Like many of his countrymen, Allison began racing in the 500cc engined F3 of the early 50’s. He eventually became one of the top dogs in the category, joining Lotus as a sports car driver in 1957. The association led to a full time GP ride in 1958, and Allison impressed right from the start. He finished 6th in his first two outings (which were not points paying positions at the time), but soon got his first helping of points, with 4th in Belgium. He also scored 5th in Germany, and when his Lotus suffered an accident in Portugal, he drove a Centro Sud Maserati 250F. Allison had impressed enough that he was hired by Ferrari, for 1959. His early Ferrari outings were not promising, but by the Italian GP he was qualifying well, also posting a 5th place in Monza. He started 1960 in full swing, finishing the Argentine GP in second, also for Ferrari, and winning the Sports car race. However, at Monaco he suffered a crash that put him out for the rest of the year. Cliff was back in action in 1961, but no longer a Ferrari driver. He had another race for UDT Laystall, finishing 8th in Monaco, and then he had another terrible accident at Spa. The leg injuries were such that Allison promptly retired from racing.