The Historic Sports Car Collection

The Allard Palm Beach MK1 is really coming on a treat and looking like the impressive '50s sports car that it is. The Ford engine looking particularly eye catching with the Aquaplane 3 carb mounting. This will be a lovely rare touring car and a passport into a number of high profile events. It'll be on the market soon so do get in touch if you want to beat the rush.

A great day was had at the RAF Marham Track Day. We took a couple of cars. One of them was an Allard we recently sold to a European customer and he had a trouble free day enjoying his car on the super fast circuit. We also took our Lancia monoposto for its first proper run. It turned more than a few heads in the assembly area amongst the 'hot' BMWs etc but it behaved itself impeccably. A radiator problem was identified and since been sorted. Next, a few VSCC hillclimbs...

Photos here of The Drivers Club which will be open on the 20th Jan for a 'pop up' pub night.

The Drivers Club at The Historic Sportscar Collection
Ian and Lesley Ann Pinches, former proprietors of the multi-award winning Railway Arms at Downham Market Railway Station, are working with Steve Cato and father and son team, Julian and Duncan Sutton, to open a 'pop-up' micro-pub at Tottenhill -'The Drivers Club', in the wood panelled club room above the Historic Sportscar Collection showroom that adjoins Steve Cato's restoration workshop for classic cars.
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Carbs & exhaust manifold for the Zephyr engined Allard.

Work continues on our two rare Allard Palm Beach MK1s. The right hand drive car has had its body stripped, primed and resprayed. We've sourced an original, 50 years old but never used 'Aquaplane' 3 carb set up for the Zephyr engine which as my father says 'should be on display in The Tate gallery as a work of art! This will have a wonderful stainless steel exhaust manifold alongside it which will look stunning when the bonnet is lifted. Talking of the bonnet two crafted louvred strips have been sunk into it to help with the air / heat flow and also give the car a very purposeful look. The left hand drive ex Allard family owned MK1 has had the chassis stripped, primed & painted and the Jaguar engine in place and mounted. Discussions are still taking place over colour schemes but we've always liked the Lance Reventlow racing colours...

The Historic Sports Car Collection took a trip to the Chateau Impney Hill Climb event a couple of weeks ago. This truly wonderful event is only in its second year after the Spollon family took over the hotel and reintroduced the hill climb which used to take place in the '50s and early 60s. It attracts a truly eclectic mix of cars that run competitively up the hill over two days. It doesn't have the crowds of a Goodwood event but that means there is space to put your picnic blanket out and relax and soak in the atmosphere. H & H held an auction and we found buyers for both our lovely Jaguar XK140 and Austin 7 Special so a successful weekend all round!

The Austin 7 special used to be the usual starting point for budding prewar racing drivers who didn't have the cash reserves to buy a big engined racing machine from the established manufacturers. This continued after the war and these varied machines that reflected the engineering creativity of the post war years became the backbone of the 750 Motor Club. We've just refreshed this beautiful 1933 example which was heavily modified for racing probably in the late '50s. It's a...ll aluminum body looking wonderfully period in white conceals the twin SU motor with alloy high compression head. Suspension has been heavily modified along with hydraulic brakes and a remote gear change. Sitting on 15inch wheels this is not only a pretty car but bags of fun and highly competitive on hill climbs & sprints. The car is road registered and a joy to drive on modern roads so there's no need to trailer it to events or you can just use it for fun drives at the weekends. Some of these Austin 7 specials are on the market for up to £30,000 and in comparison this is a bargain. If you are interested do get in touch or drop in to the showroom on the A10.
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Sometimes it's hard to build up the enthusiasm on these cold mornings to take out your beautiful classic sports car. It's your pride & joy and all that grit & salt on the roads will not do that polished finish any good. But a few months ago we took ownership of a car which you can use all year round, is practical and will put a smile on your face every moment you're driving her. She's a superb example of a 1971 Morris Minor Traveller. Totally restored, the wood is in perfect ...condition and the engine has been rebuilt. You can fit the whole family in as well as the dog and enjoy classic motoring every day. It's also widely recognised that these charming British classics have been rising in value over the last few years. She's in the showroom looking absolutely spotless so do drop by to have a look but if you're not local do give us a call or email.
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A few more shots of the Allard Palm Beach MK1 in the workshop in the early stages of restoration.

