This Story takes a look at the history and the many owners and drivers of the Allard Dragon dragsters that first appeared on the scene in January 1964. The Dragon was a scaled down version of the Allard Chrysler dragster fitted with a Shorrock blown 1500cc Ford engine.

Sydney Allard had debuted his Chrysler hemi powered dragster in 1961 followed by Brian Witty also using Chrysler hemi power and Allan Herridge with his straight eight Buick dragster. Nobby Hills was nailing together a Jag powered rail and Ken Cooper was using a Mercury Flathead. Everyone it seemed was going for the biggest powerplant they could lay their hands on until Tony Densham and Harry Worrall came up with the idea of building a lightweight car using a small, supercharged engine. They called it the Worden and with a Shorrock blown 1500cc Ford Motor fitted it clocked low 14s just nudging the ton in 1963.

Whether the Worden was the inspiration for Allards to build their Dragon dragsters is unknown. Alan Allard told me he thought the Dragon was his idea based on his experience driving supercharged Anglia rally cars, but he also said it could have been Gerry Belton who thought ‘we could build one of those’ after seeing the Worden shutdown the big Buick dragster of Allan Herridge at Silverstone in 1963.

Either way the Dragon proved to be a great success running times in the 12s first time out then dipping into the 11s reaching speeds over 120mph, something motoring journalist and racer Denis ‘Jenks’ Jenkinson believed was impossible when he saw it at the Racing Car Show. 

Soon after the ‘Works’ car was completed a second Allard Dragon was built and offered for sale. It was slightly different to the Works car being two inches wider and had a higher more comfortable driving position. Also, the engine was mounted higher to help weight transfer, the zoomie headers exiting above the top frame rail. Racing Car Show organiser Ian Smith decided to buy it as he thought it would be a good way to advertise his commercial activities including Collett electrical Terminals, Auto Model Kits and Collett badges. The bodywork on Ian’s car was painted yellow and the chassis was red whereas the Works car had a yellow chassis and black bodywork.

On Wednesday 8^th April a demonstration of the Allard Dragons was held at Silverstone for the benefit of a group of motoring journalists including Edward Eves from Autocar and John Blunsden from Motor Racing magazine. A week earlier both Dragons had been at Silverstone for top bike sprinters Alf Hagon and George Brown to try out. Things were certainly moving with publicity for the Allard Dragon and it was hoped more would sell to customers looking for an easy way to get involved in the drags. 

At the demonstration on April 8^th two technicians were fitting an electronic timing system to the Works Dragon. It had been designed by Autocar staff men working in collaboration with Pye Ltd and consisted of an 18” x 12” x 5” flat case secured by rope to the left side of the Dragon and an 18” x 6” x 6” box fixed between the front wheels with a flexible drive carried via an angle iron frame to the offside front wheel hub. Once switched on all movement of the dragster was recorded on a wide paper strip giving an accurate record of times, speeds and other data.

Ian Smith started the day off with a couple of quick runs in his Dragon clocking 12.90 and 12.36 which stood as fastest time of the day. Then John Hume who was responsible for much of the design and development work on the Dragon came out in the Works car with the electric timing system fitted and ran two consistent runs at 12.48 and 12.43. Then the journalists were let loose in the cars after a quick briefing and signing a disclaimer until 4.30pm by which time the clutches on both Dragons decided they’d honked enough for one day.

A few weeks later the two Dragons were heading for Blackbushe where they were filmed by Southern Television and a young Dicky Davis got to interview Sydney Allard about drag racing.

It was also for the benefit of Small Car Magazine who’d brought along a young Dutch racing driver Liane Engeman who did a good job of driving the Works Dragon.

May 17^th saw the running of the first BHRA Big Go at Duxford and both Dragons were entered. Gerry Belton shared the driving with Ian Smith in his car which had just had an additional threepoint roll cage added so the driver’s head was now protected. Star of the show was John Hume once again driving the Works car he got into the elevens for the first time with an 11.99 and 11.92. Denis ‘Jenks’ Jenkinson had bet his famous beard that a Dragon would never go quicker than 12 seconds and had Jenks been there he would have been shaved on the spot. As it happened, he was away at a Continental race meeting and Allards very sportingly suggested that if he drove the Dragon himself and managed to break 12 seconds, they would forgo the beard cutting.

