1977 Rover - Austin Allegro 1500 Super from UK and Ireland - Comments

The radiator fan switch failed at 59,000 miles.

These cars are seriously under valued, I paid £100 for this car from our local scrap dealer.

Since I bought the vehicle it has sailed its MOT test and provide perfect service at little more than the cost of the fuel.

The Austin Allegro must be the cheapest car on earth to own, it uses the cheapest size tyres, It costs a very small amount to insure and parts are available from most motor factors at giveaway prices.

GET REAL! I must admit as a british car fan I liked the look of the Allegro, i never owned one, but I owned 5 Austin Maxis,1 good,4 awful,4 Montegos, all good, apart from rust, but on the whole, if i`m honest, the Allegero was not a quality car, if buying an Allegro you must be aware that they cannot run on unleaded and for the prices being asked of old Allegros, you really MUST be missing a penny.

I had a 1500 Super, and yes it was, but for the 1980's, but it is now the 2000's and these cars don't really belong on the road any longer, they are a part of english history, which may not be repeated...

The Allegro was a terrible car. It rusted "while you waited", it had an unreliable engine, consumed more oil than petrol, and was not exactly a beauty.

Hans Guikink Holland.

You say about the cost of the petrol. Don't you need to factor in the cost of the oil as well, bearing in mind they burn more oil than petrol?

I'm British, I'm patriotic and I'm a car nut, but the Allegro is best consigned to the history books. And the nearer the back, and the smaller the print, the better.

The allegro is the best car in the world!!!

Daniel Rodd.

Too right! my allegro is always breaking down, and its currently off the road now, actually, but hey, it's an old car, it needs to rest often. And it's brown with chrome, which obviously makes it the best car ever.

Our family owned a 1979 allegro 1500 super (saloon) during the 1980s. Was cheap to buy, but proved expensive in the long run in terms of maintenance. Unreliable mechanicals. Rusted all too easily. Not a beauty to behold, either. Tended to be perceived as a 'senior citizen's' car, thus zero street cred.

I had a 1978 'S' reg 1300, in classic "Old English White" also known as magnolia!

Yes, the car was total rubbish, but hey, I was 17...it had a radio, heater and fantastic seats that reclined from ...... \ to _ in 2 seconds! lol

I remember the day before I traded it in for a Fiat Regatta I raced it up the motorway reaching 100mph when I noticed alot of steam. When I got home it was still smoking and I was to say the least, a tad worried due to getting £400 for a trade in.

Next morning it started fine, drove the 18 miles to the garage where we parted company. I got my new car and my final memory of my AllAggro was seeing the salesman start it up as I drove past, and seeing the biggest fluffy white cloud come out of its exhaust.........ahhhh, the allegro

Would never buy another (Regatta or Allegro).

Oh forgot to mention.....Why the heck did it have a square steering wheel?? ;-)

Right. Lets get this straight. The Allegro finished production in 1982. This means that the youngest example will be 23 years old. How can you not expect them to have a bit of rust now?!

The Allegro was not especially rust-prone in relation to the opposition, despite what its detractors say: Allegros had generally better rust-proofing than most of the opposition. This "rusty" reputation probably relates to an article that featured in a very early issue of What Car? magazine that stated that the Allegro would suffer from rotting around the rear subframe! The author of the piece had canvassed a BLMC dealer garage mechanic at the time and asked him what problems the Allegro suffered from in service, but it was later revealed that the mechanic thought he was being asked about ADO16, then anything up to 12 years old. The consequent harm that was done to the Allegro's image is immeasurable, especially considering it was less than a year old at the time of the article.

The Allegro’s lack of structural integrity did, in extreme cases, lead to the rear window popping out when the car was jacked-up. Of course, this made good copy, but it only happened as a result of injudicious use of a trolley jack; in their panic, engineers marked the areas to be avoided underneath the Allegro with high-visibility tape, but the damage had been done – the story went national, and it persists to this day.

I own a ugly Allegro, the vdp1500.

Its absolutly great fun to drive! not the quickest car, but its not too bad with its twin carbs, full of leather and wood, structuraly solid, only small amounts of rust around the arches, not bad for a totaly original car left outside and being 27 years old! I've seen 7 year old cars with more rust, I've had modern cars with more problems to fix, and always more expensive. its not my only car, but really does give me a smile when I drive it, cruises at 70 80mph very happy. only trouble I have is trying to find a bloody exhuast lol

so try driving another one now, and look at it for what it is! there was so much "soap opera" involved in the car its got to be loved.

I have owned a 1982 "ALL AGGRO" 1500 VDP for 3 Years now.Yes, it is problem central, yet I do not bother driving this thing. I have laid it up properly, and it gets cheap oil every six Months, and I start and move it a couple of miles once a month.Basically, this will be worth serious Money in another 20 odd years. I do wax Oil the chassis Yearly, and it is Garaged. My example has a full Austin Service History and some Later Rover Main Dealer Stamps and get this it has only covered 16k Miles to date, yet it was Serviced twice a Year for the first 20 Years of it's Life. I have already been offered Seven Thousand Pounds for it, but I am after the real money in a couple of decades. I reckon it will be a welcome 20 Thousand Pounds to my Pension fund. I am 35 now, everyone thinks I am crazy, but I know without a doubt that I have the best Allegro in the Country. I also have had the mentality to grab every spare it will ever need from Swap Meets and Ebay. If anyone wants it I might be tempted to let it go right now for 12 Thousand Quid. Right now it is living in my Garage inside an Air Bubble Sytem, I even Wax it with MER every 2 months.This version is not gonna be wasted on the Roads,this is destined for a Motor Museum.

OK here goes.. The allegro was not/is not a bad car. I v'e owned several over the years they had a few problems when new, but these were quickly sorted. Sadly the british press and elements in the workforce and alike were whipping up ''leyland phobia'' at the time and the car gained a terrible reputation from the public, but if you talk to older guys in the trade most will tell you they were never outstanding machinery, but were reliable, cheap to run, and practical.

People love the mini- yet the allegro was very similer mechanicly and was much more practical, and the allegro did not rust anything like the much loved (still) 1100 range which it replaced.

Lets be realistic about a 30 plus year old design is it realy that bad? I think not. I still think a tidy allegro makes a great first car or starter classic, learn to do your own matainence- do the points (remember them?).

Like I always say - don't knock 'em till you've tried 'em get a tidy low miler, and you won't go far wrong mate.

Hi, I had an Austin Allegro 1500 Super as my first car and I totally loved it!! It was reliable, comfortable and economical. So it was no surprise that when 10 years later I fancied getting into old cars again, I wanted an Allegro.

The car I chose was a 1500 Special found through a wanted ad on Ebay, the only problem being it was in Scotland and I am in Essex!!

The seller was probably the most honest person I have ever dealt with on Ebay, to the extent that I booked a one way flight to Glasgow airport with no reservations!!

The seller collected me from arrivals and took me back to view his Allegro. I bought it on first sight and proceeded to drive it the 460 miles home; it goes without saying the old girl achieved this without missing a beat!!

All I can say is that the Allegro is a competent car provided it is maintained correctly. I may be in the minority but I really do not care what the detractors have to say, I only have to look at the totally original, unwelded 30 year old under body of my Allegro to appreciate that the corrosion allegations are totally unfounded; just look at most 11 year old Mondeos!!!

P.S The mk2 onward Allegros had the earlier build woes sorted and a round steering wheel to boot!!!

Dan M.