I have a very soft spot for the Allegro. Grandad had three in a row. The second was in that exact same brown colour. The third was a series 3 1.3HL in light blue. Very soft, very spacious and dependable car. I have great memories of our family outings in it. Thanks for a very very lovely video!!
What colour interior did the S3 have? I really like the lovely red velour interior of the later 'high spec' models. Even cloth covered door panels. Oh the hedonism.
My Mum had a string of Austins, Mini, 1100, 1300 and then she bought a 1978 blue Allegro 1300. To a kid like me it felt much more modern than the 1100/1300 range it replaced but a bit 'squat' looking. She drove it for 3 years or so, never went wrong, always started well. The only thing i remember her saying was the steering was heavier in the Allegro than the Ital she replaced it with. The Allegro doesn't really deserve the bad press it got. All the best, Maurice.
They seemed like something from the future to people like my grandfather. You must remember they were used to cars where the 0-60 time was 30 seconds if they could reach 60 ! Spacious fun little car in my opinion.
My dad had a series 1 as a cheap stopgap back when I had just passed my test in the mid 90's and my mum refused to go in it! It became my first car and all I can say is it handled all the abuse that a 17 year old could throw at it! At the time I absolutely hated it! Now in my 40's I feel bad for how I treated it and am half looking for another one!
I had an Allegro VDP in 1985 (a 1977 model). It was a lovely car with an extremely high level of trim (lots of chrome, leather seats, walnut dash, large chrome grill, plush carpets, lots of sound proofing etc.). It was not as bad as people made out and I enjoyed my ownership of it.
My first car, Allegro 1.3L in blue, saved up all my money from two jobs to buy it when I was 17. Had it 10 months until the engine decided to chuck its oil over the A38 at 2am and seize up. Very comfortable especially the back seat 😉😉
Great unbiased video. I've tried to like the Allegro over the years but have failed to despite liking a lot of BL and Austin cars having grown up with Minis, Metros and Montegos. Over the years I've even been able to appreciate the appearance of the Marina. A Marina saloon has good proportions. Having said that, I still love to see them out and being used still, I'll always stop and look one over if I see one at a show. They're definitely a curiousity and it's great that these are kept alive despite all the critics and haters.
Fabulous! The Series 3 is my favourite Allegro by far. I think by then they were pretty much sorted and probably proved to be very decent cars. The A series whine is addictive and as a child of the 80s who loves cars that sound seemed to be everywhere when I was growing up. I particularly like the colour of this one. My late grandmother told me of the time she returned an Allegro courtesy car and insisted on something different as she simply couldn’t cope with the quartic wheel! It looks like you had a beautiful winter’s day for this video and filmed in a delightful location, all of which helps to set off that great colour. Thank you as ever.
Drove my first Allegro - a Series 3 1.3 as it happens - just last summer and was pleasantly surprised by how perky and comfortable it was. Damn sight better gearshift quality than the one in the 1981 Maxi I once borrowed from a dealer, too. The Allegro may have been a compromise but it's nowhere near as bad as bar-room 'experts' would have you believe.
I had the Vanden Plas, Michael. Mostly used it for golf and Sunday outings. I also had the Equippe, for when I felt a bit keen, was going to the pub, or picking up a young lady. Finally, I had a 1.3 for tooling around town and going shopping.
@@TheGalacticEmperorOfLabels good for you, Mr. Allegro fan! You've got taste! Have you ever been a member of the Allegro Owners Club? I had a 1.3 saloon, and joined. The club was not very good in sourcing spares, but was for heretics who actually DARED to like Allegro, quite WITHOUT asking doubters permission!
@@TheGalacticEmperorOfLabels I had an Equipe as well and being a TC it was a very quick car back then and was an excellent reliable car. Only reason I don't have it now is it was lost in an accident - OGB 477V was its reg number and it always drew people to it when it was parked them looking at it and in and wanting to know about as not many people knew about the Equipe back then even though it was on billboards all over the country when they brought it out.
@@TheGalacticEmperorOfLabels from Nygel Miller. I have just been reading your reply to my comment - and then read back what I had written to you before. This was probably written (once again,) in the middle of the night, when I was texting about cars, instead of doing what decent folks are doing! SLEEPING! So I wrote something unforgivable by mistake! I'd asked if you ever belonged to the Allegro Owners Club. THEN I said they WERE NO GOOD at sourcing spares, when I meant they WERE good at sourcing spares! I hope they never read that!
Great review,lovely to see a good example surviving and that's got to be the best colour for an Allegro. I've never seen why people called it so ugly? Looks an awful lot like a Sud and OK it never got something as exciting as a boxer engine, but it was certainly no worse than the Alfa for it's build quality or reliability.
I know they were knocked at the time, but I think most of the people slagging them now have no idea or interest in the fact that in the 1970s loads of cars were at least as bad for rust, reliability, build quality, styling.
@@SM-dt1pr The merc w123 was notorious for rust back inte the day. (Worse than the mk2 granada) I know that because the swedish top gear guy publishes their old episodes from late 70's and 80s on his youtube channel.
@@neilwalsh4058 Yeah but his is more than 30 years old, this whan they were almost a new model. The point was that slagging 70's cars off for rusting is pretty moot. Some were worse than others though but most of the models that survive in high numbers do sao because they sold in high numbers and were expensive enough to be percieved as viable to repair. Stereotypes like german or swedish quality are just silly. Opels and fords are also german but they were scrapped much more readily than mercs and bmw:s and thats why there are not as many still on the road.
To Neil Walsh from Nygel Miller. The reason why people criticised Allegro, not Alfasuds, was because of taking our own designs for granted, for being British! Some "turn against their own things" Something prouder nations like the Germans would never do - because it's not in their nature! Good for them.
My dad bought one of the last ones made. It was a metallic gold estate with a 1500 engine and it was a really nice car. I remember driving it and thinking how refined it felt compared to my (at the time) Cortina MkII.
Absolutely love these. My mates Dad had one and used to pick us up from Roller skating on a Saturday night. Always reliable and comfy he had it for years.
Every time I see an allegro I’m taken back to a very sad place somewhere in Middlesbrough in the very early 90s that sold anything with 6m + mot for 100 quid and anything less for 50, it was essentially a scrap yard under a roof - it was full of 70’s escorts cortina’s allegros and marinas all knackered all badly rusted. My mate bought a VP allegro for 50 quid as it was cheaper than the train ticket back to Scotland, it lasted 2 months to be fair. Looking back I should have bought the lot, stuck them in a barn and waited 30 years………I’d be a millionaire!
One of my earliest memories is my uncle's dad driving me and five other kids in his Allegro. That must be why I've always thought of them as 7-seaters...
@@TheMentalblockrock Something like that. Actually I think it was 3 in the front (smallest child on the lap of the biggest) and 4 in the back. Yeah that was it 😂
Thanks Matt, really enjoyed the vid, I haven’t seen many series 3 Allegros being reviewed on You Tube so this was very welcome. Some people who like Allegros are not keen on the Series 3 because of the plastic/rubber look, they ditched the chrome bumpers for black metal ones, plus they introduced plastic wheel trims although they did still offer the metal hubcaps. It is the wrong steering wheel for this, it should be a round one with the Austin/Rover badge in the centre, but the Quartic one works and kind of suits.
My dad loved these cars He had a blue 3 door when I was very young, then subsequently other cars (as you do) including an Austin Ambassador, a Vauxhall Cavalier and a Ford Fiesta He always went back to an Allegro though, having 3 others A lime green 3 door An orange 5 door And a brown 5 door He found them to be cheap to run and insure, economical and very easy to work on
My first brand new car was an Allegro 1100 deluxe in Russett Brown which I bought in 1978. Had a few problems with oil leaks but apart from that it was a very good, reliable family car. It was quite innovative with Hydrogas suspension and the use of plasma welding to give seamless panel joints. To all those who criticize the Allegro shape I suggest that they look at the competition of the early 70s. There were some dreadful, dull designs that were anonymous. The Allegro was different from the rest of the field and didn't deserve all of the obloquy from the motoring press.
James May compared the Allegro to the Mazda 323 of the same period. He proposed that Mazda built the car that was designed whereas BL didn't. This is why Mazda still exists and Austin doesn't.
@@rob5944 All deliberate and part of this agenda because the unions were owned and controlled just like the political parties by the Mafias in this video here : th-cam.com/video/98qv9ztkW_U/w-d-xo.html
The FWD Mazda 323/Protege etc. did not come out until 1981. Its several predecessors where RWD solid axle leaf spring cars (as were the Toyota and Datsun (Nissan) competiton, nothing like the later ones or an Allegro.
