James B. Russell 2GB last night claimed that radio comedian Fred Allen owed him a 1949 Ford automobile.

Russell was listening to the Fred Allen show at 8:42 Sunday night when WHBS, the Business School radio station, phoned and asked him to identify a mystery tune. A new Ford was offered as the prize.

Under the terms of an agreement between Allen and the Surety Trust Co., any person who can prove that he missed winning a prize because he was listening to Allen's program is eligible for reimbursement.

"Spot the Tune"

The program that Russell might have been listening to was the first in a new series entitled "Spot the Tune." WHBS officials also implied that it might be the last in the same series. It involved identifying a "mystery tune."

At WHBS, disc jockeys played a record called "The Beaches and the Bassets." They then drew a number from a hat, and phoned Russell.

"We had the car to give away," John R. Rowe 2GB, Publicity Manager for WHBS, said last night. "Another student put his automobile, a '49 four-door Ford, on the block for Sunday's program."