assistance in any way would be very pleased to help.

Thanks Jim. What a story. I’m very envious and we may well take you up on that offer of help.  And thanks to Mike Lintern I managed to make contact with someone else from the old days - Jimmy Simons who used to work for Sydney Allard working on the rally cars.  He was based at Adlards and has some interesting stories about Alan’s ability to find large pine trees when rallying.  He was also involved in both the 1964 and 1965 Drag Festivals (most of Sydney’s employees were) and in 1964 he was part of the team helping Don Garlits.  He says hello to all who remember him.

That’s it until the new year.  I think we’ve accomplished quite a lot.  Seasons greetings to everyone.  We will be getting down to work soliciting the funds starting mid-January 2009.

October 2008

Hi all

Just a short one again.  Great News.  We passed the criteria set by both the Beaulieu Museum Advisory Council and the Trustees, who have accepted that we can go ahead with getting the Allard Chrysler back into ‘cacklefest’ condition as per our plan.  The fact that many of them attended the Goodwood ‘cacklefest’ helped calm any fears they might have had.

I have a meeting with Andrea Bishop and Doug Hill at Beaulieu on October 9th to put some details to what added value can be offered to prospective sponsors, how we position the ACAG in relation to the Museum, etc.  When this is finalised I will be able to contact companies with a very unique offer that even in these tough economic conditions will offer real value for money.  Remember we are looking for £35,000 so feel free to mention that figure to any interested parties.  I’ll give you another update next month when I should have more details about our offer.

As it’s another short blog I thought I’d add another photo of the car with Sydney Allard in the cockpit.  It was taken at a Shorrocks promotion day held at Brands Hatch in the summer of 1961.  The car didn’t run but it was fired up for the first time in public.  UK motor sport had entered a new era.

Copyright LAT/Autocar

August 2008

Hi all

Just a short blog this month. The project cost estimate is now complete and I have sent the details to Doug Hill at Beaulieu.  The total required will be in the region of £35,000 and this includes money for a new sign-written trailer.
Thanks to everyone for the help in getting this together - particularly Ian Stanfield at Beaulieu, Dave Davies, David Hooper, Bob Roberts at Andy Robinson Race Cars, US Automotive and Norm Wheeldon.

We are now in the hands of Beaulieu regarding the next stage of building the dragster into a working exhibit - and patience is required.  September 3rd sees a meeting of the Museum Advisory Council when Doug will put forward proposals regarding the project.  They are trying to get this report circulated to the Council beforehand to help smooth its passage. Providing the Council members approve (and the general feeling at the moment is that they will), then the Advisory Council will put it forward to the Trustees Meeting on September 22nd as something the museum should do.

If we pass that hurdle we are home and dry apart from getting the money.  We will have to re-structure the ACAG so that it fits in with Beaulieu’s operation and all ACAG correspondence and activities regarding the project will have to be signed off by the museum.  In practice we will work as an arm of the museum.  I will continue to liaise with them during the sponsorship gathering stage because I have a few ideas about where we can get the funds.  I’ll keep you all informed of course.

Once we have the money then you will all be fully involved again in the exciting task of getting the car up and running.
Keep the faith.  I’m sure we’ll get there.

We have one new member joined up since the last blog.  It is Mark Ison, son of Chris Ison of Wild Honey fame.  I remember it well.  Welcome aboard Mark.

June 2008

Hi all

We have two more members since the last blog. Colin Gill’s first drag race meet was Woodvale in 1965 so he saw the first 200 mph runs in the UK. Lucky him.  I was getting very wet at Blackbushe the weekend before.  He has been a Santa Pod regular since it opened and has attended both the Paul Marston and Frank Hawley Drag Racing schools.  The second new member is US Automotive.  Although Stu Bradbury was already in our group via the Hall of Fame membership, he persuaded US Automotive to join us in the company’s own right.  Thanks guys and welcome to all of you. We are now 34.  But if anyone else wants to get involved just contact me on brian@petrolhead.vianw.co.uk.

June 10th was a key date for the ACAG. It was the day that the Allard Chrysler Dragster Project Team met for the first time and visited Beaulieu to inspect the car as a precursor to preparing a work and cost schedule to get the car into ‘cacklefest’ mode.  The team consisted of myself (Brian Taylor), Alan Allard, Gavin Allard, Chris Eames. Eddie Wimble, David Hooper, Bob Roberts and Andy Robinson of Andy Robinson Race Cars, Norm Wheeldon, Stuart Bradbury and Steve Trice from US Automotive, Alan Currans, Tony Beadle and Dave Davies.