And so, on Sunday June 7th Jenks and the Allard boys turned up at the BDRA inaugural Practice Day at Graveley. They were greeted by rain but John Hume still did a warm up run at 12.53. The rain stopped and after a short poodle up and down the paddock to get the feel of the controls Jenks came out for his first run on a still damp strip. He recorded a 12.34 which was a good start. 2nd time out the track was looking dry and Jenks nearly did it with a 12.04... salvation was in sight. By the time Jenks came out for his 3rd and final blast the sun was out and here's how it went in his own words... "You are push-started in 3rd gear and as soon as the engine fires you snick it back into 2nd gear ready for the start, keeping the engine running at a steady speed of about 1500-2000rpm, the highly blown engine being surprisingly docile. This time I gave it a real boot-full of throttle, lifted off the clutch pedal and was away, and out of the corner of my eye could see blue smoke coming off the rear tyres. The engine must have gone to well over 7000rpm in 2nd gear (there is no rev-counter) and I could feel the car snake slightly, but the steering spectacles were rather like motorcycle handlebars in sensitivity and you do not consciously steer the vehicle but point it. Across the gate into 3rd without shutting the throttle completely and then we were really wound up and heading for the two chequerboards. Into top as quick as you can move the lever and foot right down and as we approached the end of the quarter there was time to look at the blower gauge which was registering 13lb/sq.in."

Jenks ran a fantastic time of 11.45, facial alterations had been avoided and everyone was very satisfied. Jenks came away with a great deal of respect for the Allard Dragon.

The Works Dragon had now also been fitted with an additional three-point roll cage and was going for the World Class F International standing start kilometre record at Chelveston Records Day on Sunday 21^st June. At that time the record was held by Mickey Thompson in the USA.

Alan Allard was driving the Dragon which was geared for the 1/4 mile limiting maximum speed. He reached the 7500-rpm limit two thirds of the way down the course at around 145 mph and held the engine at valve bounce for the remainder of the run. This was good enough for a new standing start kilometre Class F record with a time of 21.08 seconds.

While Alan Allard was breaking records at Chelveston, Ian Smith was back out in his Dragon at the 10^th annual Evesham Automobile Club sprint at Long Marston. He managed first place in the up to 2 litre class with a 12.45 ahead of Patsy Burt in her Cooper Climax. This was to be Ian’s last outing in the car as he had decided to sell it. In a letter to Gerry Belton on the 2^nd July he wrote...

‘I have decided to sell my dragster as it does not appear that there will be many competitive events for it this year and after a discussion with the RAC, I find that they are adamant about the non-allowance of advertising on the cars. I cannot therefore have money tied-up in this vehicle which has lost much of its attraction.’

Gerry Belton decided to buy it and had it repainted with a black chassis and white bodywork. He wasted no time entering it at the Thames Estuary Automobile Club sprint at Graveley on Sunday 9^th August. The Works Dragon was also there being driven by both John Hume and Alan Allard. Signs that dragging was catching on in the UK was evident in the strip layout with two lanes for half mile runs alongside two lanes for quarters, both equipped with timing gear. Out of 87 entries, 44 came to the line for a go at the quarter. John Bennett with his Mooneyes hat on came out with the flags trying to encourage the die-hard, start in your own time sprinters to race but many insisted on waiting till the revs wound up just right before dumping the clutch. John Hume ran a quick 11.42 on his last run to secure fastest time of the day over the quarter.

Thoughts were now turned to the upcoming First British International Drag Festival which featured six one day meets held over three weekends in September and October. Alan Allard would be driving the Works Dragon while Gerry Belton asked Denis ‘Jenks’ Jenkinson to drive his Dragon as being the General Manager of the festival he would be far too busy to drive. Alan Allard was also driving the big Allard Chrysler dragster and Jenks was also riding his BSA so both had their hands full.

Two weeks before that both Dragons headed to Monza for demo runs at the Italian Grand Prix along with Tony Nancy’s 22 Junior slingshot and the Moonbeam Devin sports car. Alan Allard and Gerry Belton were driving the Dragons while Dante Duce drove both 22 Junior and Moonbeam. Completing the lineup was George Brown and his bike Super Nero. A crowd of 125,000 watched the demo and the Dragons did well running side by side with Alan taking the win each time although Gerry was quicker off the line.

