August, 2013

1951 Allard J2

Next MeetingAugust 5th, 2013 7:00 pm at The Weathervane in Bedford

(603) 472-2749

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MYSTERY CAR

by Peter Bland

The mystery car in last month’s newslet-ter was a 1951 Allard J2 made in SouthLondon. This particular car was one ofthe last J2s to be made because, whenthis picture was taken, the company hadalready started on its replacement, theJ2X. Our mystery car had been inAmerica only a short time and it surelywasn’t this colorful when it left England.Within weeks of its arrival in New York ithad acquired a new paint job, white-walltires, white painted wheels and a loud andpowerful American engine.

The first J2 came out in late 1949 andquickly earned its reputation as a success-ful but fierce race car. This influencedsome young men of means to buy one,then put down more money to have it civi-lized just enough to be driven safelyaround town (or to the beach or the localgolf club). They called them “Dude cars”and this was one of them.

The engine was a 331Cadillac overheadvalve V8 that also first appeared in 1949.It soon became a popular motor to install

in Allards and other European sports carsas it was a big improvement over the oldFord flat-head and could fit into the samespace, even though it weighed about 150pounds more. The Caddy engine installa-tion in our subject car was done by a spe-cialist hot rod shop run by the Fina broth-ers on West 54th street in Manhattan, andfor this photo the car was posed at theend of the street close to the FDR Driveon New York’s East side. The cars in thebackground are on the southbound sideof the Drive (and what is that light blueone on the right of the picture?)

Almost all the Cadillac engines comingout of the Fina shops were more or lessmodified, getting hotter camshafts andhigh compression pistons. The brotherswere known to turn out lively engines andGM engineers were impressed to learnone of their new silent luxury engines wasbeing used in a sports/racing car barely

half the weight of its original vehicle. Theyeven sent a team of four engineers towork with Cad-Allard owners on enginetuning.

Sadly for British customers, Cadillac en-gines could not officially be imported, soJ2 owners in England had to be satisfiedwith the Ford Mercury flat-head engines,or possibly an Ardun overhead valve con-version built on the same cylinder block.The Ardun engine was originally the brain-child of Zora Duntov, later of Corvettefame, but in its early years it was plaguedwith problems and was hardly an improve-ment over a mildly hopped up flat-head.Faced with the performance of the newCadillac engine Zora became discouraged(and poor) so he sold the design and wentonto other things. Some people now con-sider his Corvette to be the logical suc-cessor to the Allard J2X which Zora droveduring his time with Allards in 1952. Muchlater the Hot Rod community saw theArdun’s potential and developed it into apowerful and strong engine.

Going back six years, the Allard MotorCompany had been officially founded in1945 just as the war was ending, butSydney Allard was making cars long be-fore that. He started racing in 1930 witha Morgan 3-wheeler. Deciding it would

“Dude” J2

Zora Duntov in AllardWorks 1952

Allard shop in Fulham overhauling Brit armyvehicles 1940 to 1944

continued page 12

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AC – ALLARD – ALPINE – TVR – DAIMLER – MORRIS MOTORCYCLES – TRIUMPH – MG - JAGUAR – AUSTIN HEALEY

LAND ROVER – RELIANT SCIMITAR – LOTUS

BRITISH CARS OF NEW HAMPSHIREMEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

Visit us at www.bcnh.org

If possible, please submit a photo and article of your car to be included inThe Boot, Hood & Bonnet - BCNH’s monthly newsletter.

Any photos submitted will be returned.

Name_______________________________ Spouse______________________

Address__________________________________________________________

City____________________ State____ Zip________ Phone_______________

E-mail address____________________________________________________

Year, Make, Model of Your Auto(s)___________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

Name of Referring Member_________________________________________

British Cars of New Hampshire (BCNH) is an organization devoted tothe preservation, restoration and enjoyment of all British automobiles.

BCNH provides to its members and their families British auto-orientedactivities and social events throughout the year. Benefits of the club par-ticipation include monthly meetings, rallies, tech sessions, club socials,car shows and other events.

The club publishes a monthly newsletter, The Boot, Hood & Bonnet.News of upcoming events, club activities, car show results, technical tipsand articles submitted by members are included in the newsletter. Mem-bers also receive a discount on a subscription to the British Marque, amonthly car club newspaper.

A club logo window decal is provided. Additional decals may be pur-chased.

Meetings are held on the first Monday of each month at the Weathervanerestaurant unless otherwise announced. All members are encouraged toattend and bring guests.

BCNH invites you to become a member of our active and growing clubby submitting the application above.

