This is a 1955 Allard MK1 Palm Beach owned by the Allard family.
Introduced in 1952, the pretty, alloy-bodied Palm Beach was Sydney Allard's final sports car design, employing a K3-type tubular chassis and his trademark independently suspended swing axles at the front with a coil-sprung live axle at the rear. Approximately 80 of all types were built up to 1958.
This 1955 Allard Palm Beach (chassis 21Z 5155) is a tube chassis, alloy bodied roadster that had been in storage for many years. The car had an excellent body, windshield frame, bumpers, gauges, and lights according to the Allard registrar Colin Warnes, it was missing the radiator, engine and transmission. This is one of the last three cars exported to the USA.
In 2013 this left-hand drive example was bought by Alan Allard, son of Sydney Allard and went from the US to the UK. Alan never got the time to complete the car and so it was sold to a client of Cato Restorations in the UK in 2015 from the Allard family, Alan Allard, son of the founder Sydney and his son, Lloyd Allard, grandson of Sydney.
Cato restorations and their client decided to merge the best of the Mk1 with an option for 1956 MK2's - the Jaguar engine. They rebuilt the axle and modified the crossmember for the powerful Jaguar engine. Now the car was not only sporty looking but fast.
The current owner, not satisfied with the paint job, had a full respray and overhauled the four-speed gearbox with overdrive. A special new large radiator, twin electric fans and new set of Blockley tyres were also fitted. In addition, he sourced and fitted new bumpers, Marchal period headlights and chrome wire wheels. He also removed the pleather interior and replaced it with real tan leather and had a matching tonneau cover made.
The picture of the car unrestored is Lloyd Allard on LHS ,Alan Allard on RHS
