- 1,115
- Rivera
- Tsukishima-TDUDT
Jerry Allen was a guy that liked fast… fast anything. Cars, boats, you name it – he probably had one. In the mid-sixties, he got involved in the Excalibur car – a 1928 Mercedes SS clone – built on a Studebaker chassis. He also had more than a little flair. His New York City Chevrolet dealership was located on the ground floor of the General Motors building. He later moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to concentrate on selling Excalibur cars as well as boats of the same name.
The Excalibur had a good run and, for a car guy, there can be little that is more enjoyable than seeing people line up to buy a car that you had a hand in building. When the Excalibur line came to an end, Allen wanted something else to sell. What came out as his next project was the Allen Pursuit.
Starting with a new Corvette, local builder Jack Coolidge and his sons would transform the car with additional fiberglass and filler, into the restyled work you see here. Allen’s appreciation of earlier styling themes is evident in the lines of the Pursuit, which were strongly influenced by the Talbot-Lago and Delahaye classics of the 1930’s.
According to reports, a total of one prototype and six actual cars were built, despite being widely advertised in high end lifestyle magazines such as Sports Illustrated, Esquire, GQ and Playboy. The current example is from a Texas estate, with a classic black and burgundy exterior combination and a red leather interior.
The car is believed to be powered by a Chevrolet small-block engine 327s in 300-hp Corvette tune.
I'd appreciate if anyone can find more pictures of this car...
