Road Impressions - The Austin Allegro HL
It is highly desirable that British cars should measure up to those of the rest of the world. The Rolls-Royce has proved that it still does. British Leyland promise fine…
This Lola T330/332, which has been a regular on the historic scene, changed hands through James Hanson at Speedmaster Cars early last year. Unusually, it was bought back from Neil Glover by its previous owner Mike Wrigley.
It’s the latest twist in an interesting life story for T330 chassis HU23. The car was sold new to well-known Australian driver Johnnie Walker, a podium finisher in the Bathurst 1000, and raced in the 1974 Tasman Series with a Repco-tuned Holden V8 rather than the usual Chevy. The car is believed to have been twice rebuilt around new T332 monocoques after substantial accidents, one of which at Sandown is reputed to have demolished a large section of equestrian railing at the combined motor sport and horse racing venue.
Sources suggest it was robbed of much of its running gear after Walker sold it in the early ’80s to create the one-off Veskanda Group C sports car. What is clear, however, is that car has the lineage back to Walker’s original 1973 T330.
Hanson won’t put an exact price on the car, but he says that it wouldn’t be likely to fetch more today.
“Values of F5000 machinery aren’t on the up at a time when the corresponding figures for 1970s F1 cars and the recent rise in prices for F2 cars means there isn’t much between them,” says Hanson. “A lot of it is down to what’s in fashion. An F5000 offers similar performance to an F1 car, but at half the price, so what’s not to like?”
Speedmaster Cars, Wetherby, Yorkshire. Tel: 01937 220360. speedmastercars.com