F. W. Allard - founder of the Allard Cycle Co.
Allard & Company were a firm of cycle manufacturers that were located at Earlsdon, Coventry from the end of the 19th Century
Being established in 1890, former
Coventry Machinists Company employee F. W. Allard initially started out selling 'Royal Allard' safety cycles, but by 1898 began offering autocars and motorised tricycles from the modest Earlsdon Works. Allard himself was a very well-known cycle racer during the 1880s, being at one time the 'Safety Champion of the World', spending many months abroad competing in America and Europe against some of the best riders of the day.
In 1901 Allard & Co. built their first motor-bicycle, of which Allard himself also raced. Later that year, the Birmingham Motor Manufacturing Company took over the Allard business, creating the new enterprise called the
Rex Motor Manufacturing Company at Osborne Road. F. W. Allard then became a publican, and remained in the Earlsdon area.
Rex went on to build both motorcycles and cars for many years at Earlsdon, and in 1922 they merged with near-neighbours the
Acme Motor Company, to form
Rex-Acme which ran until 1933.