Our WORST Project Car Ever?! Vanden Plas 1750 (Allegro...) Update
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ธ.ค. 2023
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Here's an update on how our Vanden Plas Allegro project has been!
Phil talks you through the extensive work that has been completed to the Vanden Plas and all the troubles that came along the way, has this been our worst project ever? Let us know what you think
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I absolutely love the car...but what a lot of grief to get it right. Can't imagine how a regular person without Classics World resources could have kept going with that. Real shame
I guess there’s a reason the Trade called it the All-Aggro…🤣
Project nigel
Looks like it is about 10 cars all in one. Great work to keep her alive, not sure anyone else would have
I currently have the one off wheeler dealers - Paul's Yard Uk. I had very similar issues but once sorted drives lovely. The auto box does need a specialist and as you say they are very rare now, I used Norfolk automatics, took 7months! Well done for saving it guys, they're not that bad when set up properly.
I had one of these in the mid 80s. I was waiting to emigrate to australia so I had sold all my good gear and picked one of these up at a local friendly scrapyard. I ran it hard for a year and then sold it for more than I paid. It really surprised me just how good it was for an old banger. Good to see some still going.
Aged 17 and not yet passed my test, I once turned down the chance to buy an Allegro the elderly owner had painted blue. Using a brush. Including the painted dashboard!
Amazed to read all the hate that any Allegro draws even today. I have owned two, including a Vanden Plas and both were a joy to own. Currently I'm using a Morris Ital as my daily driver. Despite its age it is a reliable fun drive that gets compliments on a daily basis. The general public love these old cars even if the online classic community doesn't.
To Paul Macfarlane. Yes, you are so right that some people say venomous things about the Allegro, even today. THAT'S PROBABLY JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE AFFORDABLE. Such people are simply snobs, and you aren't supposed to buy anything that isn't a status symbol expensive brand. Those sort of people are the sort of people that make me so mad, that if they dared to say unpleasant things about MY Allegro, ( one of the most fun cars I ever owned) , then I think I would go round and ask for my Christmas Card back!
But what you have told us, that you owned not only an Allegro, but an Ital (also one of my favourites), makes up for the existence of such (so called) "people"!
Great video. I'm a bit of a fan of these as I used mine as a daily with no issues whatsoever. The seats are comfy, they're reasonably economical (mine was a 5 speed manual) and mine at least was very quiet. Regarding the huge panel gaps on your car I would say the blame has to be aimed at the person who fitted the panels during restoration. You showed a photo of the car with brown doors etc, so they aren't factory gaps. Being so undervalued BL cars don't get the love they deserve. They're every bit as relevant as any other brand and deserve their place on our roads. Good on you for keeping this one going.
This video has brought back so many memories. My 1st car in 1994 was a 1979 denim blue Vanden Plas 1500 auto(SWP 377V).Bought for £400 from a garage in Halesowen. Ran it for a few years and then stupidly replaced it with a Nissan Micra after gearbox problems and struggling to source parts.
To alanfaultless.
Yes, the gearboxes COULD cause problems. I had to get the auto box rebuiltat about 40000 miles, because you couldn't get new ones. It went AGAIN several years later, but I'd seen an immaculately preserved car for sale locally. A Vauxhall Carlton Estate, equipped with EVERYTHING. So I bought that, and sold my (rust-free) 21 -year old Allegro to a neighbour, who wanted it as a birthday present for his 21 year old son. The car was rust free because it had been Z I E B A R T E D.
Our family also had other BMC cars, WITHOUT this AP gearbox the BORG WARNER automatic box. The first we had was a (Farina) Morris Oxford that lasted about 10 years, and a LANDCRAB Wolseley 1800 that lasted a bit longer. Both had to gave replaced/ repaired gearboxes at some point, and, like with my A P box Allegro, we got rid if the cars rather than having a SECOND new gearbox.
HOWEVER, by the time my parents had first , a Moŕris Marina, and then a Morris Ital, the BORG WARNER boxes Those had, had been perfected by the makers, and lasted the life if those cars. So if the AP box had been made a lot longer, then, presumably, they would have got THOSE right too!
Being the better off neighbours only way of getting one over on me having a standard Allegro as a 17 year old, we use to laugh at the Vanden Plas, but now I think they do have a charm to them...lots of work but glad another one saved...😅
That is such a journey down memory lane - as a child there was someone who took one of these (in that exact colour) to our local classic car show, year in, year out. My father had owned an Allegro, but I had never seen one with the fancy interior and the Bentley-esque grille, so I had no idea what on Earth I was looking at until I was much older. Would I have one? Absolutely - it is just so odd yet endearing.
Another good video 🚗🚙🚘⭐️⭐️⭐️👍👍👏👏👏Happy new year 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎊🎊🎊🎊
They were known as "Allaggro" for a reason. To be fair the series 3 had ironed out all issues, then BL stopped making them.
