Johnny Allen (racing driver)

Johnny Allen (* 1929 ; † 1995 in Millsaps) was an American motorcycle racer . In his career he set an all-time speed record for motorcycles in 1956 .

Johnny Allen owned a chrome plating business in Fort Worth , races in AMA Class C with the support of motorcycle dealer Pete Dalio and was also a Texas State Champion in those eight years . Occasionally he drove for the Californian dealer Vern Gardner, where a foot injury ended his career as a train driver . When the streamlined “ Texas Ceegar ” motorcycle , equipped with a Triumph engine, was built in his home country , he was considered a driver after the designer JH “Stormy” Mangham had only reached 231 km / h on the Bonneville Flats in 1954 . On his first trips in 1955, Allen came over 305 km / h in one direction, but his goggles slipped during the prescribed run in the opposite direction, which pushed the average speed below the existing record of 297 km / h.

In further attempts the weather conditions were bad, the 200 mph mark (322 km / h) could not be surpassed, apart from the fact that neither FIM nor AMA timekeepers were present. At least the latter were there when Allen set a record for 500 cc naturally aspirated engines at 311 km / h on August 31, 1956 . Wilhelm Herz had raised the absolute speed record for motorcycles with his 500 cc supercharged NSU to 339 km / h on August 4th , Allen improved this with a 650 cc Triumph engine without a compressor on September 6th to 345 km / h H. In 1959, Allen wanted to beat his record again and lost control of the motorcycle at 320 km / h, but he got away with broken ribs and bruises.

Also a motorcycle, but equipped with a Chevrolet V8 engine, Big John was the vehicle with which Allen wanted to break not only the speed record for motorcycles , but also the land speed record in 1963 . However, the machine turned out to be immature and the project was abandoned.

In the late 1960s, he and partners opened the Johnny Allen Triumph-Suzuki store in Fort Worth , which he ran until 1974. He also lived off the chrome-plating business and ran a real estate business.

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Individual evidence

personal data
SURNAME	Allen, Johnny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Allen, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American motorcycle racer, motorcycle world record holder (1956–1962)
DATE OF BIRTH	1929
DATE OF DEATH	1995
Place of death	Millsaps

[1] Don Brown: World speed mark set by Triumph , Cycle, November 1955, p. 24

[2] Don Brown: World speed mark set by Triumph , Cycle, November 1955, p. 25

[3] Tim Hanna: One Good Run. The Legend of Burt Munro , Penguin Books, London 2005, p. 343