• One of only some 80 ever made • Exported new to New Zealand • Restored in NZ • Returned to the UK in 2011 • Further works undertaken including a repaint • New road/race Zephyr Six engine and Ford Type 9 five-speed manual gearbox • Hardly used since the engine rebuild Using a crashed Ford V8 coupé onto which he had grafted the body from a Grand Prix Bugatti, racing driver Sydney Allard constructed one of the most unlikely of all pre-war trials specials.

Nevertheless, the Allard Special's lightweight construction and relatively powerful American V8 engine, although not the first such combination, demonstrated the formula's potential and provided the inspiration for future imitators, including Carroll Shelby who acknowledged Allard's influence on the Cobra.

After WW2, Allard progressed from special-builder to motor manufacturer, though the latter activity was really little more than a means of financing the company's competition programme.

Allard's post-war cars combined the same vir...