Build: May 1938
Registered in July 1938, EYO750 was described in a Motor Sport article1 the month earlier as “a very smart car, equipped for fast road work”. A reference to “The very smart production model V8 two seater Allard-Special… in the Paddock” at the first Prescott meeting on 15 May 1938 may well be about EYO750 being shown off soon after its completion.
It seems that it was built as a factory demonstrator and was used by Sydney, colleagues and friends up till the war in the hope of eliciting orders for similar cars. It was the two-seater model in the Allard catalogue, EXH455 being the four-seater model. Relatively little is known about the car, though Reggie Tongue, who used it on the 1938 Intervarsity Trial, later described it as admirable in every way, both for trials and as a road car. The car was modified post war and renamed and reregistered as a Mercotto.
THE MERCOTTO
In the Glen Devon trial in November 1948 Ken Thorne was competing in EYO750. In the Highland 3 day trial at Easter 1948 he was competing in his Mercotto. A letter to a later owner from Robert Matthieson, former apprentice at Scottish Sports Cars , Glasgow, explained that Ken Thorne owned Scottish Sports Cars and had them convert his Allard (EYO750) into a hillclimb special, the conversion being so radical that it was registered as a new car, a Mercotto, registration GGE523. He says the name was simply a derivation from the Mercury engine. The chassis number (SC1) presumably being “Scottish Cars 1”. An article in 1983 which included photographs of the Mercotto summarised the conversion as: the chassis being shortened by 11”; the body forward to the scuttle being lowered by 5”, and the bonnet line lowered so it just cleared the carbs. The transverse space behind the seats that Boddy occupied on his 1938 ride has clearly been removed to create a simple 2 seater.
I have not come across any references to the Mercotto being used in events after 1949. In 1984 Josh Saddler found it handled quite poorly on the Cotswold Clouds trial. So perhaps the conversion to a Mercotto was not wholly successful.
HISTORY
Built as a demonstrator 2 seater by Adlards, EYO750 was used occasionally in events pre-war. It was most likely the “new production car (which Sydney Allard) plunged through the hedge at the Semicircle” at the first open meeting at Prescott in July 1938” – was this the event that created the famous Allard’s Gap? By 1946 it was in Scotland being used in trials by Ken Thorne. Over winter 1948-9 he remodelled the car and reregistered it as a Mercotto. It seems to have been little used in this form, moving to a motor dealer in Bristol within the year and moving between dealers and long term owners over the next few decades
WHERE IS IT NOW?
In Oxfordshire. The current owner has reinstated the cut out sections of the side rails with original 1932 Ford parts in preparation for restoring the car to its original specification.
SPECIFICATION
Chassis
- The Mercotto has 1932 swaged chassis rails which we can presume to be original. We can assume the original dimensions to be those stated in the 1938 Adlards Sales Brochure for a two seater: wheelbase 8’4″, front track 4’8″, rear track 4’2 1⁄2″, ground clearance 9″. The modification into the Mercotto in 1948-9 essentially shortened the wheelbase by 11″ by cutting this amount from the middle of the side chassis rails. Chassis number SC1 (presumably Scottish Cars 1 as the first and perhaps only “new build” by Scottish Sports Cars Ltd).
Steering & Brakes
- Marles high ratio steering box. Cable brakes on all four wheels with a fly-off handbrake. Andre Telecontrol shock absorbers.
Transmission
- Presumably Ford V8 gearbox with shortened torque tube and axle housings.
Engine
- Ford V8, probably mounted well behind the front axle. No details about special equipment (eg Scintilla or distributor).
Tank – Slab.
Body
- More suitable wings (full) and body layout than the competition two-seater. Straight bonnet line, wing treatment particularly neat, bodywork rigid when driving. Good driving position. Disappearing hood with side screens. Made by Whittingham & Mitchell.
Rebuild as the Mercotto in 19494
- Chassis shortened by c.11″ by taking sections out in the middle; body shortened and lowered by c.5″; front grill changed from a “V” to a flat face at some time, perhaps in this rebuild; presumably modifications to torque tube, brakes etc. to match the shortened chassis.