___ Paper Newsletter or ___ electronic copy of the Newsletter

Please send application and $30 annual dues (payable to BCNH) to:Lou Belanger, 11 Forest Lane, Litchfield, NH 03052

BCNHMONARCHY

PRIME MINISTERRobert Mitchell

PRIME MINISTER EMERITUSWade dos Santos

CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER

John Giese

NEWSLETTERJohn & Joan Giese

Owen & Virginia Christiansen

REGALIAJoan Young

SECRETARYNorma Karle

WEBMASTERKate Stanley Robinson

MEMBERSHIP COORDINATORLouis Belanger

TECH SESSION COORDINATORWade dos Santos

ADVERTISING COORDINATOR(open)

PUBLIC RELA TIONS(open)

INTER-CLUB COORDINA TORBob Dougherty

CALENDAR COORDINA TORSue MacDuff

SHOW OF DREAMS DIRECTORBob Stanley

HISTORIANMike Sweet

www.bcnh.org

Contact information on page 4

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Prime Minister’sMissive

Contact informationLouis Belanger 11 Forest Lane, Litchfield, NH 03052 (603) 424-7835 80mgbman@comcast.netGinger Christiansen7 Sycamore Lane, Nashua, NH 03063 (603) 883-0288 gingchrist@aol.comWade dos Santos PO Box 840, Manchester, NH 03105 (603) 497-3911 wade@grolen.comBob Dougherty 28 Ledgewood Drive, Strafford, NH 03884 (603) 948-2078 Rdocmg@gmail.comJohn Giese 153 Crooked S Road, Lyndeborough, NH 03082 (603) 654-2565 johgie@tds.netNorma Karle 22 Partridge Lane, Londonderry, NH 03053 (603) 437-8931 karle01@comcast.netSue MacDuff 510 Sand Hill Road, Peterborough, NH 03458 (603) 924-1066 Lucymac1@comcast.netRobert Mitchell PO Box 270, Stratham, NH 03885 (603) 772-1116 RBMit-MM@comcast.netBob Stanley 64 North Shore Drive, Center Barnstead, NH 03225(603) 776-6698 tlckit@yahoo.comMike Sweet 50 High Street, Penacook,, NH 03301 (603) 753-9164 CoventryCat71@comcast.netJoan Young 204 Concord Hill Road, Pittsfield, NH 02363 (603) 435-8660 TWYJGY@aol.com

It has been very gratifying to see a steadyincrease in the number of members thatattend both the Regular Monthly Meet-ings and the events that we schedule withthe express purpose of getting togetherto enjoy our cars and the fellowship ofother “car people.” We used to averagebetween 25 and 30 members at MonthlyMeetings but recently it has been between35 and 40.

If you are not one of those 35 to 40, thenlet me invite you to give the MonthlyMeetings a try. Although the Meetingofficially starts at 7:00, most people ar-rive between 6:00 and 6:30 both so theycan get something to eat and so they cansocialize before the meeting starts. Oncethe meeting does start we spend most ofour time talking about what we did theprevious month and what we plan to doin the next month.

Now I know that all of the scheduling isalready very well covered in the News-letter and on the website (thank youVERY MUCH Calendar Girl SueMacDuff) but hearing the stories of whatfun other members have had brings thoseevents to life – and helps members whohave not attended specific events in thepast to decide which ones they may wantto attend in coming months.

On that front, apparently a lot of mem-bers decided to try the Lake SunapeeDinner Cruise because we had morepeople on that cruise than at any other

BCNH events except the Show ofDreams, the Annual Holiday CheersParty, or the Annual Club Birthday Party/Pizza Party. For several members whowere there it was the first BCNH eventthat they had ever attended. We wel-comed them well. From what I could see,all who did attend had a pretty good time!

And that brings up a point that is worthrepeating (again.) “The Club” didn’t planthe Lake Sunapee Cruise – Norma Karleplanned that cruise. She picked theschedule, made the arrangements with theboat, collected the money, in short, shemade it happen. THANK YOUNORMA!

A similar “Thank You” goes out to DorisKarle. What Norma did for the LakeSunapee Cruise, Doris did for the Queen’sBirthday Party. Again, the club may have“officers” – but there is no “staff.”Things happen because members makethem happen. And there is certainly ALOT happening at BCNH.

But members don’t have to do ALL thework. For many events we just tag alongon something that has been organized byanother club or car enthusiast group. TheTriathlon that is put on by publishers ofThe British Marque newspaper is oneof those events. It is held every otheryear (this is one of those years) and“moves around” to keep things interest-ing. This year it will be held on the week-end of the 23rd, 24th and 25th of Augustand will be at the Jiminy Peak ski area inthe northwest corner of Massachusetts.