In the early 80s a friend owned one, the 1.3 two door estate version. Curiously, he never drove it as he didn't have a license but would lend it to anyone who needed it as long as it was returned to him with a full tank... which it hardly ever was. Even 40 years ago Allegros were consdered a bit of a joke but I liked it. I thought this version of the Allegro was one of neatest most well proportioned cars around at the time. I drove it frequently. Because it was a loaner, the poor thing was thrashed everywhere it went but didn't miss a beat. Regrettably, none of us bothered to maintain it and as a result, it eventually had enough. I seized it's engine on an autobahn one evening and pushed it into a nearyby barn. I never saw it again. I paid for it's recovery and heard later that it was back on the road a few weeks later.
The Allegro 3 was way better than the earlier variants, especially the dual headlight, 1500HLS variants. My first car was a 1976 (P reg) 1300 model and it was a cheap to run, easy to service yourself and functional motor. I moved up through a few models, a 1500 Vanden Plan (S2) and my Dad bought that off me, I then got another one, a S3 1100 which was a nippy wee car and much comfier trim than my first one. I drooled over at the time cars like the Escort XR3i and the Astra but I just couldn't afford them on a students grant. Once I finished University in 1989 I moved house so stuck with BL/Austin cars for a few more years with a couple of Austin Ambassadors, the first being a 2.0HL then a few years later a 2.0 VDP. I know they had their quirks but at that time the Allegro offered cheap, and surprisingly reliable transport to and from work and some memorable trips all over the UK. This is a great video brought back a few memories of a now much maligned car.
My mates uncle bought his new Allegro in 1975 -first time he washed it all went well until he rinsed off suds with a bucket of water and was less than impressed finding passenger well swimming. !! Taking It back to main dealer was found that no plenum drain had been fitted !! Happy days of BL 👏
Nothing to do with anything being missing - like lot of cars leaves etc getting into the air grills in front of the windscreen for the heater etc would allow that to fill up and overflow into the cabin - keeping that cleaned out solved that. There was also a plastic flap on the front of the two overflow pipes to allow the water out of that air intake grill into the engine compartment and onto the ground that would stick to the pipes with the heat of the engine keeping the water in also - the cure to that was just to cut those plastic flaps off and that is probably what the dealer did. The drains were part of the bulkhead so couldnt be missing.
As a kid I grew up with Allegros, great grandparents had a metallic blue estate, and my grandad had various models over the years… And now I really want one for the nostalgia
The Allegro has four engine options, 1100, 1300, 1500 and 1750. When launched in 1973 had the square steering wheel, not a feature of other BL cars. With the Mk2 facelift in 1975 the square wheel was dropped and estates were available. By 1979 the series 3 was introduced with more plastic and a choice of brighter colours, and I know of a late 1982 top of range 1750HLS near me until a few years ago. There was also the luxury Vanden Plas with wood and leather upholstery.
Thanks for this. I had an Allegro (W suffix), which was six months old - an ex-rental. It was supposed to be a 1 litre or thereabouts. But it had a 1300 engine in (my brother worked at Longbridge and checked) - and it wasn't a Friday afternoon build, either. Went everywhere at about 110 (really!!); handling improved dramatically once I put Firestones on the front (softer rubber, behaved better in corners); as well as long distances I also used it in autotests, 12 car rallies and navigational scatters. Usually got about 43+ per gallon. Never a problem (until the exhaust fell off in an autotest..). Honestly one of the best cars I have ever had...
Interesting fact. This Allegro being tested belonged to the guy who I bought a Rover Metro in BRG from. And it was nice to know FD is in my neck of the woods ☺️☺️
I loved my allegro moved house twice with no roof rack just wind the widows down and tie to the roof remove rear seats to carry flags sand and cement and fence posts bought for £50 I sold for £80 to my mate he had good use till he hit the back of a bus
I like the looks of the Allegro. There, I've said it! It wasn't the most dynamic thing but it It wasn't really bad. Mind you, I would prefer a Citroën GS.
@@benc8386 I totally agree! I had a grill from our old family Alfasud and I placed it (for a very short time) on the front of my quad headlighted Allegro 3 HLS. Almost looked like an Alfasud Ti. (A few years later I did get an Alfasud Ti Green Cloverleaf.) My Allegro was a very pleasant car. Truly.
Nice review. They should have sorted the transmission whine by then (that was caused by the transfer gears I think) for the A series powered cars, after all the E series equipped cars had silent transmissions. The Allegro was a step change improvement over ADO16 1100 / 1300 regarding corrosion resistance. Apparently Pressed Steel advised Sir Alec Issigonis of the rust traps in the ADO16 original design suggesting that these be addressed before production proceeded but he said to proceed without amendment. HL = High Line. The 1750 TC equipped cars were quite fast but were only available late on (the early 1750SS being single carb).
👍Thanks for video. For some reason, I always thought the Allegro 2 door estate somehow looked nicer and more futuristic. Thanks for the background on the "square" steering wheel. Despite being a Rover P6 fan, I never knew this was originally a Rover idea. Given, Rover's attention to safety and ergonomics, I suppose it's not surprising they came up with this.
I had a 1978 1.1 deluxe just after I passed my test in 1986 in Antique Gold. It coped with being thrashed mercilessly everywhere and was pretty reliable. I could get through remoulds on the front in about 3 - 4,000 miles and even with replacing the clutch with help from my father and some welding it was cheap to run. Back in 2002 I was offered a 1981 series 3 1.3L in yellow which had been sat in a garage for 10 years. I had two small children and a busy job and turned it down, which I bitterly regret now as I suspect it was scrapped.
Terrific review love the Allegro, the car I learned to drive in. My dad bought a Sandglow 1500 V.2 in 1978 from Wadham Stringer in Aldershot. Trading in an Austin Maxi, so the plush brown velour upholstery felt like luxury after the plastic seats of the Maxi. The only thing we didn't like was the posting a letter style boot, we greatly missed the hatchback. Never let us down, comfortable ride and reliable, we traded it in for Fiat Strada which although tough as old boots dissolved alarmingly!
I've no idea why these cars were slated so much. If you had a good one they were a cracking run around, 1:00 A+ Allegro 3 from late 1980 absolutely bullet proof, even though abused!
The decision that only the Maxi would be allowed to have a hatchback was monumental stupidity. But the Allegro estate (of which I had two) was absolutely brilliantly practical.
The Allegro never made it to South Africa. The replacement there for the 1100/1300 was called the Austin Apache which had a greatly restyled front and rear, by Michelotti I believe, which looked gorgeous and gave a much bigger boot. It looked like a small Triumph 2000. The Allegro was made at Cowley and the early production carried out an experiment with rustproofing techniques. Half the cars had wax injected sills and doors, half didn't. How this was monitored I don't know, presumably by dealers submitting claims, but the consumer was evidently not factored into this decision! The source for this information was the Cowley plant general manager so I'm sure it's correct.
I rode in one of these when they were new as a kid, and all I remember was how comfortable it was. If I had a car collection, right aside of the Zonda, would be an allegro, and a Vauxhall Carlton :) Plus I've love a 2nd gen Senator and an Omega. Yes, I am festival of the Unremarkable lol
I have very limited experience of Allegros, I went in an estate once very briefly, I remember the police having them, they had 2 doors Allegro 3s because they were hard to sell and BL needed to offload them cheaply, if I was to choose I would pick a very early Allegro, I'm not keen on all the updates over the years.
I had an X plate Allegro 3, great car, got given it when I was completely broke. Then I got a 1.5, Vanden Plas for spares. with that 1500cc engine, 5 speed box, leather and wood interior it was superb. handled like a Go-Kart.. very quick and surprised a lot of more "Sporty" rivals and newer cars. wish I kept it but gave to my young BIL as his first car.
My views of the Allegro match exactly yours. A friend of mine had a ‘75 1100 allegro and used it as a Minicab in the mid 80’s. He said it was reliable and cheap to run, compared to his mates who ran Cortinas and spent far more in fuel Ann’s maintenance
That was really interesting, Matt. The Allegro did not make it to Canada, so really I am just learning about it now. When it comes to the look of the thing, it reminds me most of Eeyore. It looks like it is drooping at both ends. Being in Canada, the appeal of such a small and low powered car is lost on me. I cannot imagine packing everything for a family of four into it and setting off on a 3,000 mile driving holiday that is meant to include climbing the Rocky Mountains. A cousin had an Austin Land Crab, and even it was way down on power and space compared to North American cars in the same price bracket.
I have great respect for people that are sentimentally attached to certain cars, and since this car’s design is so weird and wonky (and not in a positive way, like a Saab 900 or so), it is nice to see that someone can still see through its ugliness and find good things in it.
