Allard J2X - The oddest Group C car ever?

lotus_man · #1 01-03-2006, 11:46 AM

Had to share this with you, it's my next project. I've been after a kit of this car for ages, and I've just manages to get hold of the Provence Moulage kit from a good friend in Cypress... Everything else is on hold now because I'm desperate to get it in the display case!

The car in question is the Allard J2X, a car which is probably unknown to most people here. To my mind it's a beauty, and the ultimate example of the final evolution of Group C cars. The fact that it didn't perform anywhere near as well as it looked is unfortunate

. It should have raced at Le Mans in '93, but after finishing 19th in pre-qualifying it didn't show up for the race.

Still, for those that don;t know the car and would like to see some pictures, here are a few from various sites on the net, and you can find the full story of the car on this site.

I'll post pictures of the model as soon as I've made some progress on it (other then oggling the contents of the box and drowling over it!).

gionc · #2 01-03-2006, 12:09 PM

I'm eager beaver to see something right here.

I just love grcs and, yes honestly I don't know those: fantastic, seem a really forward evo of "C" and it's silouette forecast current LM contenders (I mean lola>MG ant. fenders, R8 and courage..)
really rum rear fender, it's shape go up, like a buggy

I guess you still making in 1/43?

2.2 Straight six · #3 01-03-2006, 12:18 PM

that thing is mad, it looks like a wasp with wheel arches.

freakray · #4 01-03-2006, 12:25 PM

Wow, one I hadn't heard about for years....I remember the car but it had been banished to the murky depths of my memory.

WasteGas · #5 01-03-2006, 02:14 PM

That thing is wickedly cool!

D_LaMz · #6 01-03-2006, 04:36 PM

so are you going to cast it?

lotus_man · #7 01-03-2006, 04:50 PM

I have a kit of the car. It's a Provence Moulage kit produced shortly before they went bankrupt a few years ago. I had thought of re-casting the body work so I could make a few, but maybe one day PMA (the company that grew out of Provence Moulage) will re-release it. If not mine will be all the more unique!

Tonight I've cleaned up the body work, and build the rear wing. The whole thing is now mocked up with masking tape so that I can make sure all the bits fit together (the body work comes as four separate parts, so some filing and filling is order of the day). I'll post some photos tommorow evening...

Layla's Keeper · #8 01-03-2006, 09:00 PM

The Allard was an absolutely phenomeonal car, and its curse was working all to well. That body created incredible downforce, at the price of severe drag - verboten on the Mulsanne and at Daytona.

The Allard, oddly enough, is not the only attractive and promising prototype in recent history to suffer this problem. The awesome Crawford SS2CK LMP1 chassis had the exact same issue, and even after modest success in the hands of both Lista/Doran and Dyson Racing, it was shelved permanently.

digitalbanzai · #9 01-03-2006, 09:03 PM

I remember watching a video of that a while back, it's so loud!

RallyRaider · #10 01-03-2006, 09:41 PM

Loking forward to seeing this unique car built. I've only ever seen it all in black as in the pics above, is that how you'll build it?

bvia · #11 01-04-2006, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lotus_man

Had to share this with you, it's my next project. I've been after a kit of this car for ages, and I've just manages to get hold of the Provence Moulage kit from a good friend in Cypress... .

You bastard!!!!! I've been trying to get ahold of that kit for ages + a day...;-)> JUST missed one about a month ago too...

Please keep us informed with build pics!!!!!!!

Gracias,

FlyingGilles · #12 01-04-2006, 08:17 AM

Very nice car and I wonder if the model does it justice... I remember seeing it at practice for Le Mans and feeling like it was a UFO compared to the rest..
One thing, if you at any moment feel like it is too much burden for you building this model, don't hesitate to e-mail me and I'll gladly do it for you......

lotus_man · #13 01-04-2006, 12:13 PM

It's mine, none of you can have it

In truth I've wanted to build it for years, I saw it reveiwed in SAE in the mid-nineties and fell in love with it then. As usual I didn't bother ordering it, figured I'd get round to it one day and there was no rush. Then PM went bust and I figured that was it... it was never a common kit at the best of times. Then a friend in e-mailed to say he was thining his collection and was I interested. Call it a Karma thing

Few pics of the bits as they come (with some cleaning up). As you can see the main car is four parts, wich combine with an etched floor to make the body. I've cleaned them up, and temporarilly set them togther with tape to make sur everything fits and is square which is easier said than done! The etched rear grills and fences on the front wings have been attached with CA. The next stage will be to use epoxy resin to attach the nose cone and fron wing to the main body so I can fill and clean up the joint as needed, then we'll be ready to test fit the front suspension and wheels wich I'll use to define the ride height.

More later when I've got some progress to show. Come back soon y'all.

bvia · #14 01-05-2006, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lotus_man

It's mine, none of you can have it

In truth I've wanted to build it for years, I saw it reveiwed in SAE in the mid-nineties and fell in love with it then. As usual I didn't bother ordering it, figured I'd get round to it one day and there was no rush. Then PM went bust and I figured that was it... it was never a common kit at the best of times. Then a friend in e-mailed to say he was thining his collection and was I interested. Call it a Karma thing

More later when I've got some progress to show. Come back soon y'all.

LOL! I've got that SAME issue of SAE with the SAME review and my reaction was the SAME as yours, basically I AM you...so give me MY model...;-)>

Actually I've been working on a set of plan drawings of the 2JX (It's currently painted red and in N.A....owned by Toad Hall Racing) and will be eventually scratchbuilding a 1:24th version...eventually that is...;-)>

Keep keeping us informed!

klutz_100 · #15 01-05-2006, 05:40 AM

So cool!

Happy for you, too. It must feel great to finally get your hands on something that you've wanted for so long

Just looking quickly at the ref photos you posted and your mock-up, it seems to me that there is quite a difference in the "bubble" roof? What's your "realtime" impression of this?

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