1951 Allard J2 Cadillac Le Mans Race Car

A tech inspector looked at the front suspension of a J2X and said, “Wow! Where’s the ‘crimes against nature’ checkbox on this form?”

During the mid-1980s, Glenn Shaffer began a search for an Allard J2 with racing heritage. He found this car in Lima, Peru, suspecting it was the “missing” #2 Le Mans race car that had been driven by Peter Reece and Alfred Hitchings in 1951. The car on offer here has been subsequently confirmed and documented by Allard experts to be that car.

When discovered, the Allard was complete and had the correct 1951 Cadillac OHV V8 engine, but the chassis was in need of a full restoration. The car included features not commonly found on other J2s, like a 55-gallon fuel cell, aluminum-reinforced body, and vented front fenders.

After completing the restoration, Shaffer competed in some of the top vintage races in North America with the Allard, including the prestigious Monterey Historic Car Races at Laguna Seca, and was invited to the Pebble Beach Concours in 1994.

Only 90 J2s were originally built and only a handful are “competition only”...