Alan and Jenks were racing in the up to 3000cc Dragster Eliminator at the Drag Festival along with John Harrison’s 2660cc Austin Atlantic powered dragster, Leon Moss using blown 1500cc prewar Riley power, Derek Metcalf’s 2 litre Standard Vanguard powered Wombat and Tony Densham in the blown 1500cc Ford powered Worden. Alan also had several matchups with American Doug Church driving the Porsch powered Modern Specialist rear engined dragster.

At the first meeting at Blackbushe on Saturday 19^th September the two Dragons did well getting into the final where Alan took the win with an 11.42, best time of the day for a British car, to Jenks 12.41. The following day at Chelveston Jenks was a non-starter and Alan took the Eliminator win again with an 11.26 at 129mph, although best time of the day for a British car went to Peter Westbury in his 4WD Ferguson-Climax P99 who nearly got into the tens with a screamin' 11.02 at 127mph!

Saturday 26^th September saw the series at Woodvale. Jenks wasn’t running at this meeting and Alan Allard again took the win beating Leon Moss with an 11.30 at 127mph to Leon’s 15.40 at 76mph. Meanwhile Peter Westbury got even closer to a ten with an 11.01 at 127mph. The following day at Church Fenton Jenks was absent again. Alan took the eliminator win with a bye run and also got the Allard Chrysler running well with a 10.62 taking low ET for the Brits. Alan also raced the Dragon with Alf Hagon riding his Jap, Alf taking the win with an 11.59 at 113mph while Alan ran an off form 12.06 at 111mph.

The final weekend kicked off at Kemble and this time the Dragons didn’t have it all their own way as Tony Densham in the Worden took the Eliminator win with an excellent 11.32 at 121mph. On the Sunday it was back to Blackbushe for the final round. Alan was back on form with an eliminator win in the Dragon and he also took the Allard Chrysler for its quickest ever ride in 10.28 seconds. Unfortunately, the speed clocks were on the blink.

As far as sales of the Dragon in 1964 went, none were sold. Despite this a Mk 2 Dragon chassis was designed and built with a more up to date roll cage replacing the old ‘skid bar’ design which had been popular in the States five years previously and was also used on Sydney’s Allard Chrysler dragster. It was finished and ready to be displayed with an engine and rear axle fitted at the Racing Car Show in January 1965.

A month later with sponsorship from Ford, the Works Dragon was flown to the NHRA Winternationals. It was looked after and raced by Doug Church and the Modern Specialist team whilst in California and was also displayed at the Custom Auto Fair at the Pan Pacific Auditorium a week before the Winternationals and raced at Lions Drag Strip. From the States the car was shipped straight to Stockholm for the Swedish Auto Show before returning to the UK. 

June 6^th saw the 2^nd BHRA Big Go at Duxford. John Hume was back driving the Works Dragon but Gerry Belton had blown up his Dragon at the last BDRA Practice Day on May 22^nd and arrived in his Ford Corsair with the blower, carb and fitting kit from his Dragon in the boot which he then proceeded to fit to the 1500cc Corsair motor. The bonnet would no longer shut so that was taken off, but with the fuel system setup for methanol it was pumping twice as much petrol into the engine and spluttered down the strip trailing clouds of black smoke to a 22 second ET, but it did show how much a skilled and enthusiastic competitor could achieve.

Meanwhile during the morning timed runs the Works Dragon leapt off the line with perfect traction and John kept his foot in it recording a fantastic 10.997 at 126mph! The 10 second run was not publicised at the time because it was felt it would not be believed and the magazines reported it as 11.00. Also, during an earlier test run the Dragon had recorded a speed of 131mph, again this was never publicised. John went on to win C/Dragster taking out Jim Gavin in the 2200cc twin Mini Cooper powered Deep Sanderson Twinny Mini with an 11.34 and also won Top Eliminator beating Tony Kinch’s 1650 Cortina with an 11.11.

Two weeks later John Hume went to the Evesham Automobile Club sprint at Long Marston. Gerry Belton was still out of action but John did three runs over the quarter mile in the up to 2000cc class clocking 11.74, 11.06 and 11.07 to take top time of the meet and a new class record.

Then it was the BDRA Drag Race at Vickers Airfield, South Marston, Swindon on 3^rd July. Alan Allard was back in the Works Dragon but only did one qualifying run at 11.38 seconds before retiring with a broken gearbox. New driver Colin Glass was driving Gerry Belton’s Dragon with a first qualifier of 13.85, then an improved 12.64 before getting knocked out in the first round of eliminations which were won by Les Hill driving the blown Jag powered Houndog 2 running low 12s. Also in the low 12s at this meeting was Leon Moss in the blown Prewar Riley powered dragster. 

