Austin Allegro Estate | Retro Car | Car Review | Drive In | 1975

[@peterthwaites5891]

Love watching these old road tests from the 70s...

[@helios1912]

"Rear seat room is ample"

[@alanjones6359]

Well designed shaggin wagon !!

[@martinireland9248]

My dear old mum thought these looked like a hearse

[@rcrestoworkshop]

She may of had a point

[@stuco81]

That engine bay wiring looks remarkably neatly done!

[@hans2406]

Had an Allegro estate for years, a 1300. Popped in LPG, hung a drawbar under it, and got myself a 1500 engine cheap from a newish wreck. Ultimate car for me. 195,000 km without fault, mostly loaded and pulling a trailer.

[@TomBartram-b1c]

I had the ital and these cars were a home mechanic's dream-come-true. Loads of dead space under the bonnet & spares at silly prices. the air filter was £1.60, complete with metal housing!

[@Allan9966]

Why can't they make estate cars as attractive as this anymore?!

[@jeffallinson8089]

A mate had one of these in Mustard Yellow and never had the slightest issue with it. I thought it was a perfectly decent, spacious practical car.

[@danielhorrachsanchez4710]

Just for curiosity, which colour do you prefer, yellow or blue?

[@jeffallinson8089]

@@danielhorrachsanchez4710 The blue for sure.

[@danielhorrachsanchez4710]

@@jeffallinson8089 me too, I think it's my favourite colour. BTW, I've never understood why there have been 3-door estate cars; shouldn't they all have rear doors, especially when they're supposed to be as practical and user-friendly as possible? Also I find a 5-door estate car more 'harmonious' and 'proportioned' than a 3-door one, don't you?

[@jeffallinson8089]

@@danielhorrachsanchez4710 I completely agree; all estates should be 5 door for maximum practicality really.

[@stuartaharris]

Assume it was actually Harvest Gold rather than Mustard Yellow?

[@mariaparatore7318]

I think there have been some very silly things that have been said about the Allegro's looks, which I think were at there best in the Mk2 version that was sold between 1975 and 1979. I personally quite like the looks of this estate car, which is very striking in appearance and I also like the looks of the two and four door saloons. This report by Thames television was very useful and far better than some of the road test reports the average viewer was entreated to in the 1990s.

[@fishbmw]

I agree fully.

[@nkt1]

I disagree. You may like its looks, but most people didn’t, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a tubby-looking car; the saloon looks rather strange from the back, and the front lights/grille treatment, which worked so well on the Cortina Mk3, doesn’t suit the smaller, narrower car, and emphases the ‘blobbiness’. If the bonnet and roofline had just been lower, the bodywork given more of a ‘folded paper’ appearance, and they’d ditched the bulbous hubcaps, as per the design sketches, it would have been a much more attractive vehicle.

[@See_more....]

@@nkt1 I have a 1977 Vanden Plas 1500 and I would say 75% of people who chat to me say how underrated the Allegro was.

[@nkt1]

@@See_more.... Underrated as a car? I don’t doubt it. But, in terms of styling, it was a failure. Competitors, such as the Alfasud, were much more attractive vehicles.

[@See_more....]

@@nkt1 Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like it's pudgy styling :)

[@georgianrooms]

I bought an All Aggro in 1978. It was a high mileage ex Panda Car with a vinyl roof to cover where the Police stop sign had been. It was impossible to get anywhere quickly because whenever anyone saw me in their mirror they thought I was a Police car and slowed down. Having said that it was one o the most reliable early cars I ever owned. Perhaps I was just lucky.

[@davidfos84]

Tony Bastable, shame he had such a short life. He really was the quintessential motoring journalist of his day. Oh and the Allegro is possibly the most rust-resistant car made in the 1970s.

[@robhosking9399]

Completely Agree, Tony Bastable Was An Excellent Motoring Journalist, Loved Every Second Of His Motoring Road Tests. What A Sad Indictment Of Society, That We Can Not Seam To Have Intelligent Motoring Car Tests Any More, Instead Fed My The Utter Trash That Is Modern Top Gear.

[@I-T-S-M-E]

Using the "Central" release lever, Down she goes 😂😂

[@davarosmith1334]

I would still have one! They look fine , I've seen one at a classic car show. It is more practical than the 4 door Allegro.

[@grahamb5930]

I had one years ago, the offside front wheel came off, complete with hub, when the bottom ball joint failed! We ended up in the central reservation but, walked away unharmed. I was with my then fiancé travelling to collect her wedding dress! Should have taken that as an omen.............

