FGP 750

Build: December 1938

FGP750 was Sydney Allard’s car for the final season up to the war, very successful in both trials and sprint events. As records closed at that point, the car, and Sydney of course, held some dozen pre-war records including the Sports Car record at Prescott Hill Climb.

FGP750 remains in its original specification, including evidence of straightening to the nearside chassis following the notorious crash on his first run at Prescott when Sydney set the record on his second run with a damaged car, and in recent years has returned to competition.

BUILD

Registered on 1 December 1938 the first clear outing for FGP750 was on the Gloucester trial on 3 December 1938 driven by Soames, where it was one of two cars to get a clean sheet, the other being CLK5 driven by Warburton. In anticipation of the ban on competition tyres both Ken Hutchison and Sydney Allard had new, very similar, cars built which were lighter, starker and with more weight towards the rear.

HISTORY

FGP750 was the car Sydney had wanted for himself following his experience and success with his first special, CLK5. He made is as powerful as he could, removing excess weight wherever possible including refusing to have it painted to save a little weight, which resulted in a starkly beautiful machine. In 1939 he completely rebuilt it with a lower bonnet line.

Denis Jenkinson referred to FGP750 as “the Allard for me”. In this article he records that it “was an instant success, scoring seven consecutive Premier Awards and assisting in ten Team Awards” as part of the Allard Tailwaggers. He recalled Sydney competing most weekends and continually seeking extra performance, often achieving fastest sports car time or fastest unsupercharged car time. At Wetherby it won its class, set a new class record and a new sports car record. At Lewes Speed Trials it was third in the all comers class and at Prescott it set a new Sports Car record, which stood at the outbreak of war when records closed. In the last sprint meeting before the war, at Horndean, he set fastest time of the day, driving foot down all the way and overturned after the finish, throwing out his passenger, Bill Boddy the editor of MotorSport.

FGP750 then had a quieter life, being sold to RKN Clarkson who took it out occasionally in the war years before being bought by Ken Hutchison in 1942 who beautified it, as recorded in the Detroit Magic article. Lady Mary Grosvenor purchased it in 1946, running it at Elstree on 22 April, from where Tom Lush took it back to Adlards for a complete rebuild which included installing a Mercury engine. She had bad luck, misfiring at Fordingbridge and losing a fan belt at Shelsey. Tom says she was unhappy with the car so sold it to Pritchard who would have been a fellow competitor in her home area, who was using it by The Colmore Trial in April 1947. Pritchard seems to have entered mainly northern events and did set a new sports car record at Queensferry in June 1949.

In 1954 he wrote to Motor Sport saying the car was being fitted with an Iscanderian track grind cam shaft to give even more urge. The log book shows that Ronald Moore became the owner in May 1963. I was told by a later owner that Moore and his flatmate used the car in local events. The car passed into the ownership of Maurice Bethell, the flatmate’s father, in 1966 and became part of his extensive collection of old vehicles garaged in barns and other capacious buildings in the villages near his home in North Yorkshire. I’d known Mr Bethell for some years as I drove a succession of old bangers across the northern Pennines and regularly stopped at his garage for a chat. When I started work and asked him if he had a more interesting car for me he took me to a nearby village, opened a lockup garage and showed me FGP750.

SPECIFICATION

The details are mainly taken from HL Biggs account in his “Detroit Magic” article, in which he vividly described the first time he saw FGP750: “A beautiful job, very narrow, about two ‘hips width’ (actually it is 2’10” across the seats), latex seats, enormous rear tyres (7.50″ x 16″), scuttle cowl and aero screen, much wider open grill for increased cooling, plywood flooring, small flared front wings with tubular stays, car unpainted”. Sydney continuously developed this car, and it was fully rebuilt in June 1939 to achieve a more effective configuration for sprints.

Initial configuration

Chassis AM11

Wheelbase 8’4″, rear track 4’2″, front track 4’8″. Much effort in the quest for lightness3: the front axle, chassis and mounting brackets were all drilled, fixtures and fittings were as small and light as possible, body unpainted. Ballamy divided front axle. Hartford friction shock absorbers..

Steering

Marles high geared.

Transmission

Standard Ford V8 components. Axle ratios changed to suit the event, typically: 4.11:1 for trials; 3.56:1 for speed events.

Engine

Probably the 24 stud 81A was installed initially, introduced in late 1938.

Tank

30 gallon, enclosed in Bugatti-type tail.

Body

Lightweight aluminium with the minimum of body stays. Bugatti style tail. Built by Abbotts of Farnham. Unpainted.

1939 rebuild

The car was totally rebuilt in June 1939, following earlier experimental work with carburation and exhaust. Essentially the front body line was lowered and engine power increased to achieve more speed in sprints

Chassis

Boxed and lightened. Ballamy divided front axle. Hartford friction shock absorbers.