Developed by successful British racing driver Sydney Allard, the J2X was created primarily for the US market to fill America’s voracious postwar appetite for sports cars. Years ahead of the AC Cobra, Allard combined a light and nimble British chassis with big American V-8 power to create a reliable and formidable automobile. J2Xs destined for the US were often shipped engineless to be mated with their American powerplants upon arrival.

“Of all the Cadillac-powered Allards locomoting with great verve and savage acceleration on American road and airfield circuits, that owned by Mr. Fred Warner, pilot to Mr. Charles E. Wilson, president of General Motors, probably is the most potent.” That was how this J2X, chassis 2192, was described in the August 1952 issue of The Autocar. The fourth example built, 2192 was shipped to Wood Motors in Detroit on January 22, 1952. The car was equipped with a 40-gallon fuel tank for endurance racing. Through Warner’s employment at GM, he befriended Frank Burrell, the general foreman of Cadillac’s experimental garage.

Burrell developed a twin-carburetor manifold for the Cadillac “Petit Pataud,” which Briggs Cunningham campaigned at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1950. Drawing from this experience, Burrell installed a 331 cid Cadillac V-8 in this J2X with twin Rochester four-barrel carburetors and a plethora of experimental parts to account for the increased carburetion. To handle the resulting 280 hp the modified Cadillac engine produced, he installed a three-speed Hydra-Matic transmission. When Burrell was asked about the viability of installing these parts in a second J2X in October 1952, he wrote: “The ‘Warner’ version as General Griswold calls it, was built up from experimental parts which are not readily available.”

Warner campaigned his J2X with Burrell’s support across the Midwest, Canada, and the East Coast from mid-1952 until late 1954. The pair earned an overall victory at the 1952 Edenvale Sports Car Grand Prix as well as 1st in Class at the SCCA Detroit Preliminary Races. When Warner began competing with the new JR model, the J2X was retired from competition.

Throughout the 1970s, the Allard was entered in SVRA races by a succession of Florida-based owners. In 1983, noted collector Don Marsh acquired the car and exhibited it at that year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance®, where it was awarded the Monterey Cup. Having been recently restored in its original colors by Allard specialist The Vintage Connection in Oklahoma, this Allard has been driven on the 1000 Miglia and Targa Florio Classic Rally by the consignor. Of the 39 Allard J2Xs which are believed to exist, just a handful are as historically documented as this example, and fewer still are correctly restored to honor that history. The time to acquire a J2X with these characteristics is now.

*Please note that this vehicle is titled as J2X2192. Please also note that this vehicle has a combined acceptance to two Mille Miglia events – the Warm Up USA Event in November 2025 and the Mille Miglia 2026 – subject to registration and payment of entry fee.