The blokes from one of our sister titles, Classic & Sports Car, stood next to the Allard J2X Mk2 in our car park, sucked their teeth and tilted their heads. “Well,” they said, “it’s not as bad as it could be, is it?”
So that’s the verdict of people who know the original Allard J2X, the 1950s road car and Le Mans racer. This follow-up, this 21st-century recreation, similar of skin but different underneath, officially ‘could be worse’. Talk about damning with faint praise.
The original Allard was a British-built special with American V8 power. The 2011 variant, made in Canada, is a Mk2, not a remake. It’s a longer, more habitable and more capable ‘continuation’ rather than, like myriad Cobra and GT40-alikes, a replica.
Beneath a GRP body (which looks almost, but curiously not quite, like the original) lies a tubular steel chassis suspended by wishbones at each end, with beefy brakes and a modern steering rack.
Detroit iron is retained, in the not insubstantial form of a 5.7-litre Chevy V8, making a tidy 350bhp, while the brakes, but not the steering, get servo assistance.
The engine’s lovely in a car this light. There’s ample power in any gear, it makes a terrific sound whether you’re on or off the throttle and the gearshift, although long, is accurate. Allard reckons the J2X is good for 60mph in 4.6sec, which I don’t doubt. The pedals are well spaced and weighted too.