The Triathlon is quite different from mostCar Club events. In part that’s becausemany different clubs participate as Clubs

and there is very active interaction (andcompetition) among the clubs. It is atriathlon because it includes three sepa-rate parts: A Road Rally; an “Up Hill Sla-lom” and a Car “Show.” I put the “Show”part of the Car Show in quotes because itis not quite like most car shows you arefamiliar with. For one thing, you are notallowed to do any clean-up of your carafter the Road Rally and Slalom, so thecars are not really in “show condition”for the Show. Perhaps more importantly,the “Judging” is anything but “impartial”– in fact it is very partial in a couple of

continued page 10

$3084.18$240.00$548.00

-$1631.58-$90.10

-$102.00$2048.50

Treasurer’s Report

Start BalanceMembershipSunapee CruiseSunapee CruiseNewsletterBusiness CardsEnd Balance

June15 to July 15Club account

$3317.26$2075.00$1445.00

$50.00$35.00

-$64.94-$492.30-$207.00$6158.02

Show of Dreams accountStart BalanceSponsorCar RegistrationVendor RegistrationRegaliaWineTrophies, suppliesAdvertisingEnd Balance

5

Disclaimer:As a matter of policy, British Carsof New Hampshire does notendorse any of the businesses thatadvertise in this newsletter.

MinutesWelcome our

Newest Members

Ben & Michelle Fontaine487 Mammoth Road

Londonderry, NH 03053(603) 966-7775

1958 TR3, 1968 TR250, 1969 TR61666 Austin Healey 3000

BenFontainecars@gmail.com

Joseph & Dianne Paquette58 Pelham RoadSalem, NH 03079(603) 898-2192

1990 Jaguar XJ, 1992 Jaguar XJ6dipaqphoto@comcast.net

Debra Curtis16 Fieldstone DriveAmherst, NH 03031

(603) 673-22261980 Triumph Spitfiredebc36@comcast.net

The BCNH July meeting was called toorder at 7PM by Prime Minister Bob.

First order of business was to accept thesecretary’s report and the treasurer’s re-port.

We had 46 members in attendance includ-ing eight newish members:

Bill Greenan and Pam Boyer are fromStrafford and have a 1978 MGB.

Dianne and Joe Paquette from Salemhave a 90 Jag XJ and a 92 Jag XJ6

Deb Curtis was in attendance for thesecond month in a row (she actuallycame back and signed up for theshow!) she is from Amherst and hasa 1980 Spitfire

Amy and Kevin have a 71 MGB -sorry I missed the last name... (andwhere they were from)

John Gryval from Hooksett was an-other new member - he has a 65 MGMidget and a 78 MG Rally Sport.

Rob & Joan Ryan from Stratham madethe voyage over to Bedford. Theymust have followed the breadcrumbsMitchell left so he could find his wayhome. Anyway, they have a 71 JagXJ6 and a 73 Jag XJ12.

I think there was another new mem-ber Kevin and Ann but I can’t readmy handwriting - they do have a 71MGB a 69 GT and a 74GT parts car.

Bob reminded everyone about the refer-ence on our website for those looking forresources for parts, service, etc. No offi-cial endorsements but everyone on the listhas been used by club members who werehappy with their services.

Onto the past events:

We had several cars show up at a BritWits event.

The Heart Association had a fund raiserand several members were asked to dis-

play their cars. Pearl Colby had her 1959Vauxhall, Pinch and Suzi Polencharbrought their Triumph Renown, JohnBowe brought his Triumph Mayflowerand Bob Mitchell brought his Jaguar MarkIX.

If you have an interest in purchasing aHalon fire extinguisher for your car theyare $127 - $145. Contact Bob Mitchell.He is ordering for Historic Motor Sportsand will gladly add you to the mix.

Last month Dave Leblanc attended theAustin Healey Club Conclave. You mayremember that Dave took a best in showat Stowe with his 100/6 several years ago.He entered his car into the concours -there were 7 cars entered. After the firstround there were 5. Dave won a bronze- he got 888 points out of 1000. Therewere 18 pages of scoring. Well doneDave!

Also last month there were two nights ofcruise in’s at the British Beer Companyin Manchester - not a great turnout dueto the bad weather.

Another group went to the open house atthe Collings Foundation.

On a party note - the Queen’s birthdaywas a smashing success. Yes, someonesmashed into the Lucas factory duringthe blind driver competition. SeveralCorgi’s were also nipped. At least no oneran over the Queen. Peter Bland pre-sented the RAC medal to the queen andpromptly took it back to place it into thevault so that is was safe.

We also had a Show of Dreams meetingand a drive and dinner cruise on the MVMount Sunapee. We had a full boat - 42people.

Please check the calendar of events forthe list of July events - there are many!

We are still looking for fellow membersto join us on the British Marque Triathlon.It’ s at Jiminy Peak and is a lot of fun.

