Build: October 1938
Tom Lush describes the decision to build the two lightweight specials in response to the ban on competition tyres: FGF290 for Ken Hutchison and FGP750 for Sidney Allard.
The first outing of FGF290 was on the Experts trial 29 October 1938, the body having been completed a few days earlier. Hutchison was clearly using the car as soon as possible and before it was fully completed, as passenger Bill Boddy described it being “in decidedly experimental trim”, and a report of him winning the large car class at the Thatcher Trophy Trial on 13 November says the car still has a V8 and no hood’
SPECIFICATION
These details are drawn from Bill Boddy’s account
Chassis
- Hutchison later observed of the pre-war cars that “all Allard chassis are virtually identical, the bodies varying considerably”. Boddy says “in dimensions and specifications it is the catalogue £450 Allard”. So, wheelbase of 8’4″, front track 4’8″, rear track 4’2 1⁄2″, and LMB split axle front suspension. Front radius arms moved to link to the side rails, helping to achieve 8-9″ ground clearance everywhere. It seems likely that 1932 side rails were used on all pre-war cars. The engine was set further back than earlier cars and weight saved wherever possible, the car weighing 17 1⁄2 cwt, 3cwt less than CLK5.
Engine
- Initial build was V8 with Vertex magneto, raised compression and special water offtakes and exhaust. At the Ford Enthusiasts’ Club Xmas Trial on 27 December 1938 FGF290 was “now with a V12” which is its best known configuration. Hutchison said he had several engines, V8 and V12, and used to swap them around6. When Potter advertised the car for sale in 1948 it was fitted with a Mercury V8 and throughout his ownership it had run with a 3917cc (V8) engine.
Body
- Built in a fortnight by Whittingham and Mitchell of very light gauge aluminium with a minimum of bracing, fixed engine side panels with off-centre hinged top panel. The tail “is a replica of those used for the GP ‘2.3’ Bugatti body and accommodates a big fuel tank well clear of the axle”.
Later modifications
Late 1947
- Len Potter removed the Bugatti tail and installed an outrigger bracket to carry the spare wheels, a large flat petrol tank plus additional ballast, in order to improve rear wheel adhesion. He installed a Mercury engine.
Late 1948
- VSA Biggs rebuilt FGF290 and reregistered it as HPX57. Changes included hydraulic brakes, a standard beam front axle, different windscreen. I have a photo of this car showing a Bugatti style tail had been refitted though with a hatch in the top.
HISTORY
Ken Hutchison used FGF290 in numerous events during the 10 months up till the outbreak of war, winning many of them, from the Unlimited Award on the Experts’ Trial on his first outing with the car to the Midgely Trophy on the Beer Trial. As a member of the Tailwaggers Team (with Sydney Allard in FGP750 and Guy Warburton in CLK5) many team awards were achieved, one notable success being on the Highland two day trial.
Post war Len Potter entered the car in many events in 1946-7, gaining several 1st class awards and being joint winner of the Southern Experts Trial. Occasional references show WF Mead using the car in 1949-50 probably in its modified and re-registered form, after which it seems to have moved through different owners occasionally appearing in competition in the 1950s.
WHERE IS IT NOW?
The car reappeared in 1996 and seems to be a very nice recreation of the original car using a mix of pre and post war parts with the original registration number and a pointed tail reinstated. It is owned in Switzerland and entered into old car events there.