Great car, my first car after passing my test. Mine was a T reg in the same colour, my parents sold after I went of to university and I still think about it fondly
I'm writing from Macedonia, I had an Allegro 1.3 de luxe about 10 years. It didn't have a single gram of rust, the engine was intact, it drove well. The only big problem was the shock absorbers with hydraulic . I didn't have anywhere to buy such at my place. I had to sell it, I remember it as very nice car.
That whirr of first gear and general A-series clatter is the soundtrack of my childhood (followed by the Volvo red block in my teens) and it really is a brilliant little engine. I have always liked the Allegro because I always have a soft spot for an ugly duckling. Great review on this maligned little 70’s gem
Russet brown !In 92 had a 79 maxi 1500 same colour 5 speed ! Great view as always That example looks really great - retro fitted Quartic wheel ? Originally registered in Swindon area “MR” plate
We used to have a guy in one of our factories that used to work at the BL plant that made the Allegro, Princess etc. Apparently this character had decorated his house with paint nicked from the plant. Yes, his interior walls were that brown...
These are so charming to me. Granted, I live in the US so I've never seen one in person but I actually quite like the styling from what I've seen in videos and magazines. And I don't get all the hate about the square steering wheel either, especially since people seem to love them in Peugeots now.
"Flying Pig" ? That epithet belongs to the Mk. IV Zephyr and Zodiac, Matt! This time 40 years ago I was learning to drive in a 1981 Damask Red 1.3 HLS with quad headlights, no less. My driving instructor had also taught my father and my brother to drive, in (respectively) an A35 and an 1100 so you can see the brand loyalty there. I think I preferred the styling of the Series 2 to this generation - and as a schoolboy in the 1970s I can remember seeing the "Quartic" wheel first-hand. I also remember my maths teacher at secondary school losing a wheel at speed and replacing his with a Renault 14. If someone gave me a series 2, would I keep it? Definitely - it really wasn't as bad as people paint it.
Love the idea of buying a steering wheel and then getting a car to fit it 🙌 🤣. I somehow avoided the allegro, even though some mates had them. I can't even remember being a passenger in one
Having owned both an Allegro and a Marina, the Allegro was far better than the Marina. The ride & handling was far better & did not rust as bad as the Marina. I found the Allegro was a reliable car overall, the best £200 I ever spent!
Correct but then again the Allegro was designed to be better than the Marina with the Marina being designed as a cheap reliable easy to maintain car for the fleet market. I had a 1978 Marina 1.8 HL/TC Mk2 and it was an excellent reliable car and very fast and even though it had uprated front and rear anti-roll bars you still had to watch the back end in the wet but then again so did lots of other rear wheel drive cars back then as well with the Capri for example being worst. I had a 1980 Allegro 1750 TC Equipe and that was also an excellent reliable car and fast car although not as fast as the Marina but not by much but all round the Allegro was a far superior car especially in the handling and more sophisticated suspension with a far better ride. Actually coming from the Allegro and into normal sprung cars I always found the normal cars very crashy driving along the road with bumps and pot holes compared to an Allegro and still do to this day especially with the roads being worst these days.
The blanked off switches to the right of the steering wheel are interesting. I have the Allegro brochure for this car and even the top of the range or "ultimate allegros" as the brochure calls them, appear to have the same switches blanked off.
Back when Adam was a lad I had several of these, mostly the 1750 e series engine the last of which was a 1750 ss super sport,which once I'd tuned it went like a bat out of hell (in a straight line) RIP Meatloaf used to leak hydrolastic fluid for a pastime! Solved that by replacement of the front to rear pipes with stainless braided hoses from an aircraft manufacturer! and made the fluid slightly more viscous by the addition of Antifreeze to the system,Twenty percent by volume helped the handling no end .
In my experience those hydragas units used to leak at the joint between the upper and lower bulbs where water and dirt would collect and rust them. How difficult would it have been to have something to protect that crevice and stop it rusting? Surely even squirting something in to protect it would have made a significant difference. Again, if only....
not a huge fan of the allegro but my dad had a 1300 maestro as a classic for a while and it was a very good usable classic car, the 1300 A series with a 5 speed box was really nice, plus the maestro has normal suspension and a hatchback plus a huge glass area, felt so roomy
The only crime the Allegro committed in my view was in daring to replace the nation’s favourite, the 1100/1300 series. The early cars, in the higher line trim versions, looked great in my opinion - and I definitely see the comparisons with the Alfasud. The estate was another matter - granted, the ‘Sud estate was also ungainly, and also unpopular, but the Allegro estate took awkward styling to a new dimension! The series 3 cars with twin headlamps always looked very smart, but by 1979 were really showing their age. Not sure about the addition of the quartic steering wheel to the series 3 shown here - I quite liked the generic BL 4 spoke that everything from the Maxi to the Ital got fitted with at the time.
I used to work for a building society in Barrow in the 2000s and they had an underground car park with mint 1977 Austin Allegro parked there. I was told that this was a pool car with very low mileage that had been used for over 20 years before being replaced with an Audi A3. Don't know what became of it, probably still there
As an Allegro owner I love the cars but although the S3 is “better” (more modern) inside I really don’t like the black bumpers and chrome removal on the exterior, the series 3 looks better with the 4 lights on the front rather than the rectangle ones. You did a fair review so thanks for not just going “Full Clarkson” 👍
The Allegro got different front treatment depending on the model. The 1100 and 1300 got rectangular lights, and different plastic radiator grills. The 1500 and 1750 cars got four round lamps. I think just the 1750s got rectangular fog lamps as well. The fun bit is that an Allegro grill with lamps will fit a Mini Clubman, so you can choose what lamps you want for a custom appearance
I remember being driven to school in a brown Allegro Estate by one of my mother's friends who, erm, liked to breed. There was two in the front, four on the back seat, and two in the boot. Those being the days before rear seatbelts or health & safety were a thing. Great times.
In New Zealand we had the mk2 version in 1300 & 1500 form and despite what critics were saying in England the Allegro proved to be a reliable car many families had good service from them. The Marina & Princess were also popular cars in New Zealand but along with there Allegro stalemate Japanese imports killed sales of English cars and soon after scrapyards started to fill with them and local car assembly began to grind to a halt the Japanese imports took away that last bit of character and charm from motoring in New Zealand ☹
Allegro's replacement, Maestro, was the car that started my love for "hubnut" cars. Unexceptional, bad reputation, but do their job day in day out. I scorned the allegro in the day but lately i''m really starting to want one to convert into a super street sleeper EV conversion, can you imagine what an allegro would be like with no gears and 200bhp
I am sure lots of people will remember a story or two. In 2012 we drove our 1700 Vanden Plas Auto to the Nurburgring and on to Munich - we did that journey and back to the Midlands trouble free - before it is said, yes I know a Vanden Plas 1700 is not an Allegro. What I like about the history is the BL put the Equipe to market as direct competition/response to the XR3 and Golf GTi 🙈
My friend had one of these at college and he used to give me a lift home many years ago, And it was very scary as the Passengers floor had a hole in it and you could see the world go by not much fun in the rain.
I had a series 3 in 1993 as a rush when I needed a car as my girlfriend now wife was due with our first child. It was banana yellow. TBH, it was the best car I have owned and I've had a few ! Although fuel gauge was iffy at best, it was so frugal I got between 55-60 mpg and it was a 1275 that cornered like it was on rails. Parts were cheap as the proverbial, and mods were endless. Would love one today !
I lived in the USA...and 81 horsepower is not far off from some of the late 70's Caddy's that I drove around in...some of the big ass Buicks were pumping a massive 115/20 on the basic 5/6 litre models...
Great review....A lot of British Leyland cars are like marmite.. (love or hate)....for me they are all distant memories of fun times of either having a grandad, neighbour or uncle owning one form or another (Allegro, Marina, Princess, Maxi) or a local taxi rank back in the day having a mix of these BL classics....i think it's great that we still have people out there who are committed in keeping these time capsules on the road.....well done...👏👏👏👍
I love Austin Allegros, very, very practical car. I had two and both were great little cars. I say no way does it deserve the reputation it is given these days, that just became fashionable (and usually by people who never even had one and most likely weren't even around when the Allegro was).
Fair comment I suppose. Though it's not a patch on the appearance of my Austin 1300 that I got at 3 years old, jacked it up at 4yo and the car fell through the jack. Took forever to pull the jack out of the rusty hole in a pub carpark. Embarrassing. Next MOT, new outer sills. Then the water came in on wet roads so next MOT, inner sills. Then the rear subframe 'fell' into the car - pushing the back seat upwards. Total rustbucket. Game over at 7 years old. We wouldn't put up with such shoddy designs and quality these days. If BL were hoping to sell leggos to ex-1300 owners, they missed the point that those people had been burnt before! The numbers show it. So sad.