We have a new exciting project in the workshop! After the HRG Maserati and the Allard J1 found new homes it's allowed us the time and space to start the restoration work on our Allard Palm Beach MK 1. Owned by non other than Alan Allard, the son of the great Sydney Allard himself, it's a 1955 car brought over from the states in left hand drive configuration. Only 72 MK 1s were built with different engine specs, ours had the 6 cylinder Ford Zephyr 2.3 litre engine but we will ...be restoring it with the more powerful Jaguar 3.4 engine with the original Ford engine being sold with it. In the summer we managed to trailer the car from the depths of Wales through some of the narrowest lanes I've ever driven to our showroom in west Norfolk. Work has already started on the car and it's going to be a head turner. The Palm Beach Allards are by far the best looking cars that Allard built and there are very few around. The car is for sale so if you like the idea of owning a wonderful 1950s sports car which is a bit different but still eligible for a host of exciting events give me a call or email me at duncanhsutton@hotmail.com
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We've got this beautiful Jaguar XK140 for sale. It's a 1955 car but has been up rated to make it a joy to drive on even long distances on modern roads. It has disc brakes all round, power steering and even air conditioning to make those continental tours more enjoyable! Originally an American car but spent most of its life in Australia where it was converted to right hand drive, the hot climate means that body & chassis are in top condition. The interior is immaculate in tan leather & wood. A real Gentleman's sports car! Do please contact us for details.

My father came across this old photo today. It's of his University friends in Sheffield messing about with cars. It's taken in 1963 at a sprint in Cuckney (?) with Robin Baker who then owned the car at the wheel. Robin, along with his brother David are now stalwarts of the VSCC, being particularly well known for building beautiful aero engined Specials. The car is obviously a Jaguar XK120 but it's a bit special as it's a factory lightweight model raced by Bob Berry and Roy Sa...lvadori. Note the absent headlight, removed to improve the airflow to the carbs. At the time Bob Berry asked my father to join Jaguar's Engineering department, under the watchful eye of Lofty England, but my father declined staying instead at Rolls Royce in Derby. Looking at the state of the front end it looks like the boys have had a bit of fun with it, of course now it is immaculate and worth a small fortune!
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The time has come to bite the bullet and put our lovely Hillman Imp racer on the market. We never got to use her as much as we would have liked and she deserves to be exercised on the UK (& European) circuits far more. Rebuilt from a road car the body was stripped back to bare metal, reinforced for racing and primed. totally rewired and with a fully plumbed in fire extinguishing system, roll cage, race seat & 5 point harness she meets the FIA Appendix K regs. The rebuilt 998c...c engine has twin stromberg carbs and a high spec rally cam, uprated cooling system & close ratio gears making her bags of fun on the road as well as competitive on track. Lightweight windows all round and a laminated windscreen she is stripped for racing but a passenger seat can easily be mounted. She is road registered & MOT'd so driving to the circuit, racing then driving home is easy and the 'old school' way of going racing! Finished in the period colour scheme of Paul Emery Racing (of Emeryson cars fame) she is a real eye catcher in the race paddocks! Registered as a 1965 car she is eligible for Julius Thurgood's HRDC series, U2TC, HSCC and even the Goodwood Revival! Go on, treat yourself! (OIRO £13,000)
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2015 seems to be getting off to a good start with numerous enquiries about our 1949 Allard. Originally it was a 4 seater L type but was converted into a competition car by James Ricketts by swapping the body for a lightweight 2 seater and shortening the chassis. We've upgraded the Ford 3.6 V8 with Edelbrock heads & twin carbs. Finding cars which are eligible for those fantastic 1950s sports car grids which don't incur an enormous financial outlay are getting harder to find but this is one of them. It's a great all rounder and certainly a bit different to the numerous Austin Healeys, TVRs, MGs & Jags out there - it'll certainly turn a few heads in the paddock!

Welcome our new arrival to the showroom! Extra space had to be found in the already full showroom as our most recent purchase arrived. She's a rather large 4.5 litre 1924 Sunbeam 24/70. Only 102 were built and it's believed that only four still exist and this is one of them.

For any motoring or vintage enthusiast the Goodwood Revival is the highlight of the year. We have been fortunate enough over the years to be both competitors, entrants and spectators and we hope this will continue...