Topic: Ennui #156 - Fred Lavell's DeSoto / Allard J2 Special

[Otto Puzzell]

For 1 point, tell us what this vehicle is, and the builder.

Only a complete answer will earn a point!  

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[Allemano]

Great!

[Otto Puzzell]

Thank you.

Up!

[bentleybob]

1951 Allard J2 with DeSoto replacing Cadillac engine, rebodied fiberglass job made by Sorrell, Fred Lavell owner

[Otto Puzzell]

That's the car! Here's the story:

"Sometime early in 1951, Delvan Lee went into a buddy’s dealership in Detroit, MI and took delivery of a bright blue and Cad powered J2 Allard. For the next three years, Delvan drove the shit out of the little sports car – winning hill climb events, placing in road races, and thrashing away on the streets. In 1954 he sold the car to Fred Lavell, but didn’t pass the keys over until after running Watkins Glen.

So, it wasn’t until the summer of ’54 that Fred was actually able to take the wheel of his well used Allard. His first line of business was the Bonneville Nationals. He wasn’t impressed with the 127 mph speed the car posted that year and decided some changes were in order. Big changes.

The Cadillac motor was tossed to the side and a big Desoto bolted in as a replacement. Figuring he now had the power, Fred then turned to aero. The famous Allard body was ditched in favor of a slippery fiberglass job made by Sorrell. Fred ran that car at Bonneville (Class D Sports Car) in 1955 and 1956, but never saw speeds north of 151 mph."
 
The car has since been restored to its original J2 configuration.

[Carnut]

Who built this car, when, using what engine and what bodywork - for 1 point?:

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[Carnut]

Experts?

[ValkyrieGT]

Fred Lavell's J2 Allard. Originally built in 1951(Delvan Lee was 1st owner of the car)....Fred aquired the car in 1954 & had it re-bodied by Bob Sorrell & replaced the engine with a DeSoto Adventurer engine.

[Carnut]

Yes indeed.
The car has once again been returned to its original Allard specification, pictured below.
I know these days originality is everything and I'll probably be shot for heresy for saying it, but I much prefer it with Fred Lavell's Sorrell body..

[nicanary]

Sadly, it's worth more in standard form............

[Allan L]

Originality is everything, but that's not the sort of originality you can build back into a car that has been heavily altered.

[Allemano]

What a nice looking race car it once was! Another "crime" in my book. Like the Hoare Ferrari for example

[Otto Puzzell]

Merged

[D-type]

"Once destroyed, originality can never be replaced".  The car may now be to "original specification" or somewhere close, but that does not mean the same as "original".
In this case, the car is, shall we say, interesting in the form that Fred Lavell modified it.  But it was not that successful or significant.  So we have not lost anything significant by returning it to original specification.  As J2 Allards are relatively common, we haven't really gained anything either.

The Hoare Ferrari is a different case.  As a sort of 250 GTO lookalike raced in New Zealand national races it has no significance.  Rebuilt to the form when Hoare imported it into New Zealand it has considerable significance.  Particularly as Hoare had retained the original body and other components when he modified the car.  It is one of the very few ex-team cars that Ferrari sold, indeed it is probably the only one post-1955.  The Testa Rossa engine is part of the car's history as it demonstrates Ferrari's reluctance to sell a state of the art racing engine.  As this chassis was used by Phil Hill to record his first win and the last GP win for a front-engined car there is a good case for fitting a Dino V6 engine to take it back to the peak of it's career.  If you feel the 'history' of the 250GTO lookalike should be preserved, then mount it on a replica chassis and fit a V12 engine rebuilt to Testa Rossa spec.