The Allegro was a step change improvement over ADO16 1100 / 1300 regarding corrosion resistance. Apparently Pressed Steel advised Sir Alec Issigonis of the rust traps in the ADO16 original design suggesting that these be addressed before production proceeded but he said to proceed without amendment. My parents had an Austin 1100 which was a stunning design in many ways compared to the Morris Minor 1000 it replaced. But it rusted far quicker than the Minor, needing a new rear subframe eventually. Dad did 168,000 miles on the original engine (valves ground in @ 100,000 miles) but was on the 3rd gearbox by then. The car had to be scrapped @ 168,000 miles due to rust.
I learned to drive in a red allegro 1.3HL series 3, owned by my dad. It was also the car I learned to weld on. A lot of myths about these, really they weren't that bad, but should have been so much better.
I remember selling Allegros in the late 1970s (Mk2 version I think). On the lower models they had replaced the rev counter with a simulated compass which was literally just a picture of a compass printed onto the dashboard. I had a guy wanting to exchange his Golf for an Allegro, but after a test drive he just looked at me and said "Do you seriously think I'm going to swap my Golf for one of these?"
My uncle had a 1500 cc Saloon from new, awesome car. Superb roadholding compared with Ford and Vauxhall of the time. Economical, reliable. Spacious and comfortable. I loved it. Had had it for many years.
I feel the Allegro was unjustly maligned over the years,sure it's no classic but in the 80s a woman in the town I lived drove an immaculate Allegro and she said it was a good car to drive and never had a problem with it-with more time and thought put into the car in terms of development things might been different but with BL in the state it was in at the time the rest as they say is history! Thanks for your review I always look forward to watching them Auckland New Zealand 2023
Thank you sir for a wonderfull review of the Allegro. I have for many years had a soft spot for the Allegro. It was defently not a bad car, but a bad reputation from day one destroyed another great british car.
The Peugeot 208 I just drove for a week had a quartic-inspired steering wheel. I didnt love it but it certainly wasn't a deal breaker - it did allow you to see the gauges easily. There is something to be said for the practicality of it.
My very first car was a 1975 'N' Reg (UK), in white. A 1.3 super, which I purchased in 1981. The instrument binicle was even more minimalistic, just two large dials, one for speed and the other for Fuel and Temp, and even fewer warning lights. Doing nealy 80mph, on the M1 between Junctions 26 & 25 (Southbound) by the Trowel Services I had the water pump let go and completely crack the engine block before I could stop it! Ended up needing a replacement engine! I then skidded into the back of someone on a cold wet roundabout in the centre of Nottingham and wrote it off. 😞 I still have a real soft spot for it and agree it wasn't anywhere near as bad as the press would have you believe. Thanks for a trip down memory lane. JontyRP.
Love the lil' Allegro's. Had several over the years. All good, reliable motors. Bodies were solid compared to cars of the time, the engines were tough- and were economical. Like humans- don't judge them by how they look...
😍 Great to see an Allegro on the channel. Only winners drive brown cars. 😁 Matt mentioned George Turnbull a couple of times. It wasn't long after the Allegro was launched that he and a few engineers went to South Korea to work for Hyundai.
The only personal memory I have of one of these is coming into school (upper school, so must have been sometime around 1983) and finding a joyrider had managed to crash one down the stairs in the middle of the school playground. Despite having completely demolished (lengthwise, to boot) the wall running down the edge of said steps the car seemed barely damaged--they were able to get the bonnet shut after they'd pulled it back onto level ground!
Great to see. I always thought these looked really smart in bright yellow (Snapdragon?) and green (Applejack?). From memory the advertising slogan was 'Allegro 3 . . . better than ever!'. They do have a quirky left of field appeal that was missing in more modern but anonymous cars like the Golf and Renault 14. I was a fan of the Allegro on the quiet but then my other favourites were the Ital, Chrysler Avenger and 2-Litre, Simca 1000 and 1100, DAF/Volvo 66, Volvo 300 and Skoda Estelle. Strange taste in cars or what?
What a masterpiece of design (?), but a genuinely great review. I actually love the Allegro's looks, but they're an acquired taste, and I think the car's great, especially with all that A series gear whine.
These were always a much better offering than they were ever given credit for - the equivalent to this was a MK2 Escort based on the MK1 which was from the 60's or the Mk 3 Viva which was based on the 60's Mk2. At least the Allegro was forward thinking
It was the Maxi that had a gear shift that was like "a knitting needle in a bag of marbles" and it had a cable shift. Anyone who had a Astra or Daewoo from 20 years ago knows the feeling. TheAllegro was made at Longbridge which had the roto-dip (BL later sold the process to Hyundai). The paint job was excellent and they were not prone to rust.
The early models looked awful, but with a few visual tweaks in later life, it didn't look too bad. The right colour, possibly a black vinyl roof, a side stripe and some decent wheel trims, made the car look much more modern. BL management really were too complacent. The Marina suffered the same basic problem, but eventually they made it at least semi decent, if not a great car.
Growing up in the 70s aged 3 I thought this was an odd car and it sounded strange as our district nurse had a white one. I was comparing it to my Dads Cortina 1600E and Grandads XJ6 S1.
The only car I’ve ever owned that managed to self destruct the engine and gearbox in one because of a shared sump and it was a 1750 Sport the last and only BL car I ever owned which wasn’t in doubt after I replaced it with a Mk3 Cortina 2.0GT which was in another league. I do have a soft spot for the simplicity of some of these cars now though so nice to see this review.
Ha Ha Ha - Nothing to do with the shared oil - funny how million of BL cars were produced with these gearbox in the sump engines with no problems and I had a 1980 Allegro 1750 TC Equipe and it was a very reliable and excellent car that I looked after and serviced myself even though I drove that car hard and fast all the time as well I never had any problems with the gearbox and my mother never had any problems with her gearbox on her 1978 Allegro 1500 LE either. Cortina another league Ha Ha Ha - the Cortina was in the class above the Allegro but the Allegro had far more room inside than the Cortina especially in the back. The Allegro was far more reliable than the Mk3 Cortina 2.0 GXL that my brother had - plus both keys from my and my mums Allegro could open and start the Cortina but you couldn't do that with the Cortinas key in the Allegros. When some guys stole my brothers Cortina they could not get away from my Equipe and they ended up ramming it through the chain link fence of the local Whisky Plant and against the building and legged it and it ended up scrapped. First and last Ford in our family and I have never bought Ford since the days the company I worked for always bought Cortinas and Escorts and the one Capri because they could not get a Cortina replacement when it was due then because Ford were on strike again - yes it wasn't always BL that were on strike - and they always went through engines and gearboxes as if they were wear and tear items - always fixed under warranty and our company would not change away from Ford when we were tying to get them to because Ford always sold cheap to companies back then.
I have a very soft spot for the Allegro. Grandad had three in a row. The second was in that exact same brown colour. The third was a series 3 1.3HL in light blue. Very soft, very spacious and dependable car. I have great memories of our family outings in it. Thanks for a very very lovely video!!
Russet brown
What colour interior did the S3 have? I really like the lovely red velour interior of the later 'high spec' models. Even cloth covered door panels. Oh the hedonism.
@@philpaxton2078 paprika that colour was called
My Mum had a string of Austins, Mini, 1100, 1300 and then she bought a 1978 blue Allegro 1300. To a kid like me it felt much more modern than the 1100/1300 range it replaced but a bit 'squat' looking. She drove it for 3 years or so, never went wrong, always started well. The only thing i remember her saying was the steering was heavier in the Allegro than the Ital she replaced it with.
The Allegro doesn't really deserve the bad press it got.
All the best, Maurice.
They seemed like something from the future to people like my grandfather.
You must remember they were used to cars where the 0-60 time was 30 seconds if they could reach 60 !
Spacious fun little car in my opinion.
An Austin Allegro in poop brown, what's not to like???
My dad had a series 1 as a cheap stopgap back when I had just passed my test in the mid 90's and my mum refused to go in it! It became my first car and all I can say is it handled all the abuse that a 17 year old could throw at it! At the time I absolutely hated it! Now in my 40's I feel bad for how I treated it and am half looking for another one!
I had an Allegro VDP in 1985 (a 1977 model). It was a lovely car with an extremely high level of trim (lots of chrome, leather seats, walnut dash, large chrome grill, plush carpets, lots of sound proofing etc.). It was not as bad as people made out and I enjoyed my ownership of it.
My first car, Allegro 1.3L in blue, saved up all my money from two jobs to buy it when I was 17. Had it 10 months until the engine decided to chuck its oil over the A38 at 2am and seize up. Very comfortable especially the back seat 😉😉
I take it the car wasn’t moving (forward) at the time.
I wonder what you were doing in the back seat?