Although most of the team were aware of each other, some had never met and many had not seen each other for years.  But paunches and grey hair – or lack of it – do not dull enthusiasm and everyone was keen to see the car.  At a welcome coffee and biscuits laid on by the museum (thanks Margaret) we were joined by Doug Hill and Ian Stanfield from Beaulieu.  If the expertise assembled within that little lot can’t get the car going then nothing will.  You can see some photos of the gathering by linking into the new gallery that Alan Currans has assembled by clicking here.  I have included a few more in this blog.

Just as an aside, one other surprise was the display of custom cars in the museum at the moment.  One of the cars on display was Coffee Grinder, the little 1950s American built Model A street rod that was at the 1968 Fairfield Halls show and at Gravely even earlier than that during 1965.

Who nicked the engine then?
Alan and Gavin Allard survey the car with Andy Robinson
 

David Hooper, Bob Roberts (almost hidden), Steve Trice, Ian Stanfield
(Stan for short - the Museum's Chief Mechanic), Andy Robinson, Brian Taylor and Gavin Allard
 

Brian Taylor, Doug Hill, Norm Wheeldon and Dave Davies
 

This car was built to last - look at the size of that bottom chassis member
 

After thoroughly inspecting the Allard Chrysler dragster and the accompanying box of bits, the overwhelming view was that the basic car was in amazing condition.  The technology was so different back in the early 1960s and today’s drag racers in the Project Team were completely absorbed in its workings and the stories relayed by Alan Allard and David Hooper.  Remember the car was built during late 1960 and early 1961.  Yes it will need a new 354, a few other bits and some repair and general installation work, but the Potvin blower for instance was brand new.  After spending nearly two hours in the workshop, stripping down bits and with the car on a wheels-free ramp, it was felt by all that there were no mechanical issues that could prevent it being economically brought back into a working exhibit.

The Project Team is now eagerly locating and costing parts and workshop hours so that we end up with a fairly robust estimate of the finances required to complete the task.  This will then be included in a report sent to Doug Hill who will present it for sign off by the Trustees.  That is when the go button is pressed and we can get the sponsorship and buy in the parts and work.

So only a short blog this month but hopefully you’ll agree quite an exciting one.  Once up and running, this car will be one of the oldest completely original working dragsters anywhere in the world.  I think that’s a bit special.  Firing it up for the first time since 1965 will be quite an emotional experience.

May 2008

Hi everyone 

We have a few new members who have joined up since the last blog.  Two of them will be fairly well known to you – Ed Wimble and Norm Wheeldon.  Chris Eames first visited Santa Pod in 1968.  Since then he has been a regular spectator, helped out on the Stripteaser crew and eventually became Crew Chief for Graham Hawes.  More recently he can be seen with the Wild Bunch ‘Repeat Offender’ altered.  Simon Phillips is a regular hot rodder and periodic visitor to the strip but likes the idea of a bit of British drag racing history getting a higher profile.  And Jon Spoard of the UK Drag Racing Nostalgia site has signed up.  Welcome to all of you. There are now thirty-two of us.

The Mechanics of the Allard Chrysler

Before we get down to inspecting the Allard Chrysler, I thought it would be useful to share the technical information we have about the car.  Member David Hooper, who designed the car for Sydney back in 1960, has prepared a brief summary about the mechanics of it based on his memory of how it was constructed and up to the last time he was involved in 1965.  He also had chance to view the car a short while ago.  I would like to thank David for taxing the old brain cells to give us such a good start with the project.

Chassis
The chassis was constructed using 3 inch and 1.5 inch diameter seamless cold drawn mild steel tubes.  The chassis tubes and brackets were arc welded and up until 1965 the chassis never suffered any structural damage.