[@Glenn1967ful]

The early Allegros had a terrible reputation and there was a case similar to yours where a driver and his passenger were seriously injured when a wheel came off on the motorway. Most of the faults were cured on later cars, but the damage was done.

[@rodneylowe9526]

Learned to drive in the Allegro Estate, straight back end very handy for reversing, as was the long back window. My instructor put a mark on the window by the wheel as a cheat for reversing. Used nail varnish so wasnt obvious to the Examiner! Remember feeling the change from 2 to 3 version felt a big lift in looks and quality, but I was young then,

[@AnthonyNewman-lp5qq]

Ami reading this right? You thought the III was an improvement in looks?

[@Harrylechat01]

With a rear wash/wiper and inertia reel seatbelts it's the best equipped medium-sized estate car for the money. Be still my beating heart!

[@bobeden5027]

beautiful looking car, would love one now!

[@bid84]

Bob Eden You must have someone else’s contact lenses in

[@bobeden5027]

@@bid84 beauty is in the eye of the beholder. your opinion of my reality is worthless! gfys!

[@yorkshireman6650]

That bought back some happy memories for me i use to own one back in the 90s i used for car boots and going camping i like theses quarky cars

[@DarrenCoull]

A friends of mine had the Allegro 2 estate, and I did a rebuild of the A-Series 1300 engine for him - the car had been abused and not serviced so was smoky and ran rough - after I did the full rebuild with new bearings, rings, seals etc. that thing ran like a champ! Loved those A-Series engines - so easy to work on!

[@euro1859]

Darren Coull a mate of mine had an allegro 1750 we went everywhere in it,i dont know if the engine was the same as the austin maxi 1750 or similar but it used to get down the road well and was well comfortable,miss those old British cars even if some of them were made badly at least you could fix them.

[@williamwoods8022]

anything - It was the same 1750 engine that was in the Maxi - I had a 1980 Allegro 1750 Equipe - Twin Carbs - and nippy for the day. Excellent reliable car and wish I still had it today.

[@raymondfunnel6856]

My mum reckoned it looked like a hearse

[@cambs0181]

A rear windscreen washer/wiper that was quite decedent back then!

[@Haffschlappe]

Lovely 70s car!

[@evo5dave]

A friend's grandad had one of these new in the late 70s. Six months later he had a new Mazda, saying he'd never touch a BL car again.

[@robertmarsh3588]

I love these Allegro estates..looked for a 2nd hand one a few years back but haven't got the garage space now and they are quite dear as so few around now, plus those old BL spares are getting rare.

[@weerobot]

Where did We Go Wrong..........

[@vlaminggarrulus4785]

I always liked the Allegro, and the estate is even more special.

[@YM-rm7mh]

Van Den Plas 1500 IS the One to Go For!! 🙂

[@YTChiefCritic]

These old videos are SO superior to the rubbish nowadays KZbinrs create - the presenter is properly attired and he speaks properly.

[@dandare2586]

I had the mustard coloured 1.5. The clutch seal went and oil contaminated the clutch :( Apart from that I don't remember any other bad things. I can confirm the rear with the seats down was indeed spacious enough for a shag :)

[@tortinwall]

A shag in the back of an Allegro estate? You know how to treat a girl don’t you?

[@dandare2586]

@@tortinwall I swapped mine for a TR7, luckily my next GF was quite supple 😉

[@bobeden5027]

Such an underrated car. Good looking and so fit for purpose, hey?

[@paulbennell3313]

A perfectly good car that got a bad rap. Sure, quality control could've been better but the same is true of a lot of '70's British cars. A mate of mine had a 1750HL back in the 80's. Respectably fast, comfortable, handled well and was reliable. I thought it was a great car.

[@VonBlade]

"both thoroughly proven, for some years" - Aka these engines are ancient but we're trying to be nice.

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

Knowing the low-key English, that's a really fierce burn.

[@domenicgaldo6290]

@@ingvarhallstrom2306 Passive aggresive.HaHaha. But I think he seemed quite happy with it. A lot of brits didn`t like them at all.

[@johnj3577]

To be fair, the 1500 unit was a good engine. Not that powerful but reliable. My Mum's 1500 VP even had a 5 speed box and it was happy all day at motorway speeds.

[@AnthonyNewman-lp5qq]

The e series was launched in ‘69, so about 5 years earlier. Hardly “ancient”.