Very interesting video indeed. That is a beautiful looking car. I can certainly see why it was never sold this side of the pond. Not nearly enough engine for our distances. Many a time I have had a 200 mile daily round trip commute for work. If the engine is getting excited at 50mph, 70 must be nigh on unbearable. Then again, I'm rather used to huge old North American land yachts with under stressed V8 engines.
The words 'turd' and 'polishing' come to mind...
My father " upgraded " my mums car to a 1500cc allegro , she hated it the clutch went , i tried to help mum push it i was only a child , ot broke down again in ASDA as i remeber , my mum returned to MINI again !!!
Whilst my mum had the allegro my fathers car was a 17.50HLwith 5 gears !!!!!!!!
Why criticise the panel gaps, when you show in the video it has been "restored " previously
I thought that too.
Its cute! The shape is appealing and the little bit of luxury too!! TY for posting this. 🚗🚘🚗
Glad you like it!
We tend to get hung up about panel fit and shut lines but the truth is back in the day all cars were like that not just BL. That AP auto box was never a very nice thing even when new and always suffered from jerky and erratic changes. This thing about the pronunciation of Vanden Plas is funny to me, I went on the ambassador launch course for service department staff and the guy there spent a good ten minutes explaining it was pronounced Plah and not Plas when introducing us to the Ambassador VDP and I was told the same on the series 3 XJ launch course as well. The Allegro VDP was never a bad car and quite nice to drive in manual form but it was a bit of an anomaly, it was meant to attract retiring solicitors, bank managers, doctors and executives from their Rovers, Humbers, Austin 3ltrs and the like and it wasn't quite large enough to do that a Marina sized saloon would have been much more what was needed but in truth that type of market was on the wane anyway.
Of course you'll have problems. Apart from build quality issues of most cars of that era you are driving a car which is well past it's use by date. Most cars of that era had a life of 12/14 years. How many Ford or Vauxhall produced cars are still around. Not bad for a car so heavily criticised.
I'd say less than 7 years. It is crazy whilst watching late 70s early 80s banger racing to see not that old cars getting wrecked.
The Vanden Plas was a name synonymous with top end motoring in the day. Although in reality it was just an excuse to put a higher price tag on what was just a regular BL car with a snazzy front.
If one costs for both time and parts, I guess that most classics require £5K to £15K spent on them, even if they are pretty genuine and solid. No problem if they are £50K plus classics like big Healeys but a real headache for ordinary classics like this Allegro, particularly in a depressed market.
If that car was your first classic car, you'd never want another, proper lemon 😂
The anoraks are going to say "it's worthless cos it's got the wrong engine and gearbox 🙄
If Simon can't fix the original units, it certainly would be a scrapper for the rest of us amateur tinkerers 😮👍🇮🇪
My Dad had the earlier manual 1500 in that same blue with a dark blue vinyl roof and cream leather. Great little car! Just not by today’s standards! 😊
To Mr. Andre Howell
Can you please give details about how you also thought the Allegro was "A great little car" , but not by standards.
I thought the same, but don't miss the unheated outside mirrors, that only kept ( partly) clear with de-icer sprayed on them. And the de- nicer itself wasn't entirely clear!
I had a W-reg Allegro 3. I've also seen V-reg 3s. The Vanden Plas cars must have overlapped.
EDIT: That's now been explained.
Jut a minute. The factory never made a Vanden Plas 1750, did they?
But I like it.
Yes, the later ones when the series 3 Allegro came out were all 1750 cc iirc.
So, the VDPs issues weren’t due to the build quality, but more correctly, poor re-build quality………for all the BL detractors, the fact that this one is a survivor is testament to the fact that for all the bad press, if you managed to avoid a Friday afternoon special, they weren’t built any worse than a Dagenham dustbin, or Luton rust-bucket!
A car that reflects the state of the British car industry of the time. It will be a brave person who takes that on. The only guarantee is that you will never be guaranteed of getting home in it.
why they didnt make these cars as hatchbacks i will never understand, there were some strange decisions at bl, if you look at harris manns design sketches for this car it would have been quite handsome, then they fudged a tall engine into it and forever ruined the look of the things, the vanden plas grill suited the 1300 but never looked ok on these, interiors were lovely as all vp cars were, i imagine eith a 1750 twin carb engine they would go pretty well
Is the steering heavy - being front wheel drive, and without power steering? The bigger the engine, apparently, the more that could be the case!
If it was a plain Allegro wouldnt have been much point in all the hassle,but a Vanden Plas makes it worth the trouble as I'm sure it has more "Classic Car"status!
The biggest issue with this car is the appearance reminds me of the after market fiberglass kits available for the VW bug.
It doesn't look a part of the original design.
I don't normally like Allegros but the vanden plas is really quite appealing.