Colin Glass must have got bitten by the drag racing bug after his drive in the Dragon as he teamed up with Denis ‘Jenks’ Jenkinson and Dave Barrow to buy the Mk 2 Dragon chassis. They had originally planned to build a Jag powered Morris 8 gasser but decided it would be quicker to start with the ready built Dragon chassis. Instead of running it with a blown 1500cc Ford an unblown straight six 1991cc Bristol engine was used and it was ready to try out at the monthly BHRA Practice Day at Graveley on August 20th. This meeting saw a record entry of eight British built slingshots. Joining Colin were the cars of Nobby Hills, Allan Herridge, Ken Cooper, Derek Metcalf, Leon Moss, Les Turner and Harold Bull. Things were looking good for British drag racing and everyone was looking forward to the 2^nd International Dragfest.

But before that a young Chris Pattison who had entered a competition in British Drag Racing Magazine to win the Works Allard Dragon received a telegram on the 23^rd August telling him he’d won. Chris was blown away with the news and spent the rest of the day playing Jan and Dean's ‘Drag City’ record, over and over. The Dragon was officially handed over to him by top US driver Tony Nancy.

The Dragfest kicked off at Blackbushe on Saturday 25^th and Sunday 26^th September. Colin Glass was back out in the Bristol Dragon, Jenks was driving the Belton Dragon and Chris had entered his Works Dragon but was not yet the driver, that was taken care of by Allard’s Works Rally driver Rob Mackie. Sadly, it rained on and off all weekend, the strip never dried out but despite this all classes were run. Rob Mackie had tried out the Dragon at Graveley and didn’t like it at first but being the professional, he soon got to grips with the car and won his class at Blackbushe beating Leon Moss in the final with an 11.98 to Liam’s 13.07, while Jenks was knocked out in the first round. Being unblown Colin Glass was running it the lower capacity class and took the win running a best of 14.62.

The following Sunday saw the last round of the Dragfest at Woodvale and thankfully it was dry.

All three Dragons were in attendance again but Dave Barrow was now driving the Belton Dragon. Rob Mackie was running well again clocking 11.49 at 123mph to take his class shutting down Leon Moss in the final. Colin Glass also won his class again taking out Derek Metcalf and Harold Bull.

The 1966 season started off with a BHRA Practise Day at Graveley on the 19th March. Colin Glass was there with the Bristol Dragon as was Chris Pattison for his first time driving the ex-Works Dragon. Allan ‘Bootsie’ Herridge was his mentor telling him ‘Chris, if you don’t like it just back off’ but he loved it keeping his foot in it all the way recording an excellent first run, straight into the 11s with an 11.98.  

The Belton Dragon was now owned by Pete Atkins who ran Watford Motor Accessories. Pete had repainted the bodywork dark blue with flames and named it ‘Dragonfly’ but things were not going so well for Pete. Having made a few easy runs, he came out again for a full blast. Pete explains what happened next... ‘I felt that the start had been a good one, no fuss, little spin loss, just a full powered straight shot for the top pocket. I had not the slightest forewarning of any trouble, which arrived split seconds later. Third gear engaged smoothly, perhaps 20 feet of tarmac flashed under the wheels and then the whole unit seemed to break up. I cannot remember hearing any explosion although chunks of metal flew out in all directions; I was aware of a sawing noise coming from underneath somewhere. Real panic came from a shower of angry sparks flying back at me from the engine, mingling with a wet mist of methanol. I hung grimly on the handbrake and if there is any record for the shortest stopping distance I claim it, finally coming to rest somewhere approaching the half way mark’

The clutch had exploded and the sudden increase in rpm also blew the engine. If it wasn’t for the Allard scatter-shield Pete could have sustained severe damage to both feet and afterwards he became an advocate of scatter-shields, fire proof overalls and gloves. Most of the drivers were still driving with just t-shirts for protection!

Santa Pod opened on a damp Easter Monday, April 11^th. Chris Pattison was there with his Dragon and Pete Atkins was back with Dragonfly fitted with a new engine and transmission but was now suffering from chronic clutch slip. Colin Glass in his 1991cc Bristol Dragon challenged Harold Bull to a match race and only just took the win from the little unblown 950cc BMC Stripduster which did extremely well.