[@DarrenKC53]

1:57 Hubnut approved test

[@pepitosbazzeguti1073]

Just a regular corner of disappointment down to the right ;)

[@TK42138]

Tony Bastable - legendary presenter on tv and corporate promos. His 'how to drive a semi auto bus' is worth watching.

[@mikiex]

Genius Proto Partridge :)

[@trodd1sox]

Is he still alive?

[@mikiex]

@@trodd1sox unfortunately not

[@colinjohnston8519]

Lol yea that legend of corporate promos. Go get laid FFS.

[@mateast9796]

I prefer it to the standard size Allegro . Looks good for weekend camping trips.

[@anthonyperkins7556]

My dad had the more modern Austin Allegro 3 5 door estate and it was nowhere near as bad as the previous series 1 and 2 Allegro estates, my dad kept it regularly serviced and maintained thoughout it's life, and it served my family well making a semi decent load carrier with the seats folded and as a semi decent family car with the seats up which managed the weekly shop or trips on holiday without problems.

[@fatbelly27]

Great review. I want one.

[@smogmonster1876]

Don’t give a shit what Clarkson or his side kicks say BL at the time made some stylish looking cars. This Alegro is no exception.

[@paulbennell3313]

Agreed!

[@johndavies7188]

I would have been 8 or 9 when the allegro came out, always thought it a great looking car so different from was out at the time which were all 3 boxed shapes, pity it was let down by its aged under pinning and British Leylands poor management skills oh poor build quality. Apart from that it was a good car

[@Haffschlappe]

I have a german Import Princess 2200HLS i love this car

[@AnthonyNewman-lp5qq]

Sadly motoring journalists and the buying public and thought differently.

[@yorkiecob]

Our dad had one in the 70's, in that BL dark brown, I loved it

[@imacompoza]

A coffin British Leyland built for itself.

[@Replevideo]

My friend bought a 10 year old Allegro. It was the most reliable car he ever owned. After 3 or 4 years he replaced with a much younger Ford Sierra which was always going wrong. Motor columnists panned this car on everything including reliability, but my friend was very happy with his.

[@williamwoods8022]

TheYorkMan - BL cars were no different to most of the other manufacturers back then and it depended on the owners as well. We had two Allegros in the family back then my brothers and then mothers 1978 1500 LE and my 1980 1750 Equipe and both were very reliable and excellent cars.

[@paddy1437]

That is so ugly. I love it!

[@Mark1405Leeds]

I always liked the Allegro. It made more sense as an estate rather than a saloon.

[@betaman7988]

Whilst the Allegro did sell well as a saloon in the UK, as a hatchback it could’ve been a best seller in Europe... then again, it could’ve given BL a bad name for stuff like the rear windscreen falling out in the hotter climates

[@WarthDader74]

The Allegro was a beautiful car

[@williamwoods8022]

Betaman - Oh dear! Passing on one of the made up drivel from the press back then about the back windows falling out and other such drivel. Funny we had two Allegros in the family at the same time - a 1978 1500 LE that was originally my brothers and then passed on to my mum and my 1980 1750 Equipe both very reliable cars and the rear window NEVER fell out on our cars and yet we worked on our own cars and serviced them and rustproofed them as well and had them jacked up at all angles. They used to say that us Equipe owners woke up in the mornings with flat tyres because the alloys were porous which was utter bullshit as I never woke up with flat tyres and the Equipes that survive and other Allegros with these alloys on them still dont wake up with flat tyres today - you get dumb people making up drivel about Allegros/BL cars and then other dumb people believe that drivel and pass it on and usually these people NEVER owned the cars in the first place or bought someone elses car that was never looked after and then blamed the car because they were stupid enough to buy it in the first place - plenty of these type of dumbos in the world.

[@betaman7988]

William Woods Actually the rear window issue only happened to the cars built before the refresh in 1975, and then of course they didn’t happen on every car they built. By the summer of 1975, Allegro 2 was released with a large amount of improvements over the original ‘73 model. I for one do not approve of needlessly criticising the Allegro in the ‘wasn’t it rubbish’ sort of manner that the media likes to these days but wish people saw the, (especially the later models) as some of the most reliable vehicles Britain produced in their time.

[@oldmutt1427]

Yep. In 1979 it was a pleasure to get out of my Mini 850 and drive my dad's Allegro. Far more comfortable. Although I always thought the estate looked like a small hearse. Shocking corrosion problems then but Fords and Vauxhalls were just as bad until they gradually got better from the 80's and 90's onward. Austin Rover never fully addressed the rust or quality control problems though. The later Rover petrol engines blew their head gaskets like boiling kettles. Metros would rust before your eyes. I owned three including an MG. A and B series engines remained the best.

