The Austin Allegro at 50, the car we love to hate
Mia Morrison Fifty years ago, British Leyland introduced the car that became subject to more critical abuse than even the derided Morris Marina. According to popular mythology, the Austin Allegro was an instant disaster, with dealers rending their nylon suits in despair on the showroom floor.
Yet, many press sectors warmly greeted the Allegro when it made its bow on 17 May 1973 as the replacement for the ADO16 1100/1300. This newspaper found it “undoubtedly one of the most promising designs the British industry has yet produced”, even if the Quartic (incorrectly dubbed “square”) steering wheel was“a constant annoyance on winding roads”. Car noted shortcomings but thought “if development proceeds rapidly, the Allegro could become an all-time great”.
“The New Driving Force From Austin” was the first car with Hydragas suspension, which used displacers partially filled with nitrogen. The line-up ranged from the 1100 De Luxe to the 1750SS.
Adrian Fell’s 1300 De Luxe is a prime example of 1974-vintage fleet transport. £1,045.09 gained the corporate driver the luxuries of vinyl trim and even an “interior bonnet release”.
In 1975 came the Allegro Estate, which was “probably about the best equipped and best value for money in the medium estate-car field at the moment” according to Thames Television’s Drive-In. But, unfortunately, too many buyers found its looks somewhat offbeat. Steve Young’s 1975 1300 Super is a rare survivor he acquired in 2020, an Austin from when a car with a heated rear window and “its own washer-wiper unit” cost £1,880.
By then, Car was notably less sympathetic to the Allegro, complaining about the lack of performance and rear legroom. “The handling feels curiously out of date, although the level of roadholding is high. The gearchange and odd steering wheel contribute nothing”. The Series 2 Allegro of late 1975 was BL’s response to such complaints and attempted to cure the suspension-damping problems that bedevilled the first models.
The limited-edition Special LE of April 1978 further increased the S2’s profile, as £2,965.95 was a modest sum for a car with a five-speed gearbox, tinted glass, a push-button radio, a tachometer and fashionable side stripes. Geoff Taylor owns two of the few survivors of the 6,800 LEs to depart the factory – one in Tara Green and the other in the equally eye-catching Astral Blue.
Lord Stokes, Leyland’s chairman, believed the Allegro would have an appeal “to the sophisticated European public,” and the Innocenti plant in Italy made the short-lived Regent for this market.
Meanwhile, the 1974 Vanden Plas 1500 seemed ideal for British sybarites with its Connolly leather upholstery, walnut veneer dashboard and Wilton carpets for only £1,951. It gained a 1,748cc engine in 1979.
Rebecca Cairns found her 1980 example in 2009. She says: “It was a crew car for Games of Thrones in 2012, after which she went into a garage and stayed until 2020 when I started working on her as a Covid lockdown project.” The combination of the opulent interior with its folding picnic tables, the optional black paint finish and that rather grand radiator grille is undeniably distinctive.
While BL aimed the Vanden Plas (which never wore Allegro badges) at retired headteachers, the Equipe of 1979 repudiated all forms of restraint. Paul Vincent’s example is a vivid reminder of the Allegro model that BL, somewhat ambitiously, hoped would compete with the Volkswagen Golf GTI hot hatchback. Nevertheless, Motor thought it was “well-equipped and good value for money”, while sales representatives with Starsky and Hutch aspirations could revel in its orange and red stripes, metallic silver paintwork, black spoiler and alloy wheels. £4,360.42 further gained the proud owner orange and black houndstooth check upholstery.
At that time, the Allegro was the UK’s fifth most popular car but the (still rear-wheel drive) Ford Escort Mk2 outsold it by more than two to one. There was a last facelift in 1979, with the more expensive S3s now boasting quad headlights. Alas, Motor found it “overall a mundane device compared with the opposition”, while Leyland commissioned a truly horrendous television advertising campaign.
But third-generation Allegros are now much sought-after; Michael Forman acquired his 1980 HL in 2021. He says: “It was part of an estate clearance. I did all the restoration work myself at home as Allegros are easy cars to work on.”
Production ended in 1982 after 642,350 units, although sales continued until 1983 with the launch of the Austin Maestro. By then, references to “disaster” abounded, but the reality was, as is often the case, more complex. Leyland’s management compromising Harris Mann’s original design is a matter of history; his colleague Spen King thought the finished car “looked like a caricature of Henry VIII, with little features and a big, bulging face”.
More problematic than aesthetics was unreliability. Tales of rear screens popping out when the Allegro was jacked up were exaggerated, but the reputational damage was immense. An even more severe problem was of wheels dropping off. Tom Morley of the Owners’ Club says: “This was due to mechanics tightening rear hubs as with the previous Austin/Morris 1100/1300, which wasn’t required on Allegros.”
The motoring historian Keith Adams noted the company’s engineers rectified the issue, but “accidents ensued, and although BL was not considered at fault for them, it lost an unpleasant product liability court case in 1977”. It was probably no coincidence that the infamous factory training drama The Quality Connection featured a runaway Allegro.
Above all, the Allegro faced more significant challenges than its predecessor. The ADO16 1100/1300 was the UK’s best-selling car from 1963 to 1966 and from 1968 to 1971, but its replacement encountered declining overseas markets and increased foreign competition at home. In addition, the first Morris 1100s dated from 1962, when promotional films with gosh-golly voiceovers disguised many corporate problems. Eleven years later, these issues could no longer be so easily masked.
Five decades after launch, the Allegro has a thriving owners’ club that points out its usability and that the Quartic steering wheel vanished after 1975. They are also accustomed to various forms of British Leyland jokes.
To quote Car of August 1973: “The Allegro is a notable step forward for BLMC but once again their basically interesting package has been spoiled by lack of attention to detail.”
And, sadly, this was an all-too-familiar pattern with British Leyland.
Thanks to: Rebecca Cairns, Adrian Fell, Michael Forman, Tom Morley, Geoff Taylor, Paul Vincent, Steve Young, the ARonline site featuring Austin-Rover cars and the Allegro Club International.