Christopher Lapan67 ½ Valley Street

Springfield, VT 05156(802) 571-4313

1973 MGBChrislapan@hotnail.com

Shirley Splaine & Russ Poirier775 Winoa Road

Center Harbor, NH 03226(603) 968-7289

1933 MG J2garden775@metrocast.net

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Featured Marque - Austin HealeyREGISTRATION FORM

THE 17th ANNUAL BRITISH CARS OF NEW HAMPSHIRESHOW OF DREAMS 2013 ALL BRITISH CAR SHOW to benefit THE HIGH HOPES FOUNDATION

Sat 10 AM - 3PM Sat July 27th at The Nick, Wolfeboro, NH 03894 All car show proceeds donated to The High Hopes Foundation of NH

PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY

Name: ___________________________________________________________________________

Mailing Address: ___________________________________________________________________

City: ________________________________________________ State: ________ ZIP Code: _____

Home Phone: _________________________ E-Mail Address: _____________________________

1st Vehicle: Year: _______ Make: _______________ Model: ___________________ _____

2nd Vehicle: Year: _______ Make: _______________ Model: ____________________________

Class trophies, Best of Show, Best of Featured Marque, Best Club Participation

Please note: Car classes may change – we may add additional classes1) Austin Healey

2) MGTC, TD, & TF

3) MGA

4) MGB (Early Chrome Bumpers 63-69)

5) MGB (Late Chrome Bumpers 70-74)

6) MGB (74 ½ - 80)

7) MG Other

8) TR2, TR3, TR4 & TR250

9) TR6 (69-73)

10) TR6 (74-76)

11) TR7 & TR8

12) Triumph Other

13) Jag E-Types

14) Jaguar Other

15) British: Pre -1968

16) British Leyland: 1968 to Present

17) Unrestored

18) Masters – all cars that won their class at

our show in either 2011 or 2012

ENTRY FEE: Before 7//12/2013 $25, After 7/12/2013 $35

Additional cars by same owner $10

RELEASE STATEMENT: I agree to enter the above car in the 2013 BCNH All British Car Show on Sat July 27th, 2012. I amaware of the hazards inherent with motor vehicle events. I agree to release and hold harmless, BCNH, its officers, andmembers, and the Wolfeboro Area Recreation Association, owners of “the Nick”, for any liabilities for injuries, damages, or lossarising from my participation in this show or travel to or from same. While not a requirement, we recommend that all cars havea fire extinguisher. All cars must be driven onto the field.

SIGNATURE: __________________________________________ Club Affiliation _____________________________________

Make checks payable to BCNH& send to:BCNH c/o Norma Karle22 Partridge Lane, Londonderry, NH 03053603-490-6115 or karle01@comcast.netDASH PLAQUES AND GOODY BAGS WILL BEGIVEN TO THE FIRST 100 REGISTRANTS

1st car before July 12th - $25, after July 12th - $35= $ ________

Additional Cars @ $10 each = $ ________

Total: $ ________

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By Sue MacDuff

On June 16th, Bill and I went to the Wingsand Wheels Open House at the CollingsFoundation in Stow MA. The Foundationputs on several Air Shows around thecountry and has an Open House a fewtimes a year at their facility in Stow.Housed in a big round barn are some oftheir aircraft, micro cars from the GouldCollection and some amazing race cars.The race cars range from the 1920 SprintCars to the Indianapolis 500 Race Cars.Some of these race cars are very famoushaving been driven by Mario Andretti,Rich Vogler and Michael Andretti. The1979 Porsche Indy in the exhibit is thefactory car that smashed all track recordsbefore being banned! There is also a carcollection from the early 1900’s to the1940 Cadillac Limousine V-16, un-re-stored, owned by Al Capone. The carswere gorgeous and beautifully displayedwith period costumes and accessories.For about an hour, many of the cars weredriven on the grass runway to a display

The Collings Foundation

area where a history of each car wasgiven. For a fee, airplane rides in an opencockpit biplane or WWII trainer were

offered. Enjoying the festivities were fel-low club members Bob Mitchell as wellas Jayme and Elliot More.

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The Queen’s Birthday Party~~ YOUR MAJESTY ~~ CONGRATULATIONS

Dedicated followers of the British Cars of New Hampshire met at the rural estate ofMr. and Mrs. Paul Karle to celebrate the 87th year of her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth’sbirth. While enjoying many tasty dishes we were graced by Her Majesty’s appear-ance. We had no idea she would be able to attend the fete held in her honor. Fortu-nately our own Peter Bland was confident of her visit (having notified her in advanceof a presentation of the BCNH medallion.) Upon delivering a very fine speech relat-ing the history of the chipped ruby in the royal crown and the significance of the RACmedal, Mr. Bland reverently placed the medallion around her neck. A round of ap-plause followed by many pictures, the Queen showed her pleasure in receiving thisfine gift.