Front axle
The front axle was a Ford Pilot beam lightened with a series of holes – essentially in the centre section.  The two radius rods were attached to the front axle, using standard Allard perch bolts attaching the radius rod yokes welded to 1.5/1.25 inch diameter tube and rod ends.  The stub axles were Ford Pilot rather than the Allard version with the steering arms being part of the forging.  The track control arm was a fabricated design being bolted to the top two 5/16, 3/8 inch diameter stub axle backplane mounting holes.  The stub axle wheel bearing diameters had been reduced to fit Timken taper bearings that were used in the Lotus magnesium alloy 15 inch diameter wheels.  The bore of the inner track might have been modified.  Ball joints were Ford/Allard in origin, having 11/16 inch diameter left hand and right hand threads.  King pins were Ford Pilot, as were the stub axle bushes.  The leaf spring was made to suit the front axle weight and used Ford shackle bushes.

Rear axle
The differential centre section was an Allard quick-change unit, being a copy of the US Halibrand type retaining the use of a slightly modified 3.54:1 Allard/David Brown crown wheel and pinion (still obtainable in the USA as is this type of quick-change axle unit).  The counter shaft bearings were commercially available, as were the crown wheel and pinion bearings, being Ford in origin.  The differential unit was standard Ford Pilot using bevel gears and shafts.  The axle cases are narrowed Ford with chassis mounting brackets and 3/4 floating Allard-made safety hubs and bearing retainers.  The hub ball race was a commercially available size.  The axle shafts were 100 tons/square inch Allard-made, having a taper at one end and a bevel gear at the other.  The bevel gear had the same gear specification as the standard Ford axle.

Steering
The steering box was Marles, as used by all Allard models and modified to suit the dragster central seating position with an extension shaft supported by an outrigger bearing and housing bolted to the chassis roll cage.  To reduce the length of the drag link, an idler was positioned approximately halfway along its length.  Ball joints were of the same size as the track rod joints.  The steering wheel was Bluemell as used on Goldie Gardener’s record breaking MG cars.

Wheels
Front wheels were 15 inch diameter Lotus magnesium alloy, having previously been used on the two seater Steyr sports car.  The original rear wheels were steel Allard 16 inch diameter easy clean type, with the rim width increased to match the 7 inch wide M&H slicks.

Brakes
Rear brakes were two leading shoe type with 12 inch diameter by 1.75 inch wide shoes and Alfin brake drums.  Front brakes were 9 inch diameter (approximately) disc using Girling callipers.  The discs were Allard-made from castings used for the Ford 105 E disc brake conversion.

Gearbox/Clutch
A Ford gearbox was used (of Pilot origin) as a convenient means of disengaging and engaging the drive from the engine.  The original clutch was Schiefer fitted to an aluminium flywheel of the same manufacturer, complete with starter ring gear.  This unit failed early on in the car’s development, being replaced by a multi plate (8-9 inch diameter) clutch.  This unit used sintered iron faced clutch discs, being made by Automotive Products (Borg & Beck).  This clutch was developed for the Formula 1 V16/H16 BRM and performed extremely well, needing replacement discs after probably 12 or more power gearless starts.  An Allard-made lightweight steel flywheel, including the starter ring gear, was made to fit the relatively small diameter clutch.

Parachute
The parachute was an Irvine aircraft type triple drove.

The Current Situation with the Car

As far as I can gather, the current situation regarding the car and the parts is this.  The car as on display in the museum today is basically a rolling chassis.  There is nothing much under the body.  However, there are parts held in the workshop stores and these can be inspected.  They are said to include a block, but whether it is the right size is not known.  Although this may appear to be bad news it will make inspection much easier than expected and the initial inspection and strip-down costs will be zero or close to it.

So the next stage is for an ACAG inspection team to visit the National Motor Museum on a week day in June and, accompanied by one of the National Motor Museum engineers, thoroughly inspect what they have.  A weekday has been chosen because the museum will not be so busy and we can inspect the rolling chassis in the display area without interfering too much with the visitors.  It is not envisaged that this stage will take very long.  We can then go through the remaining bits held in the stores.

The aim of this stage will be to make a list of what is required to get the car into ‘cacklefest’ mode.  This will mean identifying what parts can be purchased, what can be repaired and what will need to be manufactured.  The list will need to be detailed enough to enable a fairly accurate costing and timetable to be made for the next stage – purchase, manufacture, repair and assembling of required parts.  So the ACAG inspection team will need to include those with the relevant expertise fitting this brief so that we are able to fully capitalise on this inspection day at the museum.  I will be there to act as the go-between but I will be of no use in the detailed examination and costing.

