Nicknames are a bit like Wikipedia pages.
Earning them generally means — for better or worse — you’ve done something notable.
In the case of the 1953 Allard J2-X, hitting the auction block with Sotheby’s in Monterey this August, its nicknames — “Little Red” and “The Blacksmith’s Revenge” — pay tribute to a wacky treasure of an auto with an even better backstory.
The slow-cooked creation of famed British race driver and car designer Sydney Allard (who made his name stitching cars together during WWII), the Allard is a Frankensteinian bucket of box-section frames, spare parts and an American engine, all somehow coaxed together into the J2-X, a very fast (and very red) dream racing machine.
The best part? Only 83 were ever built. This one runs an Oldsmobile V8, sports a four-speed transmission, and in contrast to the J2 (which Tom Cole and Allard himself raced to third place in Le Mans), features a lengthier cockpit.
Little? Bucket of mismatched parts (check those tiny windshields)? Yes and yes. But mythic nonetheless. Find more info on the upcoming auction here.
All images from Sotheby’s
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