It was raining again at Santa Pod for the Thames Estuary Sprint meeting two weeks later. Dave Barrow was driving the Bristol Dragon this time running a best of 13.66 and Pete Atkins had Dragonfly going a bit better clocking a 13.70 on the damp strip, then at the Big Go in May Pete took the class win. 

Chris Pattison took his Dragon to the technical college he attended in High Wycombe and gave a drag racing slide show and lecture which created a lot of interest and plans were made to hire a coach to take a party of students to Santa Pod. 18^th & 19^th June saw the Gala of Motorsport at Debden featuring Donald Campbell with Bluebird CN7. Dragsters were invited to run over the quarter including the three Dragons. Pete Atkins ran a best of 11.70, Chris Pattison clocked an 11.90 and Colin Glass did a 15.40.

Back at Santa Pod at the June 26^th meeting Chris’s dad, ‘Daddy’ Pattison was driving the Dragon. Pete Atkins now had Dragonfly fully sorted qualifying with an 11.69 and he took the Top Eliminator trophy beating Harold Bull in the final. Both Chris and Pete’s Dragons now had blower belt shields fitted as new rules were introduced. Dave Barrow was driving the Bristol Dragon again and won his class with a 13.85. Interestingly Les Turner in his home built blown 1500cc Ford engined dragster recorded a 10.84, beating John Hume’s record time in the Dragon.

The July 31^st meeting saw Chris back in the ex-Works Dragon and he won his class taking out Brian Witty in the final. Colin Glass also took a class win while Pete Atkins managed to break a half shaft during qualifying. He had a spare back at Watford which led to some fast driving to collect it, unfortunately to no avail as the dragster eliminator had started before he returned.

The August Trophy meeting saw ‘Daddy’ Pattison in the ex-Works Dragon and he not only took his class eliminator but also won Top Eliminator taking out Harold Bull in the final, not bad for his second meeting in the dragster. 

August Bank Holiday saw the BHRA Drag Racing Championships Meeting. Pete Atkins was once again suffering with transmission troubles but Chris Pattison was doing well in the Championship race until he came up against Tony Gane’s little Rudge powered Wicked Lady. The electronic handicap system was put into use for the first time and Chris had to wait nearly three seconds before storming after Tony and in the excitement, he fouled up the 2^nd to 3^rd cross gate shift and lost the race. Tony went on to take the Championship title by beating Les Turner in the final.

The last meeting of the year was October 2^nd and it was a wet one again. Pete Atkins had made some changes to the induction on Dragonfly, the blower and 2” SU had gone replaced by four Wal Phillips injectors pointing skywards. Initial test runs were disappointing but he now had all winter to sort it out. Chris Pattison had his Dragon up for sale for offers over £500. Both he and his dad had enjoyed racing it and their best ET of 11.14 went to ‘Daddy’ Pattison. Chris chose not to enter it at the October meeting at the risk of blowing it up. Colin Glass took a class win again splashing through the top end puddles at over 100mph in the Bristol Dragon which was also up for sale at £225 o.n.o.

Pete Atkins’ Dragonfly wasn’t seen in 1967. He had planned to let his team mate Ken Bunnage drive it as he was lighter than Pete and consequently easier on the transmission during the brutal take-off but both Pete and Ken were kept busy building a new T bodied altered so Dragonfly was parked up until 1968. Also absent was the Bristol Dragon.

Early in 1967 Chris did a deal with Alan Ing who had been racing a Turner Climax known as Windpusher. Alan was looking for a dragster and Chris liked the look of his Turner Climax so they did a straight swap.

Alan named the ex-Works Dragon ‘Sh-Uno-Who’, maybe he was hoping for sponsorship from Schweppes? He was out at the April 23^rd meeting running a best of 11.35 at 128mph, not only that but he took the D/Dragster class as well as Top Eliminator, beating Harold Bull in the final. Not bad for his first time out in a dragster.

Things got even better at the Big Go in May when Alan took the D/Dragster class again. Then in Top Eliminator he knocked out Dennis Priddle in Wicked Lady, then the Jag rail Blunderbus and again met Harold Bull in the final. It could have been a walkover for Harold as Alan was having trouble firing up but Harold, who was already on the start line sportingly cut his motor and waited. Sh-Uno-Who eventually fired, Harold re-started and the race was on. Stripduster hung on to the more powerful Dragon but Alan pulled away at the top end winning with a best ever 10.87 at 122mph! Alan continued his winning ways at the US Commandos meets in June and July with more Class and Top Eliminator wins... And again at the Drag Racing & Hot Rod Magazine meet in July. 

