In September 1964 the British motorsport scene was given a rude and very loud awakening when a crack team of American drag racers and their glitzy, state-of-the-art cars and colourful paddock outfits descended on our shores to take on our guys in a series of challenge races at a number of different venues. Bizarrely, we didn’t have any proper drag strips and we hardly had any proper dragsters. The purpose of the exercise was to introduce the public to serious drag racing and to show them what a spectacle it was. It was promoted and billed as the 1st British International Drag Festival. The racing and results have been well documented so we asked two of the top drivers who took part for their memories and impressions.
Flying the flag for America we have ‘TV’ Tommy Ivo, who was not only a superb dragster builder and driver but a high-profile entertainer who knew how to put on a good show.
We featured him in the May 2022 issue of Classic American but reserved his UK exploits for this feature. Our top gun was Alan Allard, who in contrast to Ivo was a reluctant drag racer and a quiet, reserved man who shunned the spotlight. It is therefore quite understandable if you have never heard of him. But you will have almost certainly heard of his late father, Sydney Allard, who was the brains behind this drag-fest and the builder of the famous dragster that Alan would drive.
Sydney was one of those larger-than-life characters who seemed to excel at whatever he turned his hand to. Born in London in 1910, he was a keen and successful motorsport competitor in his own ‘specials’. Others wanted to buy them and