Great unbiased video. I've tried to like the Allegro over the years but have failed to despite liking a lot of BL and Austin cars having grown up with Minis, Metros and Montegos. Over the years I've even been able to appreciate the appearance of the Marina. A Marina saloon has good proportions.
Having said that, I still love to see them out and being used still, I'll always stop and look one over if I see one at a show. They're definitely a curiousity and it's great that these are kept alive despite all the critics and haters.
Fabulous! The Series 3 is my favourite Allegro by far. I think by then they were pretty much sorted and probably proved to be very decent cars. The A series whine is addictive and as a child of the 80s who loves cars that sound seemed to be everywhere when I was growing up. I particularly like the colour of this one. My late grandmother told me of the time she returned an Allegro courtesy car and insisted on something different as she simply couldn’t cope with the quartic wheel! It looks like you had a beautiful winter’s day for this video and filmed in a delightful location, all of which helps to set off that great colour. Thank you as ever.
Drove my first Allegro - a Series 3 1.3 as it happens - just last summer and was pleasantly surprised by how perky and comfortable it was. Damn sight better gearshift quality than the one in the 1981 Maxi I once borrowed from a dealer, too. The Allegro may have been a compromise but it's nowhere near as bad as bar-room 'experts' would have you believe.
I had the Vanden Plas, Michael. Mostly used it for golf and Sunday outings. I also had the Equippe, for when I felt a bit keen, was going to the pub, or picking up a young lady. Finally, I had a 1.3 for tooling around town and going shopping.
@@TheGalacticEmperorOfLabels good for you, Mr. Allegro fan! You've got taste! Have you ever been a member of the Allegro Owners Club? I had a 1.3 saloon, and joined. The club was not very good in sourcing spares, but was for heretics who actually DARED to like Allegro, quite WITHOUT asking doubters permission!
@@TheGalacticEmperorOfLabels I had an Equipe as well and being a TC it was a very quick car back then and was an excellent reliable car. Only reason I don't have it now is it was lost in an accident - OGB 477V was its reg number and it always drew people to it when it was parked them looking at it and in and wanting to know about as not many people knew about the Equipe back then even though it was on billboards all over the country when they brought it out.
@@TheGalacticEmperorOfLabels from Nygel Miller. I have just been reading your reply to my comment - and then read back what I had written to you before. This was probably written (once again,) in the middle of the night, when I was texting about cars, instead of doing what decent folks are doing! SLEEPING! So I wrote something unforgivable by mistake! I'd asked if you ever belonged to the Allegro Owners Club. THEN I said they WERE NO GOOD at sourcing spares, when I meant they WERE good at sourcing spares! I hope they never read that!
Great review,lovely to see a good example surviving and that's got to be the best colour for an Allegro.
I've never seen why people called it so ugly? Looks an awful lot like a Sud and OK it never got something as exciting as a boxer engine, but it was certainly no worse than the Alfa for it's build quality or reliability.
I know they were knocked at the time, but I think most of the people slagging them now have no idea or interest in the fact that in the 1970s loads of cars were at least as bad for rust, reliability, build quality, styling.
@@SM-dt1pr The merc w123 was notorious for rust back inte the day. (Worse than the mk2 granada) I know that because the swedish top gear guy publishes their old episodes from late 70's and 80s on his youtube channel.
@@rimmersbryggeri think Matt's quite aware of that too!!
@@neilwalsh4058 Yeah but his is more than 30 years old, this whan they were almost a new model. The point was that slagging 70's cars off for rusting is pretty moot. Some were worse than others though but most of the models that survive in high numbers do sao because they sold in high numbers and were expensive enough to be percieved as viable to repair. Stereotypes like german or swedish quality are just silly. Opels and fords are also german but they were scrapped much more readily than mercs and bmw:s and thats why there are not as many still on the road.
To Neil Walsh from Nygel Miller. The reason why people criticised Allegro, not Alfasuds, was because of taking our own designs for granted, for being British! Some "turn against their own things" Something prouder nations like the Germans would never do - because it's not in their nature! Good for them.
My dad bought one of the last ones made.
It was a metallic gold estate with a 1500 engine and it was a really nice car.
I remember driving it and thinking how refined it felt compared to my (at the time) Cortina MkII.
Loved the estate version
Mk 2 cortina
Was much a better car 🍀
Absolutely love these. My mates Dad had one and used to pick us up from Roller skating on a Saturday night. Always reliable and comfy he had it for years.
And now squarish steering wheels are all the rage, no Audi is complete without. The Allegro - ahead of the game by decades. Nice car, nice review.
Every time I see an allegro I’m taken back to a very sad place somewhere in Middlesbrough in the very early 90s that sold anything with 6m + mot for 100 quid and anything less for 50, it was essentially a scrap yard under a roof - it was full of 70’s escorts cortina’s allegros and marinas all knackered all badly rusted. My mate bought a VP allegro for 50 quid as it was cheaper than the train ticket back to Scotland, it lasted 2 months to be fair. Looking back I should have bought the lot, stuck them in a barn and waited 30 years………I’d be a millionaire!
Reminds me of comerford cars in Stockton
@@mikeclewlow6510 think it was in Stockton now I think about it, was a long time ago.
One of my earliest memories is my uncle's dad driving me and five other kids in his Allegro. That must be why I've always thought of them as 7-seaters...
Beautiful car
No seat belts in the back = five in the back!
@@TheMentalblockrock Something like that. Actually I think it was 3 in the front (smallest child on the lap of the biggest) and 4 in the back. Yeah that was it 😂
Thanks Matt, really enjoyed the vid, I haven’t seen many series 3 Allegros being reviewed on You Tube so this was very welcome.
Some people who like Allegros are not keen on the Series 3 because of the plastic/rubber look, they ditched the chrome bumpers for black metal ones, plus they introduced plastic wheel trims although they did still offer the metal hubcaps.
It is the wrong steering wheel for this, it should be a round one with the Austin/Rover badge in the centre, but the Quartic one works and kind of suits.
I had owned one way back in 1981, my first car in the Netherlands. It was fun to drive.
I had a Series 3 Allegro 1.3L in the early 90’s. It had the A+ engine and I found it a very acceptable car indeed.👍
My dad loved these cars
He had a blue 3 door when I was very young, then subsequently other cars (as you do) including an Austin Ambassador, a Vauxhall Cavalier and a Ford Fiesta
He always went back to an Allegro though, having 3 others
A lime green 3 door
An orange 5 door
And a brown 5 door
He found them to be cheap to run and insure, economical and very easy to work on
My first brand new car was an Allegro 1100 deluxe in Russett Brown which I bought in 1978. Had a few problems with oil leaks but apart from that it was a very good, reliable family car. It was quite innovative with Hydrogas suspension and the use of plasma welding to give seamless panel joints. To all those who criticize the Allegro shape I suggest that they look at the competition of the early 70s. There were some dreadful, dull designs that were anonymous. The Allegro was different from the rest of the field and didn't deserve all of the obloquy from the motoring press.
James May compared the Allegro to the Mazda 323 of the same period. He proposed that Mazda built the car that was designed whereas BL didn't. This is why Mazda still exists and Austin doesn't.
That and Japanese workers not going out on strike every five minutes eh?
@@rob5944 All deliberate and part of this agenda because the unions were owned and controlled just like the political parties by the Mafias in this video here : th-cam.com/video/98qv9ztkW_U/w-d-xo.html
@@williamwoods8022 I'll check it out.
The FWD Mazda 323/Protege etc. did not come out until 1981. Its several predecessors where RWD solid axle leaf spring cars (as were the Toyota and Datsun (Nissan) competiton, nothing like the later ones or an Allegro.
It's true what they say.
You can't get any more 1970s than a Brown Allegro.
Exactly why my wife let me get it. 😁
It’s lovely driving in a 1970’s car… in the 1980’s. Or is it?
in a 1981 car!
This is a 1981 series 3
The Tundra colour Mark 1 Marina comes close.
In the early 80s a friend owned one, the 1.3 two door estate version. Curiously, he never drove it as he didn't have a license but would lend it to anyone who needed it as long as it was returned to him with a full tank... which it hardly ever was. Even 40 years ago Allegros were consdered a bit of a joke but I liked it. I thought this version of the Allegro was one of neatest most well proportioned cars around at the time. I drove it frequently. Because it was a loaner, the poor thing was thrashed everywhere it went but didn't miss a beat. Regrettably, none of us bothered to maintain it and as a result, it eventually had enough. I seized it's engine on an autobahn one evening and pushed it into a nearyby barn. I never saw it again. I paid for it's recovery and heard later that it was back on the road a few weeks later.