So if you fit this brief, and can volunteer a day of your time in Hampshire during June to rummage through a bit of drag racing history, let me know your particular expertise and how you think you can help.  Knowing this will help me fill in any skill set gaps in the team.  Also give me any days in June that you cannot make.  I want to be able to give Beaulieu several days in June to choose from, when a full ACAG team will be available.

That’s all for now. Hope to hear from you soon. Don’t forget to spread the word to others you think might be interested in joining the ACAG.

‘CACKLING’
THE 1961 ALLARD CHRYSLER DRAGSTER
-THE STORY SO FAR

During research for my book for Haynes Publishing called Crazy Horses – British Drag Racing’s Heritage, I became very aware of the excellent condition of Britain’s first dragster, the Allard Chrysler of Sydney Allard that initially burst into life in 1961.  It had been stored undercover since it last ran in 1964.  And being on display at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu that now owns the car, it has received constant TLC.  The internals are not complete, but the basic car is very sound being built like a tank compared to today’s dragsters.  And it is in original form.  Nobody has tried to update it. 

With the worldwide interest in getting some of these historic drag racing cars into ‘cacklefest’ mode, I sounded out a few people regarding getting this car into such a condition, so that today’s generation of drag racing fans could see and hear what started it all.  I first spoke to Sydney’s son Alan Allard and his sons Lloyd and Gavin.  They were keen that Sydney’s car be brought back to life.  I then contacted Lord Montagu of Beaulieu who is a fellow member of the Guild of Motoring Writers.  He was most enthusiastic and set up a meeting between myself and Doug Hill, the National Motor Museum’s Manager and Chief Engineer.  Doug too was keen and prepared a paper for the Board of Trustees proposing that they seriously look at what would be required to develop the car into a working exhibit.

This is not as straightforward as you might at first think. There are many ethical concerns with a project such as this and the National Motor Museum Trust’s priority in all cases is the long term preservation of the vehicle to ensure its survives in as good a condition as possible for the enjoyment and education of generations to come.  So it is not intended that the car should try for the mid 10 second times recorded in the early 1960s, because in historical terms it is far too valuable.

Doug said,
“I believe that the best way to preserve a motor car is to ensure that it is in full working order and then strictly controlled and documented as far as usage and maintenance is concerned.  The archive that is with the vehicle is almost as important as the vehicle itself.  And the project would be a tribute to Brian Golder who saved the car from obscurity and bequeathed it to the National Motor Museum Trust”.

A feasibility study has now been set up to see if it is possible to realise an opportunity that Carl Olson of the SFI Foundation believes would result in the Allard Chrysler being one of the most famous and sought-after ‘Cacklefest’ cars in the world.  The Americans would definitely want to see it at events and shows in the USA.  It means that once working, it could more than pay its way and promote the National Motor Museum in a very exciting manner.

The first part of this study will require a strip-down and inspection of the car to see what is needed to get it back into fire-up and parade mode.  It is envisaged that this work would be carried out at the Beaulieu workshops.  This will need funding – hence the formation of the new Allard Chrysler Action Group (ACAG) – a group solely created for this project. It will consist of a fairly small band of selected enthusiasts committed to providing a minimum of £50.00 each and no more than £100.00 each to get things started.  Expertise in engine, transmission and chassis skills would also be useful but not mandatory at this stage.  Enthusiasm for and commitment to the task is more important.  The final level of individual financial investment will depend on the number of enthusiasts willing to become involved at this first stage – a stage that may or may not lead to the goal of getting the car in ‘cacklefest’ mode.  Until it is stripped down and inspected we will not know what is possible so the Trustees will not be able to make a decision.

But there is massive support for the project.  Within minutes of the story about getting the first Allard Chrysler dragster into ‘cacklefest’ order was featured on Eurodragster.com, my e-mail inbox became ‘hot’.  Alan Allard and his sons Lloyd and Gavin, were quickly joined by other drag racing stars of the past including Clive Skilton and Peter Crane. Clive’s first dragster of course was in partnership with Alan Allard when together they brought the Mark II Allard Chrysler back to the strip under the Allard Skilton banner in the late 1960s.  This led to Clive’s series of Revolution dragsters.  Peter Crane is known as the first man to put down a five second blast outside the USA in Stormbringer, but many will not know that during the 1960s he worked at Allards installing Shorrocks superchargers and his first trip up the track was driving his Shorrocks blown Cortina.  He remembers being very impressed that the tea lady at Allards was Roger Daltrey’s mum!