[@joshbacon8241]

Did you know that when Richard Hammond was a kid, his dad used to have an Allegro Estate... when Clarkson and May’s dads used to have Ford Cortinas because they didn’t grow up in Birmingham like Hammond?

[@bigyin2586]

Josh Bacon typical southerners.

[@johnstairs]

Make sure that bonnets shut Tony😂

[@iainmclaughlan1557]

Cars are so complicated these days, when it gets old it can be harder to fix. Simpler cars are attractive.

[@martinparker6536]

agreed, if you can do your own mechanicing they are becoming attractive propositions, i'm sick of modern cars now, too complex, ive just restored a 1974 Citroen DS i'm gonna use as my everyday along with my Corsa B Auto !! check for a video soon !

[@CaptHollister]

Iain McLaughlan Except that modern cars are not old until they are 15-20 years old and they will give you an easy trouble-free 300k kilometers. When I was a kid, a car that had managed 100k miles (160k kilometers) through sympathetic maintenance and nurturing was nonetheless guaranteed to be on the verge of utterly falling apart. It was, at any rate, a rare occurence because all but a few brands would biodegrade into uselessness within 4-5 years thanks to poor metal protection. Today's cars are inconceivably better made than those old clunkers. We all have our own answers to the question of what is better: a car that is easy to work on, but requires frequent fiddling and adjusting on top of frequent regular maintenance, or one that will last a very long time with nothing but widely scheduled maintenance, but is more complex when something does break or wear out ?

[@tcpnetworks]

Cars these days are many factors more reliable, safer, more efficient, and generally nicer in every way. The cars from the 1970's? Well - in the 1970's people said the same stuff that you are here....

[@tcpnetworks]

Pretty much.. My Datsun 200B lasted 98,000Km prior to needing an engine rebuild and a new crank. The whole body fell apart and the whole car was scrap after 9 years. My Nissan Bluebird? 20 years old and going strong - nothing other than consumables and suspension components that have been changed-out.

[@kieranwhite6647]

Lasted Until 1990, good going!

[@herrgolf]

Really??

[@Tagora2664]

And we wonder why we have no car industry. Well wonder no more. 🤦‍♂️

[@exclusivehaunted9459]

If it's good enough for Bastable it should have been good enough for Hammond.

[@lewis72]

Yes, Richard "The Hamster" Hammond was a twat wrecking a good Allegr Estate, even though I don't like Allegro Estates. Now I don't like Richard "The Hamster" Hammond.

[@leeenglandland2978]

I like the way the wipers park half way up the windscreen !

[@glengraham2319]

My first car was an Allegro .... Sport 😁. Basically it meant it had a 5th gear (uncommon then)! To be fair it did ok.

[@morrismckinnon6047]

Great cars. My mate had a black 1.3 two door saloon. Ran like a champ. Driving back home in the snow one night he rolled it taking a corner too fast, the car looked like a crunched up piece of paper, no glass, roof caved in about half foot, but it still run and we drove it the rest of the thirty miles home! No limp mode or safety shutdown then thank fu*k or we would have had a long way to walk in freezing weather.

[@svenlabots1869]

And you're proud of that? Wow, what a great car that must have been.....🙄

[@morrismckinnon6047]

@@svenlabots1869 It was indeed a great car, and a great memory I'll have for ever. I'm very proud of the silly things we did back then.🖕

[@GenialHarryGrout]

The Allegro in the video also came with one option most Allegro's didn't have. it starts. I Know this because I once had an Allegro Petrol consumption was very good for this car but was let down by the oil consumption, which seem to need a regular top up. Overall a car well worthy of the junk yard.

[@kevinroberts8441]

Guess the petrol stayed in the tank and oil dripped on the driveway cause it was always broken down

[@andrewrcmadwilkinson6999]

LMAO

[@Grimwriggler]

my first car was a 1.3 allegro it used more oil than petrrol

[@SuperOldShows]

Same with the Metros. The 1.3 A-series always seemed to piss oil out everywhere!

[@graemew7001]

I had a 1300 Allegro saloon and for all that it burned oil and destroyed a top ball joint it was a cracking little car, really comfortable and decent economy for the time 35mpg all day long.

