Sydney Allard

Born in London, Allard grew up a member of a family owning a substantial Ford dealership, Adlard Motor, in Clapham. Educated at Ardingly College in Sussex he became a staunch member of the Streatham & District Motor Cycle Club followed by his brothers Leslie and Dennis and their sister Mary. He was appointed a director of Adlard's on leaving school and married Eleanor May in 1936.

Allard began racing in 1929 with a Morgan three-wheeler at Brooklands, winning a race on 31 August of that year at 73.37 m.p.h. By 1933, he was competing in trials, retiring from both the London-Exeter and London to Land’s End trials in his Allard special – a four-wheeled conversion of the Morgan. In 1935, he won his class at the Brighton Speed Trials in a Ford V-8. He followed this with a win at a 50-mile handicap race on the sand at Southport in April 1936 driving his Allard V8.

Allard’s success led to limited production of the Allard Special, powered by Ford V8 and Lincoln V12 engines. In 1937, he attempted to climb Ben Nevis in an Allard car, but the vehicle crashed, leaving Allard with only bruising. On 15 July 1939, Allard took a class win at the Lewes Speed Trials in a time of 22.12 secs.

During the Second World War, Allard operated under the Ministry of Supply, repairing army vehicles – including Ford trucks and Jeeps – at Adlards Motors in Fulham. His family had a narrow escape during a bombing raid in 1941. By 1943, Allard employed 225 people and was renovating over 30 vehicles a week.

After the war, Allard returned to competition, participating in the Filton Speed Trials on 28 October 1945. He restarted his car company, coping with petrol rationing, material shortages and export quotas. In the austerity period after the Second World War Allard struggled to source the raw materials for car construction, where the emphasis was on 'export or die.' In 1947, Allard cars won the team prize in the Monte Carlo Rally, with L. Potter finishing 4th overall, A.A.C. Godsall 8th, and A.G. Imhof 11th, while Allard himself finished 24th. He won the British Hill Climb Championship in 1949 at the wheel of the self-built Steyr-Allard, fitted with a war surplus air-cooled V8 engine. He was third in the Championship in 1947 and 1948, second in 1950, and third again in 1951, when the Steyr-Allard was converted to four-wheel-drive.

In 1950, Allard finished eighth in the Monte Carlo Rally and raced in the Targa Florio in Sicily, where his Allard car crashed and burned. He achieved a third-place finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year, partnered with Tom Cole Jr., despite a gearbox failure that forced them to complete hours with only top gear. As one observer noted, “Allard's determination and fearless driving captured the imagination of the huge crowd. The high-pitched whine of his engine earned him the nickname of 'The hissing madman.'"

Allard achieved international recognition by winning the 1952 Monte Carlo Rally in an Allard P1, with co-driver Guy Warburton and navigator Tom Lush. Starting from Glasgow, he narrowly defeated Stirling Moss, in a Sunbeam-Talbot 90. The P1 was powered by a 4,375 c.c. Ford V8 side-valve motor. Mrs. Eleanor Allard, Sydney's wife, also competed in this event, accompanied by her sisters Edna and Hilda, but retired. Allard competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1951, 1952 and 1953 but did not finish, retiring due to mechanical issues each time.

In the 1960s, Allard continued rallying, winning his class in the 1963 Monte Carlo Rally in a Ford Allardette, alongside Australian navigator Tom Fisk. He retired from the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally after hitting a level-crossing in Czechoslovakia. His final Monte Carlo Rally appearance came in 1965.

Allard constructed the Allard dragster in 1961, a supercharged Chrysler-powered vehicle. The car recorded a quarter-mile time of 10.48 seconds in 1962. He founded the British Drag Racing Association in 1964, serving as its President, and launched the International Drag Festivals held in England in 1964 and 1965.

Sydney Allard died at his home in Esher, Surrey, on 12 April 1966, after a period of illness. He was posthumously inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1991 and the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2007. A section of the Prescott Hill Climb course is known as Allard’s Gap, and there is an Allard bend on the Craigantlet hill climb course near Belfast, as well as a corner named Allard at Thruxton Circuit.