 
 David Hooper in suit, John Hume in shirt and Sydney Allard in cockpit.
Building the car in the Clapham workshops during 1961.

Another most useful contact from the past is David Hooper who designed the first Allard Chrysler for Sydney back in 1960.  He found out about the ACAG via the initial press release being circulated among the ‘Pioneers’.  Fortunately he has inspected the car at Beaulieu a couple of years ago and confirms that it shouldn’t take too much work to get it into  ‘cacklefest’ mode.  His input as an ACAG member will be invaluable to the project and he is currently preparing a report based on his recent inspection and his in-depth knowledge of the car.  Gerry Belton worked for Sydney as Public Relations Manager and headed up the 1964 and 1965 Drag Festivals.  Part of his job between 1961 and 1964 was to promote Sydney’s activities with the Allard Chrysler dragster.  He too has joined the ACAG. 

Well known drag racing nostalgia stalwarts like Alan Currans, John Long and Nick Pettitt have signed up, as has Andy Rogers and the crew from Eurodragster.com.  Mike Kason plus members of the Wild Bunch have joined our group.  Track marshals and organisers of yesteryear and today like Ian Marshall, John Hunt, Steve Young (Santa Pod commentator for a while) and Dave Davies (also of the Stones Racing Team) have committed support.  Bob Roberts and the team at Andy Robinson Race Cars have pledged their support and expertise along with Tony Beadle.  And long time drag racing fan Mick Dowd has joined.  Mick was previously involved with the Wild Honey Austin Ruby Altered.  Another fan who has been following the sport since 1964 is Alan Gower – he too has signed up.  Antony Billinton of GMAX Research has offered to supply all the fuel we need.  Dale Carline of the SNS Drag Racing has signed up as have both Martin and Mick Gleadow.  And it is particularly pleasing that the Hall of Fame (supported by US Automotive) have pledged funds. Sydney was inducted into the Hall of Fame two years ago. 

Ron Johnson runs the Cacklefest website in the USA.  He has made contact and has assured us that parts are available for the Allard Chrysler and has promised help in locating them.  He should know because he recreated Tommy Ivo’s Barnstormer dragster that visited the UK in 1964. 

I think it is just fantastic that so many people have already offered financial support.  I was keen that we gave an opportunity for enthusiasts from all backgrounds to become involved in this exciting and important project.  When the car has been completely stripped down, parts supplier supporters and chassis experts will be asked to locate and cost the parts required.  Estimates regarding the work needed will be obtained and a budget prepared.  Once feasibility has been agreed by the Trustees of the Museum, and a time frame for the work planned, official ACAG corporate sponsors will be solicited to cover these costs.  In return, the intention is that their names will be displayed on the trailer that will transport the car to different appearances.  Only then will we be sure that the car will reach ‘cacklefest’ condition. 

Assuming we reach that stage, the plan would be for the car to be initially fired-up at a special event held at the National Motor Museum and hosted by Lord Montagu.  ACAG members, sponsors and media would be invited and a selection of today’s drag racing cars would also be asked to attend.  Firing-up the car would then become a regular Beaulieu event and it would be made available for limited appearances at other venues, with the intention that ACAG official sponsors would receive preferential appearance rates.  

The car drivers and crew would be dressed in the usual apparel of the early 1960s – white overalls, shirt and ties. Sydney often drove it wearing his tweed sports jacket.  Along with National Motor Museum staff, Alan, Lloyd and Gavin Allard will take turns in the driving duties to continue the Allard family link. 

I will be the initial contact and act as Chairman of the ACAG for the primary strip-down, inspection, feasibility and corporate sponsorship stages of the project, liaising with Doug Hill at Beaulieu.  But once we get on to rebuilding the car, a committee will be set up including relevant ACAG members along with National Motor Museum staff and Trustees.  So if you want to be part of this exciting project to help the National Motor Museum bring this important piece of UK drag racing’s past alive, contact me on 01395 579733 or e-mail me on brian@petrolhead,vianw.co.uk.  ACAG membership will be limited so if you want your name to be in the hat contact me ASAP.