The September 1959 issue of “Motor Sport” describes in some detail Sydney Allard’s new four-wheel-drive, twin-Steyr V8-engined sprint car, together with a few pictures, these of the quality that seems to have been typical at that time. No further mention of the car anywhere that I can find, until the June 2014 issue of “Motor Sport”, but this adds nothing of value, being mostly a rehash of the first article.
It seems fairly clear that the car was a failure, for, soon after, Allard’s well-known dragster appeared, which seems to have been fairly well documented.
But failure or not, the car did have some interesting design features, not least the transmission. Apparently, each engine had its own gearbox (from the Ford Flathead V8), though with different ratios! And the two outputs were combined together with what seems to have been two sets of sprockets and chains, all this mechanical mayhem being described in some detail in that 1959 article. But just like words usually are, with complex devices, that description is incomprehensible without a sketch of the arrangement.
So what I am hoping for, is something on those lines, if it ever existed. Has anyone seen such a sketch, sectional drawing, cutaway drawing, or even a photo or two which might help clear the fog? It would also be interesting to know of any competition appearances the car may have made, and the results, if it did. Thanks in advance.
Incidentally, does the car still exist?