For entertainment a local version of the Blind Driver’s Obstacle Course was held.Many brave drivers donned blindfolds and with the assistance of a navigator maneu-vered - in reverse around phone booths, Corgis and the smoking Lucas factory. Tothe horror of dog lovers all around, a few Corgis were hit and one was run over. Afterreceiving mouth-to-mouth the stout little fellow revived and trotted off. The othercanines followed suit to lick their wounds. The crowd cheered and the Queen for-gave the drivers. - Ginger Christiansen (photos by Sue MacDuff)

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Dinner Cruise on Lake SunapeeBefore the Sunapee Dinner Cruise, I had planned a drive to the windmills in Lempsterand despite the threat of thunderstorms was delighted to have a turnout of ten cars,all but two bravely driving their British Cars. As it turned out, it was not that hot andno rain! This to me is a very delightful drive through the small, picturesque villages ofHillsborough Center and Washington. The roads in some spots were a bit rough but Ifeel worth it for the twisty roads and variety of the scenery. We got off to a late startdue to a problem with a shift knob and Peter and Kim’s MG refusing to start. Theshift knob was fixed with a bit of man handling and MG started with a push. At first,the windmills peek out from time to time and a bit after turning onto Route 10 comeinto better view. It’s always thrilling for me to see them. Bob Mitchell has labeledthem “Majestic” and I couldn’t agree more! From there, it was on to Lake SunapeeHarbor. After the Dinner Cruise I was feeling a bit guilty for not taking any picturesso we rushed off the boat to drive back past the windmills to see if we could get somepictures before it got too dark. By the time we arrived, it was indeed too dark. Acouple stopped to say that they owned the land and would we like to get up close andpersonal to a windmill? Well, YES!! So, we followed them about a mile up along avery well maintained gravel road through an electronic gate to one of the giants. Itwas awesome! Turns out they just sold an MGB LE so I feel if we were in our Prius,chances are they would not have stopped. Good things were said about the drive andI would like to do this again perhaps expanding Northward after Lempster. - SueMacDuff (photos by Lin dos Santos & Sue MacDuff)

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Show of DreamsMeeting Notes

JUNE 22, 2013

by Diana Stanley

The Show of Dreams meeting was heldat the home of Doris & Paul Karle be-fore the Queen’s Birthday Celebration.

A representative from High Hopes,Shaunee Nolet, attended the meeting tofind out how the High Hopes volunteerscould better assist us at the show. Werequested assistance with the raffle ticketsales, information announcements throughthe day and a volunteer stationed at theWishing Well to greet the spectators andencourage donations.

Norma reported: 24 registrations so far,ballots are printed and the program is be-ing prepared.

The Malbec Wine created by Pinch andSuzi Polenchar has been bottled & labeledready to be presented to the 1st Placewinners. Bob Mitchell has ordered the1st Place brass plaques for the bottleyokes.

The committee discussed the number of“Cooling Stations” on the field to insurethe comfort of the show participants. Itwas decided that six stations would beneeded this year. Peter Arnold has au-thorized a donation from Shaw’s Super-market in Concord of 12 cases of bottledwater for the cooling station areas. Thankyou , Peter.

The committee has decided to include anInformation Tent to answer questions usu-ally directed to the Registration tent. Thenew memberships will be included in thesame area.

So far, we have seven vendors signed upfor the show.

Five Star Barbeque & Catering has break-fast foods available for the morning of theshow. The committee decided to includebreakfast as part of the menu for theshow. The breakfast menu will include:Egg, bacon & cheese sandwich, Egg, sau-sage & cheese sandwich, coffee, tea &muffins.

Since the last regular club meeting be-fore the show is on July 1st, the goodiebags will be prepared on Saturday, July20th at the home of Norma Karle & RodFolia.

Prime Minister’s Missivecontinued

ways. 1) The Judges can be (and rou-tinely are) bribed – with all proceedsgoing to charity and 2) the way the “vot-ing” works, each club typically picks thecar out of their group that has accumu-lated the most points in the Rally and theSlalom, and then they all “vote” forthat car in the “show.”

And this gets me to the important part ofthis message – The car that wins theTriathlon is the car that gets the mostvotes – and the car that gets the mostvotes is the one that has the mostother members of their club there tovote for it.

As of the date that I write this, the Dela-ware Valley MG Club has 12 cars en-

tered. The Cape Cod British Car Clubhas 11 cars entered; and BCNH has 9cars entered. Who do you think is goingto win?!?!?!