[@deemdoubleu]

You can slide a Marshall 4x12 into one of these (as I used to)

[@mikelitisore7456]

That is a very interesting fact. How about a Laney 4 x 12?

[@JULIAN8845]

I ACTUALLY WAS DRIVEN TO SCHOOL IN A SQUARE STEERING WHEEL WHEN THE ALLAGRO FIRST CAME OUT.THE 1750 ACTUALLY HAD A REV COUNTER

[@shauncrambie2275]

Notice the wipers set up wrong as if for left hand drive, leaving an unwiped area blocking drivers view, still love cars from the '70s, fond memories growing up & hardly any left now.

[@babiryeethel8582]

Nicely designed car.

[@stephenconway2468]

I liked the way he said the A series engines was "old familiar" - a nice way of saying ancient. By 1975 it was already 24 years old. It lasted till 2000 when it was 49 smoking a pipe and had an allotment.

[@paulanderson79]

Only BL or Rover would be using engines designed half a century ago. Even Ford UK wasn't that miserly.

[@elbownesdam4024]

The 79s were great 👍

[@eltfell]

Watching this car to drive, it somehow gives me an impression of an helpless disabled person.

[@SteenHolm134]

Very funny...

[@AnthonyNewman-lp5qq]

What does this mean?

[@nickbrice8497]

Older cars were so easy to maintain, and handy that all those Lucas parts that will fail can be swapped over with minimal fuss

[@mr.y.mysterious.video1]

My dad had a beige one, he liked it, my mum always said it was too small

[@jusb1066]

the car or your dad?

[@danw1374]

Well youre here, so your dads small beige one must have been functional enough.

[@godfreypoon5148]

Your mum preferred the large black one.

[@mikelitisore7456]

Everything is relative.... Was it because your mom was big? (and baggy)

[@FilK79]

This was 45 years ago, and I wouldnt mind at all if it was yesterday

[@CherylCold]

Oh my... these are becoming quite cool. With a few or a lot of mods this could be seriously cool. When I was in school this was possibly the most laughed at car. Hmmmm... eBay.

[@seansands424]

Great littis car i had one it never bloke down once

[@darrenwilson8042]

The odd thing is the strange look at the rear is now standard where manufacturers can get away with it as a roof spoiler..........

[@darrenwilson8042]

Funny thing is now you'd make that raised rear roof into a spoiler and lend the whole range a sporty image

[@ori6inal-gam3r17]

A very rare beast nowadays

[@SuperZedd]

Down she goes 😂

[@Glenn1967ful]

The Allegro was always better looking as an estate and actually looks quite smart.

[@nickstaffer5036]

and some still argue as to just why the entire British auto industry collapsed?

[@oliveroneill1388]

Whow ..

[@noeuro]

British Engineering FTW 👍

[@MrTLsnow]

FTL*

[@arthuritchybollix5064]

This comment on an Austin allegro video 😂😂😂😂😂

[@paula200]

I actually always liked the design of the Allegro, but it was much maligned from its day of release onwards. I remember being in a bar with some mates years ago, when we heard fire engines. Looked outside and saw my mate's Allegro Vanden Plas, which he had just bought, engulfed in flames!

[@grahamariss2111]

Classic BMC/ British Leyland, replacing the Countryman 1300 with the same concept i.e. 2 doors, and 2 small doors from the 4 door, instead of seeing that the market had moved on to a full set of four doors. Having said that the Mik2 Allegro was a well sorted car, and really how the car should have been when launched (they released 3 inches of rear leg room by revising the rear seat squab), but sadly also in the tradition of BMC / BL they launched tye car woefully under developed and late having gone on strike.

[@liverush24]

Actually, I preferred the shape of the Allegro estate to the saloons.

[@jakekaywell5972]

@King Brilliant I'd still rather have an Allegro than the plethora of barges my own country was making. AMC was the only mass-market carmaker back home that actually tried building cars with quality in the 1970s.

[@paulbaumer8210]

This made a lot more sense than the ordinary Allegro.

[@seamusoflatcap]

Herpes makes more sense than an Allegro

[@paulbaumer8210]

@@seamusoflatcap Actually I've had worse. Both the Beetle and the Marina were even worse to drive, with the Marina adding build quality issues to the undesirable mix.

[@seamusoflatcap]

@@paulbaumer8210 I think I must have been lucky. The worst car I've had was a Peugeot 406. Temperamental electrics.

[@autofox1744]

I had no idea there was an Allegro Estate version. I really like the shape, believe it or not.