Then it was time for the 1967 British Drag Racing Championship. Alan missed a shift on Sunday and threw a rod. Luckily another competitor had a porous block in his garage which Alan used to rebuild his motor. On Monday Alan was listed as first to race in round one but the other Top Eliminator drivers agreed to let him come into the eliminator as soon as he had repaired the engine, a true show of sportsmanship so typical of drag racers. Alan was ready by the end of the first round and with an unknown engine running with no water in the block he promptly ran an 11.60 at 121mph to beat a very close Harold Bull who turned 11.72 at 114mph.

The final race for the out and out drag racing Champion of Great Britain saw Alan Ing lined up alongside Ken Cooper in his flathead digger. The questions were could Alan’s car stand another 11 second run and could Ken equal or better his 12.05? Both cars got clean starts but half way up both engines faltered, it could have been anyone's race but Alan got there first becoming the 1967 Drag Racing Champion in 12.86 seconds to Ken’s 13.28.

Two more meets remained in September and October and Alan continued to dominate in his Dragon to end an incredibly successful season.

Alan entered Sh-Uno-Who at the Autospeed ‘68 show in January. He also announced that he had commissioned B & M Equipment to build a frame to take two Shorrocks blown 1500cc Ford engines and hoped to debut it at the Easter Monday meet. B & M Equipment was Harold Bull and Derek Metcalf who had teamed up to sell chassis and other speed goodies.

The Easter meeting came around, the twin engined machine hadn’t made it as Alan was there with the Dragon. Instead of Class Eliminations this meeting saw bracket racing and Alan qualified number one with an 11.36 in the 11 – 12 second bracket. He came up against Mike Hutcherson in Houndog in round one who beat him with an 11.7 at 121mph as Alan shut off to a 12.6. This was the first time he hadn’t won a major race in over twelve months!

At the Big Go in June Alan pulled a red light against Geronimo in the first round of Top Eliminator. It was reported that he had just taken delivery of the B & M frame for his twin engined dragster. Also at the Big Go were the Watford Motor Accessories team Pete Atkins and Ken Bunnage. Pete was there with Slo-Mo-Shun, his T Altered, while Ken was running the Dragon which hadn’t been seen since ’66, and was now called Co-Mo-Shun, still unblown with four Wal Phillips injectors fitted.

The Summer Match Race meeting in July saw Ken Bunnage in No 2 Bracket take out Pat Church in Gold Rush with a 13.19 at 99mph in the first round but he then got knocked out by Reg Sommer’s MAB slingshot.

Alan Ing was back on form and in the tens again at the Drag Racing & Hot Rod Trophy Meet in August winning the D/Class Dragster eliminator with a 10.87 at 125mph, equalling his previous best ET. He lost out in Top Eliminator which went to Alan Blount in the Chevy powered Weekend Warrior running low tens at 145mph. 1968 saw big performance increases from the V8 dragsters making Top Eliminator out of reach for the smaller capacity cars.

The Drag Racing Championships were held at the beginning of September and Drag Racing Champion 1968 was Allan Herridge running high nines in his Chevy powered Motovation dragster. Alan Ing won C/Dragster but this time was shutdown in the final of Top Eliminator by Mike Tickner in the Olds powered Geronimo dragster.

There were no more wins for Alan Ing in 1968. It was now reported that Alan would be out in his B & M framed twin Dragon powered rail in 1969 but that never happened and Sh-Uno-Who was up for sale. Also Pete Atkins had his Co-Mo-Shun up for sale and that wasn’t seen until the last meeting of 1969. It was now supercharged again but this time it was a direct drive front mounted blower with one large injector. It was being given an airing by USAF Serviceman Doug Harler, the new owner. Unfortunately, it didn’t go too well as he snapped a half shaft during a warm-up run.

1970 saw Doug Harler running the Dragon in Middle Dragster and was soon running 12 second ETs. Doug had renamed it Chicken Little, painted the bodywork black and had white tape spiralling around the roll cage tubing. He also raced his Dodge Charger in Street. The NDRC Blackbushe meet in June saw Doug qualify with a 12.36 but he got knocked out by Harold Bull in round one. 