Now you understand that all this doesn’treally matter at all , but if we want aBCNH car to win the Triathlon, thenwe need at least three more members toenter their cars. But I warn you, it is notcheap. This is a three day/two night event(Friday, Saturday Sunday) the cost is$675.00 per couple (includes room andmeals).

It’ s not cheap, but it is FUN. Most ofthose already signed up for this year havebeen there before – and are going backbecause it’s such a good time. I encour-age you to consider it. You can find theRegistration Form at: http://www.britishmarque.com/britishmarque/i m a g e s / t r i a t h l o n /

triathlon%20X%20registration%20form.pdf

I also encourage you to check out theEvents Calendar on the www.BCNH.orgwebsite to see all of the other “opportuni-ties” that there are to get together withfellow BCNHers – and members of othercar clubs – to enjoy your car(s) and theirfellowship.

As we have said so many times before,the reason this club has so many inter-esting things to do is because its mem-bers do so many interesting things.Please help us to keep that interest levelhigh.

The members who have the most fun arethe ones who are there to get in on it.

So Saith Prime Minister Bob

Each year The Weirs Times sponsors aone page ad in their publication for theShow of Dreams with a 2nd ad sponsoredby various companies in the Wolfeboroarea. This year The Weirs Times is spon-soring in the same manner, however, theShow of Dreams committee memberswill sponsor the 2nd week’s ad.

Saturday Breakfast DriveParker’s Maple Barn

11

BCNH 2013 Calendar of Events

July27th Show of Dreams, Wolfeboro, NH28th Day of Triumph, Larz Anderson,Brookline MA30th-August 4th Vintage RacingCelebration, NHMS

August4th Clipper Home Car Show, Portsmouth5th Meeting at Weathervane, Bedford10th Breakfast and morning Drive TBD10th Antique and Classic Car Show.Bedford NH10-11th Mt Equinox Hill Climb,Manchester VT11th BCNH Beach Party New CastleCommons, New Castle NH

15th Fly/British Cruise In, MinuteMan Air Field, Stowe MA17th MG Day, Larz Anderson, Brookline18th Cruisin for Crustaceans, ChauncyCreek, Kittery ME24th British Car Day, Rustico, PEI23-25th British Marque Triathlon X, JiminyPeak, Hancock, MA30th - Sept 2nd Races Historic Festival 31,Lyme Rock Park, CT

September1st Sunday in the Park Concours,between the days of Races of HistoricFestival 31, Limerock Park, CT7th Concord Kiwanis Antique andClassic Car Show, Concord NH7th Concord NH Kiwanis Antiqueand Classic Car Show at NHTI8th British Motor Car Gathering andPicnic, Manchester CT9th Meeting at Weathervane, Bedford14th Breakfast and morning Drive TBD

14th Lobster Run with New EnglandTriumph Club14th JANE Slalom, North Andover MA20-22nd British Invasion, Stowe, VT29th BCNH Fall Foliage Tour TBD

October4-6th Speckled Hen Run5th & 6th Foreign Auto Festival, Owl’sHead Museum, Owl’s Head ME7th Meeting at Weathervane, Bedford11-13th British Legends Weekend hostedby The Cape Cod British Car Club12th Breakfast and morning Drive TBD12-13th BCNH Drive to Taylor CarCollection, Gloversville NY20th BCNH Drive to TBD

November4th Meeting at Weathervane, Bedford9th Breakfast and morning Drive TBD

December15th Holiday Party

August EventsFirst up are the official BCNH Events forthe month of August. These events arelots of fun because of the participation ofour members. If you have an idea forsomething in your area, please contactBob Mitchell. Breakfast Drives are easy,just pick a breakfast spot and a short drivewith maybe a destination to be concludedaround Noon. These are typically on thefirst Saturday but BCNH is a flexiblegroup. Dinner Drives would consist of a1-2 hour drive and destination for an earlydinner. The drives sometimes are longerwith stops at points of interest. Know agood winery, scenic spot, or historical lo-cation? Putting a drive together is fun andBCNH members will come and appreci-ate your effort!

August 4th is our Monthly Meeting atthe Weathervane on Route 101 in BedfordNH. The meeting starts at 7 but if youare ordering food, please arrive by 6:30.

August 10th Breakfast Drive will be acovered bridge drive.

August 11th Judy Pevine has organizeda Beach Party at New Castle Commonshttp://www.newcastlenh.org/pages/NewCastleNH_Common/great to start at10:30. There is no organized drive withthis event. Bring sunscreen, chairs, blan-

kets, food, games and bathing suits if youplan to go to the beach area. There aregrilles for public use, bring your own char-coal. This is a state facility so we cannotreserve space on the common or parkingspaces. There are no food vendors thereso pack your own food.

