Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Ellis]

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I clearly remember the Triumph Dolomite Sprint being unveiled in 1973, a friend's father bought one of the first ones, but I cannot remember the introduction of the Austin Allegro. Perhaps studying for my "A" levels had something to do with it that year.

British Leyland dealers still had stocks of Austin/Morris 1100 well into 1973, there was even an "M" registered estate here in the village bought new from the local BL dealer.

Even workers at Longbridge called it "the Flying Pig" but was the Allegro as bad as the folk lore of today would have you believe? After all over 630,000 were sold.

I only ever drove one, a 1750SS with the 5 speed gearbox and engine almost directly from the Maxi. My late uncle had passed away in 1983 and my mother stayed with her sister (his widow) for a week so I was given his Allegro to drive home.
It was a powerful machine with a very stiff gearchange and I did not dislike it!

Allegros became the "IN" car to own in the late 1990s.
Were any of you tempted to buy one as a fashion accessory then or owned one as an everyday car?

This was meant to be the Harris Mann look for the Allegro :

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Would it have made any difference?

I have to admit to a fondness for the Vanden Plas 1500 but I learned something new tonight - there was also a Vanden Plas 1700 model with a single carb an an automatic gearbox.
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[kevin2306]

My best buddy at the time bought a P reg 1300cc version complete with weirded shaped steering wheel.
At the time, I was running a classic mini with transplanted Austin 1300 GT engine.
The mini was a great motor, the Allegro not so much, it was very slow, comfy though.

I would like to retry the 1750 version though!

Kev

[BigJohn]

I was given one to do some under cover obs, it was lime green and almost impossible to hide. It was comfortable and handled well, but being a CID car was nearly knee deep in fag butts.

[exbmc]

Here we go again, as someone recently asked the same question of the Maxi.
I started working on, and servicing BL cars again, in 1976, after a gap of 8 years. In that time the Maxi, Marina and Allegro had been introduced.
The early Allegro had the potential to shed a rear wheel, if the bearing failed, this was cured with a larger washer under the hub nut. Some would pop out the rear windscreen if jacked up for tyres etc. I believe some tyre people put out a directive, to only jack an Allegro with it's own jack.
The odd shaped steering wheel, named "quartic" I think, was unpopular, and was already discontinued when I started working on them. Think I only ever drove one, that was so equipped.
All that aside, they were great to work on, and had the good old A series engine, in 1000 and 1300cc. The larger engine was the E series 1500, from the Maxi and later, the 1750.
I had a 1500 estate, and it was great to live with. Very comfy, economical and reliable. Unfortunately, it was one of a number of British built cars, which the motoring press never took to, so little positive was printed about it.

[52classic]

Unusual for me but I have no fondness at all for the 'all aggro.' I've bought and sold a couple but IMHO the car was such a backward step from the ADO 16 it replaced that I couldn't see the point of it.

Crayford apparently abandoned the idea of a convertible one after producing just a couple of prototypes but I don't know whether those found homes or were broken up.

I thought the estate had marginally better styling and I recall an auction buy which came directly from the WRVS.

[mikeC]

[Minxy]

I learnt to drive in one, and it had a square steering wheel. Can't remember being over impressed at the time and have no fondness for them now particularly.......but each to their own.
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Hillman minx convertible. Lanchester LD 10

[Rick]

A mate of mine's mum bought a new S reg estate, in bright orange. I can't say that I was overly impressed, even as a youth, especially as the brushed nylon seat coverings looked and felt very cheap, plus you sat in the back seat and your backside (I was pretty skinny) would hit a crossmember underneath the squab (funny the things you remember).

Conversely, I think the estate looks quite good, at least compared to the saloon (regularly referred to as a blob, back in the day), at least the wagon was designed as a proper estate rather than as a saloon with an extra bit glued on. Compare that to the dismal unbalanced look of the Marina Coupe ...!

RJ
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[PAUL BEAUMONT]

I agree with Rick, I always thought that the estate looked pretty good. A friend of mine had a LHD saloon (as they trotted back and forth to the continent on a regular basis) and it never let them down - unlike the 1600E Ford that it replaced!
Strange how non round steering wheels seem to be slowly reappearing - maybe the Alegro one was just ahead of its time!

[Mikey77]

Yes it really was that bad. And I speak as, by and large, a BMC/BL fan. I turned in my Morris 1800 Mk 3 (an excellent motor) for an Aggro 1300, thinking I was being environmentally responsible, or something. All my friends said 'you'll be sorreeeee'. They were right. I kept it about six months and it was blinking awful. Nothing about it was right, I particularly remember the awful driveline shunt. Eventually, after driving it from Somerset to Essex and back in a weekend (during which a top heater hose failed and the Romford branch of Unipart failed utterly when it said 'the answer is yes, now what's the question') I managed to turn it in against an 1800 Princess - a thoroughly good motor.
Whenever I see an Aggro these days (not often, thank god, as I live in France) I instantly have the urge to yell 'kill it now!' Last time this happened was in Wellington (Somerset) a while ago when I saw two parked in a side street of an estate on the outskirts of the town. I could hardly believe my eyes and drove away as quickly as decently possible. Sadly, my elderly uncle lives nearby and has to look at them every day.

[52classic]

Good to be of one mind with Rick then.......... Except for the Marina Coupe. I love them! I worked at a Lex garage when the Marina quite new and we were sent one that had the BL 'special Tuning' treatment which included Cosmic wheels, an Abingdon sticker on the front wings. 1.3 in Teal Blue with Limeflower trim.

I thought it looked better than the contemporary Escorts... Hmmm deluded or what? Loved the sound it made, didn't like the fuel consumption which could fall to single figures!

[badhuis]

Although in general I have not much against BMC cars the 70s models just do not do it for me.
I bought a 1300 Allegro around 1984. A friend asked me to find him a very cheap car and this seemed to fit the bill. Only 8 years old it had huge rust spots in the front wings and to the underside of the doors. Gaffit tape worked wonders for that. The engine leaked and used it a bit of oil which got worse, so we changed the engine with one from a scrapyard. This was no easy task because of the front wheel drive.
I remember it not much fun to drive, slow, awkward gear change and to wobbly. A ghastly plastic interior as well.
When the annual car inspection was introduced here a year or so later the Allegro had no chance so got to the scrapyard. That was a good thing!

Still dislike the Allegro, the styling just is not right. We have a BMC/Leyland/Rover club here and in the last years the attention has shifted from sixties to seventies cars. I cannot say it is a positive change, reading and hearing more about horrible Allegros, Maxis, Marinas and Princesses. Just not my kind of vehicles.
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a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

[Ashley]

They were crap and built appallingly and they and others in the range together with Red Robbo and his friends saw to it that customers lost faith with the company and stopped buying the cars.

Interestingly both Edwardes and Stokes told Harold Wilson that the company had 80,000 employees and work for 40,000. They wanted massive redundancies when it would have saved the company, but gutless Harold was more anxious to keep his job and so he signed the death warrant by refusing to allow it.

I was a senior manager in the early seventies in a hundred year old family run company the unions destroyed. I don't believe they gave a s---t about the workers, they just wanted to bankrupt everything.

Not surprisingly I still feel bitter about Labour and the Unions because they destroyed everything and everyone I cared about.

[V8 Nutter]

Well said Ashley. Working in engineering they didn't do me much good.

[Mikey77]

In that era I worked for a company that ruthlessly exploited my talents and energies. I responded, partly through my craft union membership, by screwing them for all I could get.
To each his own interpretation of history, eh?