At the Drag Racing Championships in August Doug let Harold Bull drive the Dragon as Stripduster was in bits, waiting to hopefully go to the NHRA Nationals. Sunday’s Middle Dragster eliminations saw Harold miss a shift against Malcolm Locker’s Midi Witch Volvo powered slingshot, losing with a 14.84 to a 13.96. Things went a bit better on Monday and King Harold took out Richard Jarman in Stripstar in the semis with a 12.74 to 13.78, but got knocked out in the final when Reg Sommers in the straight six Zephyr powered MAB slingshot uncorked an 11.48 at 120mph to Harold’s 12.88 at 95mph. Stripduster never did go to the USA it was just the bikes of Dennis Norman and the Messenger/Butler/Chinn ensemble that made the trip.

There was a lot more to come from the blown and injected set up and Doug finally found it with a sizzling run of 11.1 during qualifying at the September 27^th meeting, the quickest run for the car and just behind the ex-works Dragon’s 10 second runs. Over the winter Harold Bull did some work on Chicken Little for Doug who was hoping to get it into the tens.

Harold Bull was dominating Middle Dragster in 1971 but at Gosport in April he broke the rear end and Doug took out Bill Haynes’ Quarterhorse in the semis then beat John Whitmore in the final with an 11.80. Doug met Harold in the final at the Big Go in May but pulled a cherry trying to get the jump on Harold who pulled a three-foot wheelstand getting crossed up but still drove around Chicken Little with a 10.86.

It was another Doug/Harold final at the June 27^th meet. This time Doug got a clean green and Harold again got out of shape with the front end in the air. Doug had a 100-yard lead and probably thought he had it in the bag but just before the eyes Stripduster sped past with a 10.6 at 129mph to 12.06 at 114mph. By mid-season Harold was in the nines being chased by John Whitmore who was getting down to low tens then he too was in the nines by October.

At the end of the year Doug Harler went back to the States and sold Chicken Little to John Rotherham who had been racing the ex-Mick Wheeler rear engined Imp powered Scorpion dragster. The Dragon got another new name, Avanti. It remained black with the addition of white pinstriping and was out at the 1972 Springnationals. On the Sunday John was shutdown by Harold Bull and on Monday John Whitmore beat him. Both Harold Bull and John Whitmore continued to dominate Middle Dragster Eliminator, none of the other dragsters in the class could match their times.

1972 also saw the reappearance of Alan Ing with a new rear engined dragster called Demon featuring Pat Cuss bodywork painted orange and blue metalflake. In the back was the Shorrocks blown 1500cc Ford motor from the ex-works Dragon. He debuted it at the Easter Springnationals running it with nitro in the tank but cracked the head at the August NDRC Blackbushe meet.

Running in Senior Dragster at the 1973 NDRC Silverstone Internationals John Rotherham in Avanti took the win shutting down fellow Midlands racer Ken Cooper with a 12.64 at 106mph to Ken’s 13.11 at 105mph. 

John was chairman of the Vintage Motor Cycle Club and also became the NDRC Midlands club treasurer. He ran Avanti at Long Marston at eighth mile races and now had the Shorrocks top mounted supercharger back on. Sadly he collapsed and died while at a meeting at Long Marston on 23rd July 1977.

The Dragon remained owned by Mrs Rotherham, club secretary of the Midlands Drag Racing Association, and much respected by the competitors. She let Alan Smith take over the running of the car as he had crewed for John when he was racing it. Alan ran it at Long Marston and Blackbushe both unblown and with the top mounted Shorrocks supercharger in place with either injection or the SU carb and he also tried different rear wheel and tyre combinations. When push starts were banned, Alan fitted a starter motor. Interestingly he was entered at the last Blackbushe drag race in September 1984 making it the only car that ran at both the first and last Blackbushe drag race meetings. In the 1990s Alan began running Avanti at nostalgia drag races with the Wild Bunch at Long Marston and later at Santa Pod’s annual Dragstalgia meetings.

In 2013, Roger Hayes, an Allard enthusiast, found the remains of the 1965 Mk 2 Dragon chassis. He was able to get many of the missing components from Allards and restored it as it would have been if Allards had built it with a Shorrocks blown 1500cc Ford engine. At the 2024 Dragstalgia meeting it was on display alongside Alan Smith’s Avanti and the Allard Chrysler dragster. The Works Allard chassis remains unfound, the only part of it that still exists is the Shorrocks supercharger, now fitted to Adrian Sidwell’s Opus Hot Rod...