August 13th and 27th are the nights forthe Cruise In to the British Beer Com-pany http://www.britishbeer.com/manchester/ beginning at 6:00 but feelfree to come and go as you wish.

August 18th BCNH has been invited bythe NH MG T Register to join them forCrusin for Crustaceans, Chauncy Creek,Kittery MEhttp://www.chaunceycreek.com/

August 23-25th British Car TriathlonLennox, MA. I think at this time we haveeight teams going. It’s a fun weekend andthe more teams that go the better chancewe have of winning!h t tp : / /www.br i t i shmarque .com/britishmarque/triathlon.cfm

Other events of interest include:

July 30-August 4th: Vintage RacingCelebration, NHMSh t t p : / / w w w. n h m s . c o m / e v e n t s /vintage_racing_celebration/

August 4th: Clipper Home Car Show,Portsmouth NH. This show is hosted byBrit Bits who support our Show of Dreamsso we should show them our support.h t t p : / / w w w. b r i t b i t s . c o m / h t m l /calendar.html

August 10th: Car Show and Poker Rally,Bedford NHhttp://www.bedfordhistoricalnh.org/index_files/Page865.htm I’ve not expe-rienced a “Poker Rally” so thought wewould check it out this year.

August 15th: Fly/British Car Cruise Inat the Minute Man Air Field, Stowe MAhttp://www.eaa196.com/drivein_flyin.pdf

August 17th: MG Day, Larz Anderson,Brookline MAhttp://larzanderson.org/events/lawn-events/2013-lawn-events/mg/

August 24th: British Car Show PEI andtour of SW New Brunswick for more in-formation contact Norm Micheals at BritBits

August 30-September 2nd: Races ofHistoric Festival 31, Lyme Rock Park, CTh t t p : / / t i c k e t s . l i m e r o c k . c o m /eventperformances.asp?evt=30

Any questions feel free to contact me.Sue MacDuff lucymac1@comcast.net

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be faster with four wheels he added atwo wheel rear axle which made an im-provement, but not enough. At the sametime he was trying to persuade his dad, asuccessful building contractor, that hewanted to work with cars. At first Mr.Allard was not pleased but Sydney heldout until his dad realized it was a lost cause,and in 1930 let him take over a small de-funct garage on property he had just ac-quired. By coincidence he also owned asmall roofing company named Adlardsand suggested they should use the namefor Sydney’s new venture. It seemed agood idea at the time but later it caused alot of confusion.

Sydney worked hard building up his busi-

ness and within two years acquired a Forddealership from Ford of England, onlyfourteen miles away. Apart from Fordsales and repairs he was also (secretly,and after hours) making hill-climb andsprint specials using mostly Ford runninggear cloaked with Bugatti bodies, or what-ever other lightweight parts he could find.Dad was not supposed to know about itbut he probably read the motoring maga-

zines, and said nothing.

Then came the war and everythingchanged. After France was invaded Brit-ain found itself in a tight spot, and theGovernment invoked the War Emergen-cies Act. Most able bodied men between18 and 35 were drafted into the armedforces, leaving only the too young, too oldand a few with vital occupations to carryon. Having lost some of their best guysthe Adlard Company, like all similar fa-cilities, were told they would be overhaul-ing worn out or damaged military roadvehicles from now on.

Soon they arrived. Trucks, staff cars, armyvehicles of all types and makes werehauled in, some badly damaged, some justrolled over, some needing everything. Itquickly became a nightmare of parts stor-age, lack of working space, mixed screwthreads, Whitworth, Metric (English Fordhad always used American threads), andthe streets outside were blocked with newarrivals. Sydney Allard went to the WarOffice and explained that his companywould be much more productive if theycould concentrate only on Ford products.They had the manuals, the parts lists, knewthe part numbers and had the right spe-cial tools. The Government, apparentlyhappy to find someone with a plan, agreedimmediately and offered him a lease on amuch larger shop two miles away inFulham. He took the offer and after aweek of backbreaking work most of theequipment was in its new place and workwas proceeding much faster than before.

Later, as the war was winding downSydney was offered a long term lease onthese premises. Even though intending togo into car manufacturing himself, hethought it would be just two or three cars

a month like the pre-war output and sohe declined the offer. After two years,when he was struggling to build cars outof four small shops scattered around Lon-don he admitted it was the worst decisionhe ever made. The extra cost of trans-portation and time was adding about tenpercent to the cost of an Allard.

Moving forward, in August 1949 a youngEnglishman named Tom Cole attended arace meeting at the Silverstone circuitwhere he saw the first prototype J2 inaction. In a way this was unusual becausealthough Tom himself was a Brit, he nor-mally resided in New York. His father rana British shipping company and had sentTom to manage the East Coast office, aposition that allowed him plenty of sparetime to indulge in his favorite activity,sports car racing.

