Austin Allegro: An Enthusiast's Guide

Apart from the AMC Pacer the Austin Allegro stands as one of the most ridiculed cars of the 1970's, it was the first major new product to be conceived and launch in the British Leyland era. Built to replace the much loved and very successful BMC 1100 series the Allegro arrived on the UK motoring scene in spring 1973 on a tidal wave of indifference. It was difficult to see at this time why BL had introduced this bizarre egg like vehicle to replace the 1100 which was a very well styled vehicle that had functionality in the Austin/Morris versions.a touch of sportiness in the MG 1100, and three degrees of luxury in the Riley & Wolsely versions culminating in the decidedly luxurious and stylish Vanden Plas Princess. So what did the Allegro bring to the party then? not a lot I think, there was the E series engine a heavy lump first seen in the Maxi, Hydragas suspension which probably was an improvement over it's predecessor, instead of different model ranges you had trim levels, so a middle class Wolesely of Vanden Plas owner had to slum it in an Austin and oh yes the notorious Quartic square steering wheel. Combined with dreadful build quality lousy industrial relations between the workforce and management didn't give an exactly good impression of a quality product. Six months later the Yom Kippur war followed by the quadrupling of oil prices by OPEC was one of the factors that led to BL's near collapse and nationalisation by the incoming Labour government in 1974 gave the Allegro a true baptism of fire in it's first year of production. Two years after launch two new models were introduced, the most important was the long awaited replacement for the 1100 Countryman estate by the Allegro estate and the truth to be told it was really pretty good even if it only had two doors it was miles better than it's Chrysler, Ford & Vauxhall rivals and a better load lugger than the aging Maxi. It didn't look bad either the new estate body looked like a marriage between the AMC Gremlin & the Reliant Scimitar GTE. The other new model was the replacement of the VP Princess which arrived as the Vanden Plas 1500 which got the same treatment as it's predecessor with leather and wood trimmings and a new grille at the front which gave the impression of a self propelled piggy bank, this really didn't have the style and grace of it's predecessor. Really that was about it there were some truly awful special versions culminating in the Equipe a truly ghastly combination of the unpopular two door body and the 1750 E series engine, coupled with a truly awful interior and stripes which resulted in yet another sales disaster. However much as I dislike the Allegro , I have really enjoyed Mr Wanklyn's book it's well written on a subject of which he truly loves, the photos in in the book give an excellent feel of the car's the adverts and the era of the 1970's, my only minor gripe is that I'd have liked to see more about the Innocenti Regent in Italy and New Zealand assembly. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it

Having owned an Allegro early in my driving experience I find this book a fun read because no matter what people say about these cars and no matter what quirks mine had they are a great starter classic and deserve to be restored or kept on the road. Lots of new facts to learn and many I already knew.

A lightweight if resolutely upbeat book on a car long-since relegated to the land of old-fashioned humour. The BMIHT archives have been heavily plundered for illustrations so there is very little fresh in the line of photos but the writers enthusiasm shines through. An excellent read of a neglected subject.

Nice book about a very underrated car.

if you are an Allegro nut you cant fail to like this, it may even turn you into an Allegro nut

The book starts good, but towards the end it seems that the author lost interest in the Allegro

detailed and interesting especially if you are older enough to remember then when they came out. quite nostalgic. i brock quit a few up in the day to get spare parts and use the back sub frame into a base for a trailer.

I found this book very interesting I recommend this book to anyone with any nostalgic interest or who may wish to buy an Allegro to read this book first it tells you everything !!!.