[@autofox1744]

@The Passionate Ponce For some reason a lot of people don't like it much, though.

[@andrewrcmadwilkinson6999]

ONLY ONE WORD TO SAY TO YOUR COMMENT SPECSAVERS OR A GUIDE DOG

[@jakekaywell5972]

@@andrewrcmadwilkinson6999 That's more than one word, you nonce.

[@ericwolff6059]

Good fuel consumption considering I had an early 2000's Mirage hatch that did only about 18 MPG.

[@paulanderson79]

Van with windows. My father-in-law still thinks this of estate cars. Yes, something as prestigious as a BMW 535d Touring is, to him, a van with back windows and back seats.

[@annother3350]

I remember there was a four wheel reliant that looked very similar to this

[@pauljackson6230]

Reliant kitten

[@iana6713]

Is it just me or is the estate version better-looking than the Allegro saloon - less dumpy, somehow? Can't believe BL actually did something practical with that bit for dropping the back seat, one simple release in behind the handle at the centre is a good idea.

[@ABCDEF-yf4yu]

Imagine if the Allegro was availble as a van, in BL competion with the Marina. There were some unusual estates at this time like the Datsun 100A and Hillman Husky (Imp estate). A black Allegro estate looks like a small hearse and a yellow one, a banana.

[@39PSIOnTheDaily]

Hahaha when I saw this car in full profile for the first time, I let out a chuckle. The worst part is that I’m currently in a public place, so now people think I’m nuts. This car must have been completely laughable back in the day.

[@paulbennell3313]

Not really, no. No one batted an eyelid.

[@philmbridges]

I had one! No problems for 5years ! Hydro gas did need topping up though!

[@philnewstead5388]

That was a service operation to check/reset suspension heights at every 12000 mile service like changing the plugs and points etc. It was part of the 6000 mile service to check but if it needed topping up that was extra, never quite understood that.

[@OrnumCR]

Never seen these before and have to say I actually like the shape. Works better than the saloon version. I like the kick-up at the rear. Interestingly different! Wonder how many are left??

[@RichardDzien]

Not many; of 642,350 made 184 are still registered. (of all Allergros see www.howmanyleft.co.uk)

[@pcno2832]

Looks like an AMC product; some of the early Rambler wagons and the Pacer had lines like that, not to mention the door handles.

[@jakekaywell5972]

Honestly, I quite like the Allegro for the precise reason that everyone else hates it. I'd absolutely like to buy myself a Vanden Plas version.

[@margonewman6086]

Small hearse...

[@chrispenn715]

Ideal for dwarfs

[@Statimtek]

Margo Newman. "Small hearse..." My first impression as well. LOL

[@CoastHobbit9340]

Wouldn't be seen dead in it!

[@charishraju]

Couple of these cars were imported to India in the 70s. they proved to be junks in competition with the Japanese and German brands....I now see British deputy high commission employees in India moving around in Toyotas....

[@timpriddy349]

Richard Hammond adores this very car ...........................(fact).................................

[@davidgibson4840]

my dad was a Austin mechanic and never understood why the mini 1275 a series was a good engine and the allego 1275 (identical) burned oil like hell

[@MrThecarebear]

Easy to replace the Quartic steering wheel - just take one from the Morris Marina. Voila!!

[@wiedietie]

I love the model.

[@mikelitisore7456]

Our neighbour had one of these. He'd offer us a lift to school in the rain and bad weather. Of course we'd always decline, preferring to walk and be cold and wet... Rather than looking like a twat in an Allegro.

[@jimhughes2641]

I drove one of these for a time in 1980,1300 model. An acquired taste for sure in looks but practical none the less. Let down by atrocious build quality I had loads of water leaks and had to have a new engine at around 9000 miles I recall.

[@jimhughes2641]

@@edwardszzz nope sad to say it was 9000 miles a new gold seal engine fitted under warranty.

[@timothysimpkins3664]

My late dad had second hand 1500cc V reg mark 2 Allegro estate.

[@mooch514]

Looks old even when new

[@rabit818]

The Allegro had guillotines in their factory to effectively chop off the rear.

[@jonescrusher1]

Never seen one of these on the road. Looks like a mini-hearse.

[@spottydog4477]

'Rather bouncy ride'///excellent for snogging in the rear

[@mauricevanmourik1982]

They certainly put some effort to it in design and serviceability, the best years in motoring. Sadly enough the build quality didn't meet the high standards Britain used to have in the earlier years (until 1965 +/- ).