The Allegro 3 was way better than the earlier variants, especially the dual headlight, 1500HLS variants. My first car was a 1976 (P reg) 1300 model and it was a cheap to run, easy to service yourself and functional motor. I moved up through a few models, a 1500 Vanden Plan (S2) and my Dad bought that off me, I then got another one, a S3 1100 which was a nippy wee car and much comfier trim than my first one. I drooled over at the time cars like the Escort XR3i and the Astra but I just couldn't afford them on a students grant. Once I finished University in 1989 I moved house so stuck with BL/Austin cars for a few more years with a couple of Austin Ambassadors, the first being a 2.0HL then a few years later a 2.0 VDP. I know they had their quirks but at that time the Allegro offered cheap, and surprisingly reliable transport to and from work and some memorable trips all over the UK. This is a great video brought back a few memories of a now much maligned car.
My mates uncle bought his new Allegro in 1975 -first time he washed it all went well until he rinsed off suds with a bucket of water and was less than impressed finding passenger well swimming. !! Taking It back to main dealer was found that no plenum drain had been fitted !! Happy days of BL 👏
Nothing to do with anything being missing - like lot of cars leaves etc getting into the air grills in front of the windscreen for the heater etc would allow that to fill up and overflow into the cabin - keeping that cleaned out solved that. There was also a plastic flap on the front of the two overflow pipes to allow the water out of that air intake grill into the engine compartment and onto the ground that would stick to the pipes with the heat of the engine keeping the water in also - the cure to that was just to cut those plastic flaps off and that is probably what the dealer did. The drains were part of the bulkhead so couldnt be missing.
@@williamwoods8022 The Car was brand new 2 weeks old It’s 1st wash and he was told this by the Service Dept delivered in June
As a kid I grew up with Allegros, great grandparents had a metallic blue estate, and my grandad had various models over the years… And now I really want one for the nostalgia
The Allegro has four engine options, 1100, 1300, 1500 and 1750. When launched in 1973 had the square steering wheel, not a feature of other BL cars. With the Mk2 facelift in 1975 the square wheel was dropped and estates were available. By 1979 the series 3 was introduced with more plastic and a choice of brighter colours, and I know of a late 1982 top of range 1750HLS near me until a few years ago. There was also the luxury Vanden Plas with wood and leather upholstery.
Thanks for this. I had an Allegro (W suffix), which was six months old - an ex-rental. It was supposed to be a 1 litre or thereabouts. But it had a 1300 engine in (my brother worked at Longbridge and checked) - and it wasn't a Friday afternoon build, either. Went everywhere at about 110 (really!!); handling improved dramatically once I put Firestones on the front (softer rubber, behaved better in corners); as well as long distances I also used it in autotests, 12 car rallies and navigational scatters. Usually got about 43+ per gallon. Never a problem (until the exhaust fell off in an autotest..). Honestly one of the best cars I have ever had...
Interesting fact. This Allegro being tested belonged to the guy who I bought a Rover Metro in BRG from. And it was nice to know FD is in my neck of the woods ☺️☺️
How is that beautiful metro. Loved that thing.
@@joeotway83 that beautiful metro is still going strong 👍 even though wind, rain and cold snaps.
I loved my allegro moved house twice with no roof rack just wind the widows down and tie to the roof remove rear seats to carry flags sand and cement and fence posts bought for £50 I sold for £80 to my mate he had good use till he hit the back of a bus
I like the looks of the Allegro. There, I've said it! It wasn't the most dynamic thing but it It wasn't really bad. Mind you, I would prefer a Citroën GS.
Agree. If it had an Alfa badge on it everyone would say it was cool (and it actually looks a lot like an Alfasud).
@@benc8386 I totally agree! I had a grill from our old family Alfasud and I placed it (for a very short time) on the front of my quad headlighted Allegro 3 HLS. Almost looked like an Alfasud Ti. (A few years later I did get an Alfasud Ti Green Cloverleaf.) My Allegro was a very pleasant car. Truly.
Nice review. They should have sorted the transmission whine by then (that was caused by the transfer gears I think) for the A series powered cars, after all the E series equipped cars had silent transmissions. The Allegro was a step change improvement over ADO16 1100 / 1300 regarding corrosion resistance. Apparently Pressed Steel advised Sir Alec Issigonis of the rust traps in the ADO16 original design suggesting that these be addressed before production proceeded but he said to proceed without amendment.
HL = High Line. The 1750 TC equipped cars were quite fast but were only available late on (the early 1750SS being single carb).
I love the 1st gear wine. I enjoy stopping. Just so I can pull away and hear it. 😄
👍Thanks for video. For some reason, I always thought the Allegro 2 door estate somehow looked nicer and more futuristic. Thanks for the background on the "square" steering wheel. Despite being a Rover P6 fan, I never knew this was originally a Rover idea. Given, Rover's attention to safety and ergonomics, I suppose it's not surprising they came up with this.
I had a 1978 1.1 deluxe just after I passed my test in 1986 in Antique Gold. It coped with being thrashed mercilessly everywhere and was pretty reliable. I could get through remoulds on the front in about 3 - 4,000 miles and even with replacing the clutch with help from my father and some welding it was cheap to run. Back in 2002 I was offered a 1981 series 3 1.3L in yellow which had been sat in a garage for 10 years. I had two small children and a busy job and turned it down, which I bitterly regret now as I suspect it was scrapped.
Terrific review love the Allegro, the car I learned to drive in. My dad bought a Sandglow 1500 V.2 in 1978 from Wadham Stringer in Aldershot. Trading in an Austin Maxi, so the plush brown velour upholstery felt like luxury after the plastic seats of the Maxi. The only thing we didn't like was the posting a letter style boot, we greatly missed the hatchback. Never let us down, comfortable ride and reliable, we traded it in for Fiat Strada which although tough as old boots dissolved alarmingly!
I've no idea why these cars were slated so much.
If you had a good one they were a cracking run around, 1:00 A+ Allegro 3 from late 1980 absolutely bullet proof, even though abused!
The decision that only the Maxi would be allowed to have a hatchback was monumental stupidity. But the Allegro estate (of which I had two) was absolutely brilliantly practical.
The Allegro never made it to South Africa. The replacement there for the 1100/1300 was called the Austin Apache which had a greatly restyled front and rear, by Michelotti I believe, which looked gorgeous and gave a much bigger boot. It looked like a small Triumph 2000.
The Allegro was made at Cowley and the early production carried out an experiment with rustproofing techniques. Half the cars had wax injected sills and doors, half didn't. How this was monitored I don't know, presumably by dealers submitting claims, but the consumer was evidently not factored into this decision! The source for this information was the Cowley plant general manager so I'm sure it's correct.
I rode in one of these when they were new as a kid, and all I remember was how comfortable it was. If I had a car collection, right aside of the Zonda, would be an allegro, and a Vauxhall Carlton :) Plus I've love a 2nd gen Senator and an Omega. Yes, I am festival of the Unremarkable lol
Great review, and nice to see an Allegro on the channel! 👍👍
I have very limited experience of Allegros, I went in an estate once very briefly, I remember the police having them, they had 2 doors Allegro 3s because they were hard to sell and BL needed to offload them cheaply, if I was to choose I would pick a very early Allegro, I'm not keen on all the updates over the years.
I had an X plate Allegro 3, great car, got given it when I was completely broke. Then I got a 1.5, Vanden Plas for spares. with that 1500cc engine, 5 speed box, leather and wood interior it was superb. handled like a Go-Kart.. very quick and surprised a lot of more "Sporty" rivals and newer cars. wish I kept it but gave to my young BIL as his first car.
My views of the Allegro match exactly yours.
A friend of mine had a ‘75 1100 allegro and used it as a Minicab in the mid 80’s. He said it was reliable and cheap to run, compared to his mates who ran Cortinas and spent far more in fuel Ann’s maintenance
That was really interesting, Matt. The Allegro did not make it to Canada, so really I am just learning about it now. When it comes to the look of the thing, it reminds me most of Eeyore. It looks like it is drooping at both ends. Being in Canada, the appeal of such a small and low powered car is lost on me. I cannot imagine packing everything for a family of four into it and setting off on a 3,000 mile driving holiday that is meant to include climbing the Rocky Mountains. A cousin had an Austin Land Crab, and even it was way down on power and space compared to North American cars in the same price bracket.
Great review. Unpopular opinion, but I've always liked the styling on the Allegro.
I have great respect for people that are sentimentally attached to certain cars, and since this car’s design is so weird and wonky (and not in a positive way, like a Saab 900 or so), it is nice to see that someone can still see through its ugliness and find good things in it.
