Istorie
This particular Allard M1 was supplied new by Hughes of Exeter, then one of the country's largest Ford dealerships, to a man of stature in Devon, Arthur Ferguson-Davie. In November 1954, the car passed to inventor John George Pax Weatherlake. In 2006, it was bought, as a barn find, by its third owner, internationally renowned furniture designer Mark Wilkinson. The car then undergone complete restoration and an H&H “Flat-head”, 5.0L Ford engine was fitted and a Ford C4 three-speed automatic gearbox.
Full description
Allard Motor Company Limited was an English car manufacturer founded in 1945 by Sydney Allard, which commenced from small premises in South-West London. Allards featured large American V8 engines in a light British chassis and body, giving a high power-to-weight ratio and foreshadowing the Sunbeam Tiger and AC Cobra of the early 1960s. Cobra designer, Carroll Shelby, and the father of the Corvette Zora, Arkus Duntov, both drove Allards in the early 1950s.
Using its inventory of easy-to-service Ford mechanicals built up during World War II and bodywork of Allard's own design, three post-war models were introduced: the J, a competition sports car; the K, a slightly larger car intended for road use, and the four seater L. Sales were fairly brisk for a low-volume car, and demand was high for cars, in general, which led to the introduction of several larger models, the M Drophead Coupe, considered the first civilised sports car made by Allard, and P. The Allard M Drophead Coupe was also known as the Allard M1.
The M1 Drophead Coupe was quite successful for those times, with Allard producing 500 during a four-year run. In fact, the M1 was Allard’s cornerstone model, accounting for roughly 25 percent of total production of 1,901 cars during its years of operation.
This particular Allard M1 Drophead Coupe was supplied new by Hughes of Exeter, then one of the country's largest Ford dealerships, to a man of stature in Devon, Arthur Ferguson-Davie, a baronet a clergyman, an Army chaplain and an enthusiastic motorist. In November 1954, the car passed to inventor John George Pax Weatherlake. In 2006, it was bought, as a barn find, by its third owner, internationally renowned furniture designer Mark Wilkinson. The car then undergone complete restoration and an H&H “Flat-head”, 5.0L Ford engine was fitted and a Ford C4 three-speed automatic gearbox.
A similar model appeared in “Trent's Last Case”, a British detective movie from 1952, starring Michael Wilding, Margaret Lockwood, Orson Welles and John McCallum.
This car has covered 1,068 miles (approx. 1,719 km)..
