14th Apr 2003, 14:51
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.
3rd Jun 2003, 13:29
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.
25th Sep 2003, 03:33
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.
3rd Nov 2004, 18:29
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.
30th Jun 2005, 03:27
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.
12th Dec 2008, 17:50
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.
12th Mar 2011, 10:47
I have a collection of classic cars, mainly German from 1950's - 1970. The Allegro was more of a return to my memories as a child, as my parents had lots of them new..
Theirs never broke down.. I have been driving mine 30 miles, and I broke down already.. but put that to one side.. it was a simple points issue.. new ones on the way. Now she is fine..
Are they a crap car? Well yes and no.. They serve the purpose, and in classic car world, there are always good and bad cars about.. these are only bad if they are not looked after, and people don't spend any money on them.
I have an 1500 Super Estate car 1977, and she is in not bad condition I have to say.. Old boy owned, and is certainly NOT showing its age.. It's only for a few small bumps and scratches about the car that let it down from having a just come out the show room look.. and with less than 50K on the car, it's not a bad car.. not many left about, and certainly not many Estate cars about..
1st Apr 2003, 16:20
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...