Great car, my first car after passing my test. Mine was a T reg in the same colour, my parents sold after I went of to university and I still think about it fondly
I'm writing from Macedonia, I had an Allegro 1.3 de luxe about 10 years. It didn't have a single gram of rust, the engine was intact, it drove well. The only big problem was the shock absorbers with hydraulic . I didn't have anywhere to buy such at my place. I had to sell it, I remember it as very nice car.
Great detail, liked the way you avoided easy cliches about the car and left us to draw our own conclusions. To me it sounded a little engine noisy.
That whirr of first gear and general A-series clatter is the soundtrack of my childhood (followed by the Volvo red block in my teens) and it really is a brilliant little engine. I have always liked the Allegro because I always have a soft spot for an ugly duckling. Great review on this maligned little 70’s gem
Russet brown !In 92 had a 79 maxi 1500 same colour 5 speed !
Great view as always
That example looks really great - retro fitted Quartic wheel ?
Originally registered in Swindon area “MR” plate
We used to have a guy in one of our factories that used to work at the BL plant that made the Allegro, Princess etc. Apparently this character had decorated his house with paint nicked from the plant. Yes, his interior walls were that brown...
These are so charming to me. Granted, I live in the US so I've never seen one in person but I actually quite like the styling from what I've seen in videos and magazines. And I don't get all the hate about the square steering wheel either, especially since people seem to love them in Peugeots now.
"Flying Pig" ? That epithet belongs to the Mk. IV Zephyr and Zodiac, Matt! This time 40 years ago I was learning to drive in a 1981 Damask Red 1.3 HLS with quad headlights, no less. My driving instructor had also taught my father and my brother to drive, in (respectively) an A35 and an 1100 so you can see the brand loyalty there. I think I preferred the styling of the Series 2 to this generation - and as a schoolboy in the 1970s I can remember seeing the "Quartic" wheel first-hand. I also remember my maths teacher at secondary school losing a wheel at speed and replacing his with a Renault 14. If someone gave me a series 2, would I keep it? Definitely - it really wasn't as bad as people paint it.
Love the idea of buying a steering wheel and then getting a car to fit it 🙌 🤣. I somehow avoided the allegro, even though some mates had them. I can't even remember being a passenger in one
Great video, the the 1.7 twin carb version was quite fast in its day , has twin head lamps look quite good . Regards mark
Lots of memories of my Dad's 1300 Super estate which was our family car for most of the 80s. Very practical apart from the 3 doors on an estate!
Having owned both an Allegro and a Marina, the Allegro was far better than the Marina. The ride & handling was far better & did not rust as bad as the Marina.
I found the Allegro was a reliable car overall, the best £200 I ever spent!
Correct but then again the Allegro was designed to be better than the Marina with the Marina being designed as a cheap reliable easy to maintain car for the fleet market. I had a 1978 Marina 1.8 HL/TC Mk2 and it was an excellent reliable car and very fast and even though it had uprated front and rear anti-roll bars you still had to watch the back end in the wet but then again so did lots of other rear wheel drive cars back then as well with the Capri for example being worst. I had a 1980 Allegro 1750 TC Equipe and that was also an excellent reliable car and fast car although not as fast as the Marina but not by much but all round the Allegro was a far superior car especially in the handling and more sophisticated suspension with a far better ride. Actually coming from the Allegro and into normal sprung cars I always found the normal cars very crashy driving along the road with bumps and pot holes compared to an Allegro and still do to this day especially with the roads being worst these days.
The blanked off switches to the right of the steering wheel are interesting. I have the Allegro brochure for this car and even the top of the range or "ultimate allegros" as the brochure calls them, appear to have the same switches blanked off.
Back when Adam was a lad I had several of these, mostly the 1750 e series engine the last of which was a 1750 ss super sport,which once I'd tuned it went like a bat out of hell (in a straight line) RIP Meatloaf used to leak hydrolastic fluid for a pastime! Solved that by replacement of the front to rear pipes with stainless braided hoses from an aircraft manufacturer! and made the fluid slightly more viscous by the addition of Antifreeze to the system,Twenty percent by volume helped the handling no end .
In my experience those hydragas units used to leak at the joint between the upper and lower bulbs where water and dirt would collect and rust them. How difficult would it have been to have something to protect that crevice and stop it rusting? Surely even squirting something in to protect it would have made a significant difference. Again, if only....
@@herseem A lot of if onlys about BMC/Leyland whatever cars.
@@emjayay far too many
@@mrcogginsgarage7062 didn't you have persistent oil leaks from the gear selector rod oil seal?
not a huge fan of the allegro but my dad had a 1300 maestro as a classic for a while and it was a very good usable classic car, the 1300 A series with a 5 speed box was really nice, plus the maestro has normal suspension and a hatchback plus a huge glass area, felt so roomy
The only crime the Allegro committed in my view was in daring to replace the nation’s favourite, the 1100/1300 series. The early cars, in the higher line trim versions, looked great in my opinion - and I definitely see the comparisons with the Alfasud. The estate was another matter - granted, the ‘Sud estate was also ungainly, and also unpopular, but the Allegro estate took awkward styling to a new dimension! The series 3 cars with twin headlamps always looked very smart, but by 1979 were really showing their age. Not sure about the addition of the quartic steering wheel to the series 3 shown here - I quite liked the generic BL 4 spoke that everything from the Maxi to the Ital got fitted with at the time.
I used to work for a building society in Barrow in the 2000s and they had an underground car park with mint 1977 Austin Allegro parked there. I was told that this was a pool car with very low mileage that had been used for over 20 years before being replaced with an Audi A3. Don't know what became of it, probably still there
As an Allegro owner I love the cars but although the S3 is “better” (more modern) inside I really don’t like the black bumpers and chrome removal on the exterior, the series 3 looks better with the 4 lights on the front rather than the rectangle ones. You did a fair review so thanks for not just going “Full Clarkson” 👍
The Allegro got different front treatment depending on the model. The 1100 and 1300 got rectangular lights, and different plastic radiator grills. The 1500 and 1750 cars got four round lamps. I think just the 1750s got rectangular fog lamps as well.
The fun bit is that an Allegro grill with lamps will fit a Mini Clubman, so you can choose what lamps you want for a custom appearance
I remember being driven to school in a brown Allegro Estate by one of my mother's friends who, erm, liked to breed. There was two in the front, four on the back seat, and two in the boot. Those being the days before rear seatbelts or health & safety were a thing. Great times.
That’s crazy lol
3 on the roof, one on the bonnet, whoops that was the lollipop lady (again).
In New Zealand we had the mk2 version in 1300 & 1500 form and despite what critics were saying in England the Allegro proved to be a reliable car many families had good service from them. The Marina & Princess were also popular cars in New Zealand but along with there Allegro stalemate Japanese imports killed sales of English cars and soon after scrapyards started to fill with them and local car assembly began to grind to a halt the Japanese imports took away that last bit of character and charm from motoring in New Zealand ☹
Allegro's replacement, Maestro, was the car that started my love for "hubnut" cars. Unexceptional, bad reputation, but do their job day in day out. I scorned the allegro in the day but lately i''m really starting to want one to convert into a super street sleeper EV conversion, can you imagine what an allegro would be like with no gears and 200bhp
I am sure lots of people will remember a story or two. In 2012 we drove our 1700 Vanden Plas Auto to the Nurburgring and on to Munich - we did that journey and back to the Midlands trouble free - before it is said, yes I know a Vanden Plas 1700 is not an Allegro.
What I like about the history is the BL put the Equipe to market as direct competition/response to the XR3 and Golf GTi 🙈
My friend had one of these at college and he used to give me a lift home many years ago, And it was very scary as the Passengers floor had a hole in it and you could see the world go by not much fun in the rain.
I had a series 3 in 1993 as a rush when I needed a car as my girlfriend now wife was due with our first child.
It was banana yellow.
TBH, it was the best car I have owned and I've had a few !
Although fuel gauge was iffy at best, it was so frugal I got between 55-60 mpg and it was a 1275 that cornered like it was on rails.
Parts were cheap as the proverbial, and mods were endless.
Would love one today !
I loved Harris Mann's original designs - still had soft spot for Allegro but bought a Citroen GS :-)
I lived in the USA...and 81 horsepower is not far off from some of the late 70's Caddy's that I drove around in...some of the big ass Buicks were pumping a massive 115/20 on the basic 5/6 litre models...
thats ridiculous power output!
I like the Allegro. Sadly,we never got the series 3 here in New Zealand. I would kill to have a series 3 HL with the E- series engine and a 5 speed.
Great review....A lot of British Leyland cars are like marmite.. (love or hate)....for me they are all distant memories of fun times of either having a grandad, neighbour or uncle owning one form or another (Allegro, Marina, Princess, Maxi) or a local taxi rank back in the day having a mix of these BL classics....i think it's great that we still have people out there who are committed in keeping these time capsules on the road.....well done...👏👏👏👍
I love Austin Allegros, very, very practical car. I had two and both were great little cars. I say no way does it deserve the reputation it is given these days, that just became fashionable (and usually by people who never even had one and most likely weren't even around when the Allegro was).
