79 Motor Sport: December 1954 Return to the Cyclecar: The Allard Clipper 267 Pounds / 15 Shillings Sidney Allard, famous for his sports cars and for winning the Monte Carlo Rally for Britain in the difficult year of 1952, announces that his “years of automotive engineering, racing and track experience are blended in the Allard Clipper.” This new model, which we believe was intended to appear last Easter (early 1954) but is now going into production, is rather startling to those who recall the V8 and V12-engined Allards of the J2, K3 and Monte Carlo conception. The Allard Clipper is a three-wheeler economy car, with single wheel leading, powered by a 346 cc Villiers 28B twostroke engine at the back. Transmission is by belts to a three-speed and reverse Burman gearbox and by chain to the back axle. The engine possesses an electric self-starter, is cooled by a cowled fan, and is claimed to give 60-70 mpg pulling a top-gear ratio of 3.78 to 1. Interesting features are 7 inch Lockheed brakes on all wheels, a 48 inch wide bench seat and a cruciform, channel-section frame. Revolutionary is an all-plastic coupe body by HordernRichmond which is self-colored in maroon, blue or ivory and consequently will never require painting. It seats three adults and two children in the dickey—a jolly load for 346 cc to pull! The unladen weight is given as 6 cwt (672 lbs.), so the reverse gear is in the nature of a luxury. Suspension is by swing-arms and the wheels use Goodyear 4.00 by 8 tires. The new Allard Clipper is priced competitively at 265 pounds 15 shillings inclusive of purchase tax. It is stated that the Clipper answers the challenge put out by H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh when, opening the 1953 Motor Show, he called for a “Comet” of the motoring world. As to that, can we be blamed for preferring to wait and see…? Caption: ALL PLASTIC EGG—The new Allard Clipper two-stroke three-wheeler, which sells for less than 268 pounds with purchase-tax paid, has a self-colored glass-fiber three-seater coupe body, and has aa dickey seat for two children.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjA0NTk=