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Carlos Allen came into the business independently of
the U.S. limousine activity during the 1960s. He said, "I have been a
coachbuilder since 1952. At first... I built sports cars. Then I got tired
of making cars smaller and faster, so I decided instead to make them longer
and more elegant."
Born in Mexico to an American father and a Spanish
mother, Allen grew up with dreams of becoming a classical guitarist and a
race car driver. Allen ended up with a variant of his ambitions but one in
which he found great satisfaction: he applied artistry to cars. In the early
1950s, he toured European coachbuilders and was struck by the flair and
tradition of the Old World craftsmen. He returned to Mexico and put that
experience to work on small platforms, such as MG, Volkswagen, and Austin,
which he converted to race cars with lightweight aluminum and fiberglass
bodies.
Allen built his first stretch limousine in 1966, which
he designed on a napkin in a restaurant with friends. "Let's make cars for
the rich," he told them, "not the crazy." Allen turned to his friend,
Lincoln dealer Bob Eagle, who ordered 50 limousines to sell through his
dealership, one of the largest in the country. Allen was henceforth known
for the beautiful and elaborate interior limousines. Allen came as close as
any to the craftsmanship of the 1920s Custom Era. "His lifelong ambition
was to be an official Rolls-Royce coachbuilder," says John Patti of his
friend. "Just like Mulliner or Hooper." Allen's associate and fellow
coachbuilder, Ken Boyar, concurs: "He was one of the world's finest
coachbuilders. "
Allen was an extremely playful builder as well. He
toyed with a stretch Volkswagen Bug and built on almost any platform-from
Ford to Mercedes to Rolls-Royce. He was unafraid of some of the more
difficult tasks of limousine building, such as oversized doors and raised
roofs. His fame, however, was earned with the interior work of his cars.
"Anybody can stretch a car that’s only 12 percent of the job. The other 88
percent is the fine finish," he said. Allen sold Allen Coachworks in 1989
but was back at work with a new firm in 1993, AJR Coachworks, where he
worked until his death the following year.
Eagle-Allen S.A. of Mexico was an unlikely home to one of
the greatest names in modern coach building. Carlos Allen started out
building sports cars. When he decided to "make cars for the rich, not the
crazy, " his talents went fully to the creation of stupendous limousines. Eagle-Allen is now called LCW
and is located in San Antonio, Texas and Nueva Laredo, Mexico.
© 2004 LCW Automotive, Laredo, Texas
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