What do you think of the dashboard/tea shelf in a Suzuki Swift from 2005 to 2011?
Fair comment I suppose. Though it's not a patch on the appearance of my Austin 1300 that I got at 3 years old, jacked it up at 4yo and the car fell through the jack. Took forever to pull the jack out of the rusty hole in a pub carpark. Embarrassing. Next MOT, new outer sills. Then the water came in on wet roads so next MOT, inner sills. Then the rear subframe 'fell' into the car - pushing the back seat upwards. Total rustbucket. Game over at 7 years old. We wouldn't put up with such shoddy designs and quality these days. If BL were hoping to sell leggos to ex-1300 owners, they missed the point that those people had been burnt before! The numbers show it. So sad.
The Allegro was a step change improvement over ADO16 1100 / 1300 regarding corrosion resistance. Apparently Pressed Steel advised Sir Alec Issigonis of the rust traps in the ADO16 original design suggesting that these be addressed before production proceeded but he said to proceed without amendment.
My parents had an Austin 1100 which was a stunning design in many ways compared to the Morris Minor 1000 it replaced. But it rusted far quicker than the Minor, needing a new rear subframe eventually. Dad did 168,000 miles on the original engine (valves ground in @ 100,000 miles) but was on the 3rd gearbox by then. The car had to be scrapped @ 168,000 miles due to rust.
I learned to drive in a red allegro 1.3HL series 3, owned by my dad. It was also the car I learned to weld on. A lot of myths about these, really they weren't that bad, but should have been so much better.
I remember selling Allegros in the late 1970s (Mk2 version I think). On the lower models they had replaced the rev counter with a simulated compass which was literally just a picture of a compass printed onto the dashboard. I had a guy wanting to exchange his Golf for an Allegro, but after a test drive he just looked at me and said "Do you seriously think I'm going to swap my Golf for one of these?"
My uncle had a 1500 cc Saloon from new, awesome car. Superb roadholding compared with Ford and Vauxhall of the time. Economical, reliable. Spacious and comfortable. I loved it. Had had it for many years.
I feel the Allegro was unjustly maligned over the years,sure it's no classic but in the 80s a woman in the town I lived drove an immaculate Allegro and she said it was a good car to drive and never had a problem with it-with more time and thought put into the car in terms of development things might been different but with BL in the state it was in at the time the rest as they say is history! Thanks for your review I always look forward to watching them Auckland New Zealand 2023
Thank you sir for a wonderfull review of the Allegro. I have for many years had a soft spot for the Allegro. It was defently not a bad car, but a bad reputation from day one destroyed another great british car.
The Peugeot 208 I just drove for a week had a quartic-inspired steering wheel. I didnt love it but it certainly wasn't a deal breaker - it did allow you to see the gauges easily. There is something to be said for the practicality of it.
My very first car was a 1975 'N' Reg (UK), in white. A 1.3 super, which I purchased in 1981. The instrument binicle was even more minimalistic, just two large dials, one for speed and the other for Fuel and Temp, and even fewer warning lights. Doing nealy 80mph, on the M1 between Junctions 26 & 25 (Southbound) by the Trowel Services I had the water pump let go and completely crack the engine block before I could stop it! Ended up needing a replacement engine! I then skidded into the back of someone on a cold wet roundabout in the centre of Nottingham and wrote it off. 😞
I still have a real soft spot for it and agree it wasn't anywhere near as bad as the press would have you believe.
Thanks for a trip down memory lane.
JontyRP.
A lot of stories of water pumps trashing and front seats collapsing about these.
I learnt to drive in my grandads V-reg series 3 1.3 in snapdragon yellow, could never loose it in the carpark
Love the lil' Allegro's. Had several over the years. All good, reliable motors.
Bodies were solid compared to cars of the time, the engines were tough- and were economical.
Like humans- don't judge them by how they look...
I never found any problem with the push pull steering method with the quatric wheel
😍 Great to see an Allegro on the channel. Only winners drive brown cars. 😁
Matt mentioned George Turnbull a couple of times. It wasn't long after the Allegro was launched that he and a few engineers went to South Korea to work for Hyundai.
Had one for couple of years 1300 and it was a comfy, spacious little car. Never had any problems till I blew the engine up. :0)
The only personal memory I have of one of these is coming into school (upper school, so must have been sometime around 1983) and finding a joyrider had managed to crash one down the stairs in the middle of the school playground. Despite having completely demolished (lengthwise, to boot) the wall running down the edge of said steps the car seemed barely damaged--they were able to get the bonnet shut after they'd pulled it back onto level ground!
Great to see. I always thought these looked really smart in bright yellow (Snapdragon?) and green (Applejack?). From memory the advertising slogan was 'Allegro 3 . . . better than ever!'. They do have a quirky left of field appeal that was missing in more modern but anonymous cars like the Golf and Renault 14. I was a fan of the Allegro on the quiet but then my other favourites were the Ital, Chrysler Avenger and 2-Litre, Simca 1000 and 1100, DAF/Volvo 66, Volvo 300 and Skoda Estelle. Strange taste in cars or what?
What a masterpiece of design (?), but a genuinely great review. I actually love the Allegro's looks, but they're an acquired taste, and I think the car's great, especially with all that A series gear whine.
These were always a much better offering than they were ever given credit for - the equivalent to this was a MK2 Escort based on the MK1 which was from the 60's or the Mk 3 Viva which was based on the 60's Mk2. At least the Allegro was forward thinking
The Allegro & Marina don't deserve the ridicule they receive , you can add the Hillman Avenger to that, perfectly adequate for the time.
It was the Maxi that had a gear shift that was like "a knitting needle in a bag of marbles" and it had a cable shift. Anyone who had a Astra or Daewoo from 20 years ago knows the feeling.
TheAllegro was made at Longbridge which had the roto-dip (BL later sold the process to Hyundai). The paint job was excellent and they were not prone to rust.
The early models looked awful, but with a few visual tweaks in later life, it didn't look too bad. The right colour, possibly a black vinyl roof, a side stripe and some decent wheel trims, made the car look much more modern. BL management really were too complacent. The Marina suffered the same basic problem, but eventually they made it at least semi decent, if not a great car.
Growing up in the 70s aged 3 I thought this was an odd car and it sounded strange as our district nurse had a white one. I was comparing it to my Dads Cortina 1600E and Grandads XJ6 S1.
Loving the sound of that A series and gearbox pulling off from a standstill. 🙂
It’s probably my favourite thing about the car. I find myself stopping even when I don’t strictly need to. 😺
I'm probably the only Yank who went to the trouble to import Two Allegros to America, a Series 2 Estate in Sandglow and a Series 3 1.3 in Denim Blue
Amazing! Thats an impressive effort!
@@furiousdriving I also had a Maestro Vanden Plas MG Metro and a Wedge Princess, I loved BL stuff, I eventually gave up and went to JDM cars instead
The only car I’ve ever owned that managed to self destruct the engine and gearbox in one because of a shared sump and it was a 1750 Sport the last and only BL car I ever owned which wasn’t in doubt after I replaced it with a Mk3 Cortina 2.0GT which was in another league. I do have a soft spot for the simplicity of some of these cars now though so nice to see this review.
Ha Ha Ha - Nothing to do with the shared oil - funny how million of BL cars were produced with these gearbox in the sump engines with no problems and I had a 1980 Allegro 1750 TC Equipe and it was a very reliable and excellent car that I looked after and serviced myself even though I drove that car hard and fast all the time as well I never had any problems with the gearbox and my mother never had any problems with her gearbox on her 1978 Allegro 1500 LE either. Cortina another league Ha Ha Ha - the Cortina was in the class above the Allegro but the Allegro had far more room inside than the Cortina especially in the back. The Allegro was far more reliable than the Mk3 Cortina 2.0 GXL that my brother had - plus both keys from my and my mums Allegro could open and start the Cortina but you couldn't do that with the Cortinas key in the Allegros. When some guys stole my brothers Cortina they could not get away from my Equipe and they ended up ramming it through the chain link fence of the local Whisky Plant and against the building and legged it and it ended up scrapped. First and last Ford in our family and I have never bought Ford since the days the company I worked for always bought Cortinas and Escorts and the one Capri because they could not get a Cortina replacement when it was due then because Ford were on strike again - yes it wasn't always BL that were on strike - and they always went through engines and gearboxes as if they were wear and tear items - always fixed under warranty and our company would not change away from Ford when we were tying to get them to because Ford always sold cheap to companies back then.