They drive beautiful 🙂
And I bet all the guys that complained about your pronouncing of 'Plus' pronounce 'Lancia' as 'Larn-see-a' 🙂I loved this car when I was young..
Never liked the look of that car, and your tale of breakdowns and replacement engine/gearbox doesn't help sell it! However kudos for keeping it on the road, whoever gets it next will have a very rare motor to take to shows.
REALLY RARE car ! Only about 700 made!
🤔 I wonder just how many of these vehicles are still left out there. Including numbers actually left driving 🚘 on the road ?....
@@alancrisp1582According to the How Many Left website just 2 are registered.
@@alancrisp1582 actually, if you want to find out - the ALLEGRO OWNERS CLUB INTERNATIONAL can tell you that!
I always roll my eyes in slight amusement at this ‘Vanden Plah’ vs ‘Vanden Plass’ nonsense. No doubt the same people also point out that it’s ‘Porsch-a’ not ‘Porsch’. But do they similarly insist on ‘Follks-Vaagen’ or ‘Lancha’ or ‘Bay-Emm-Vay’? I think not!
Had a 1973 Allegro 1500. Worst car i have owned. Only thing I liked was the fan speed switch. If you used the pressed steel jacking points the rear window popped out. Thanks for the review ..... very typical reliability🇻🇨
Is any old car a classic?
It's subjective
🤔 Most old cars will become classic cars one day. At the very least, highly collectable. As they disappear from the roads, and become rarer. Of course some more than others !!..
Ah, so that’s what happened to it!
I love its fake Jaguar interior. :) Happy 2024 everyone!
It isn't a "fake Jaguar interior ". All Vanden Plas cars were like that
@@19892CV It's just a way of speaking...
😁
PlASS not plARSE!! 😹😹😹
What a disaster, testoment to what garbage BL and the British car industry produced post 1965 . We were all expected to buy British and get fleeced. My dad had a mk2 granada that blew its head gasket, a 2600 VP SD1 that blew a head gasket at 65,000 miles. Years later my Rover 218 SLD did the same. I now drive Toyota's and have never had an issue. Sorry guys truth is truth
Yes Phil, but it’s hideous!
In other words... it's a bag of sh1t that should be avoided at all costs, as the original Allegro was when it was new! This is one of the cars responsible for the demise of the British car industry.
🤫 No ,that was the all powerful unions who were single handedly responsible for the end of the British motor industry !.While the Germans and Japanese manufacturers were launching 😂 their heads off, and taking over !!..........
@@alancrisp1582 And yet the German unions are even stronger than the UK ones ever were. But the key was that German management worked with the unions and the unions were represented on the company boards. Unlike the UK where management did everything to avoid talking to the unions.
@@tinplategeektoo 🤔 Yes ,there is some truth in what you say. Please keep in mind I have to be very careful about what I say ,due to TH-cam censorship. Mary Poppins is always watching you !!......
@@alancrisp1582 Whether it was the unions, the management, the designers, the workforce or the government (and all played a part) it doesn't really matter. This was the level of quality that BL could come up with, and which ultimately killed them. Same goes for Rootes Group.
If you’ve got a blank diary for the rest of your life + too much in your bank account, then this could be just the ticket
🤔 Serious car collectors , do not look at it that way !!....
@@alancrisp1582
Perhaps. But then serious car collectors probably wouldn’t be seeking to enhance their collection with an Allegroid
@@jaywalker1233 🤔 People will collect all kinds of vehicles. You might be surprised by some of the car collections, I have seen in my home country New Zealand !!....
@@alancrisp1582
True. But there’s a reason why so few of these mobile dumplings have survived…
@@jaywalker1233 Indeed, I can not argue with you on that account. In any event, these vehicles are now a very rare sight on roads here in my country. Including classic car 🚙 shows !!..
Absolutely hideous very bad in every way only the British could produce such an awful nightmare of a car.😢
I'm sorry .. she's not the most pretty of machines 😅
Beauty is in the eye 👁🗨 of the beholder. I happen to think 🤔 this model car 🚙 is very attractive from any angle !!.
@@alancrisp1582 I'm sure some liked it .
“Lipstick on a pig” comes to mind when I look at that Vanden plas grill! That and I am scratching my head as to why this is a car worth saving, other than as an example of BL arrogance of just serving up any old garbage with an extra serving of “you can stick it or lump it” attitude, that the management did indeed have!
Because they can be really nice to drive - with double-wishbone suspension at the front and trailing arms at the back, they go where you point them and the ride is pretty good. They barely roll on corners because of the hydragas suspension. The engines don't rev well, but they're torquey.
What a disaster, testoment to what garbage BL and the British car industry produced post 1965 . We were all expected to buy British and get fleeced. My dad had a mk2 granada that blew its head gasket, a 2600 VP SD1 that blew a head gasket at 65,000 miles. Years later my Rover 218 SLD did the same. I now drive Toyota's and have never had an issue. Sorry guys truth is truth