Tom Cole was impressed by the perfor-mance of the J2 and ordered one for him-self. It was delivered late in 1949 and ar-rived in New York less engine becauseTom intended to have one of the newCadillac engines installed. As far as isknown, this was the first Cad-Allard andTom soon had it ready for the 1950 rac-ing season.

He won his first race at Bridgehamptonin June and the word was out. By the timeof the U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glenin September there were six Cad-Allardsrunning and Tom Cole had to be satisfiedwith second place to Erwin Goldschmitt,an up-and-coming aggressive youngdriver from Long Island. There followedthree years of Allard racing successes until

Adlards Letter Head

Allard P1, 1952 MonteCarlo Rally Winner

Zora Duntov Driving J2Xat Le Mans

J2 Alard racing 1950

Mystery Carcontinued

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the other companies caught up, some ofthem also using Cadillac engines.

The Allard dominance in racing eventu-ally declined and so did their sales in Brit-ain. They had always made big cars, usu-ally with V8 engines and with the priceof petrol increasing they became expen-sive to buy and run. Sydney Allardstopped car production after 1956 andconcentrated on preparing Rally cars forthe English Ford Company.

AFTERWORDS. Sydney Allard believedhis sports cars should be used in compe-tition. To prove it he won the 1949 BritishHill Climb Championship in one of hisSpecials, and next year came third in the24 Hour Le Mans race co-driving withTom Cole. Then, in 1952 he and a co-driver won the Monte Carlo Rally out-right driving one of his closed Coupe cars.It was the first and only time the Rallyhad been won by a driver in a car de-signed and built by his own Company.

The J2X model was essentially the sameas the J2 but with re-designed front sus-pension to make it handle better. It neverwon an important race; all Allard’s rac-ing successes came with the earlier J2.Tom Cole left the Allard team andswitched to Ferrari in 1952 because theircars were faster down the Mulsannestraight at Le Mans. In 1953 he crashedfatally half way through the race.

My first Allard ride was in 1953 and Iowned my first one in 1957. I’ve had anAllard (not always the same one) eversince.

The British government had an embargoon imported American engines becausethey were trying to repay the war debt to

America and wanted sales bringing indollars. Eventually they softened theirpolicy and allowed Allard to get two en-gines, one Cadillac and one ChryslerHemi. According to the American buy-ers’ engine choice these were installed intheir cars for the mounts, wiring and fuellines to be installed correctly. The carswere run briefly and then the engine re-moved before delivery.

The bridge in the background is theQueensboro bridge, built between 1901and 1910. NY City wanted a mid-towntraffic link to Queens and the Harlem rail-road a connection to Long Island so it wasdesigned to carry heavy loads. The Cityalso requested the top chord be built in agentle curve to blend in with two suspen-sion bridges further down river. The up-per deck was to have four Rapid Transittracks and two walkways, the lower decka roadway and four trolley tracks. When

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it was 80% finished a similar bridge inCanada collapsed so the New York engi-neers reviewed their calculations. Theyfound the structure so overweight that ifcompleted it would barely be able to carryits own weight. Two of the upper decktracks were canceled and much of thestructure above the decks removed, somebeing replaced using lighter beams. Themain culprit was the steel supplier whohad been delivering beams much thickerthan specified (he was being paid by theton).The Harlem R.R. lost patience andmade a tunnel one block further north. Itcost them $4 million. The bridge stillstands, happily carrying heavy traffic ev-ery day.

Initial estimated cost about $5.5 million.Final total cost about $17 million.

Best secondary function: Backdrop forAllard photos.

Sidney Allard in early car

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Set of 4 MGB 60 spoke 14" wire wheels.They have been sand blasted, primed andpainted MGA/MGB silver. Ready tomount and use. Good hub splines, verynice overall condition. Asking $150 for theset. Call Clarke at Historic Motor Sports603-587-0577

1963 Morris Mini Cooper. Fullyrestored RH drive. #1 condition car.Asking $24,500. Ask for Clarke

1969 Lotus Elan. Very few miles ona professional ground-up restoration.Asking $39,500. Ask for Clarke

1973 Triumph Stag roadster withhardtop. One of the finest examplesyou will ever see. A true #1 survivorcar. Asking $21,500. Ask for Clarke

1963 MGB Roadster. Very nice #2+car. Asking $17,900. Ask for Clarke

Chrome Badge Bar for ChromeBumper MGB $100Sue MacDuff, (603) 924-1066Lucymac1@comcast.net

To order your BCNH name badgecontact John Giese at:

(603) 654-2565 or

johgie@tds.net

It pays to have friends.

British Cars of New Hampshire22 Partridge Lane

Londonderry, NH 03053