Austin Allegro test drive/review 

Well done for presenting a fair but fun review of the Allegro, I’ve nothing funny to say today, nice change to have one represented so well.

One of my favourite classic cars from the 70’s. Well covered review of a very nice example, love that blue. My very first car was an Allegro 1300 SDL in “Astral Blue Metallic” which was a light metallic blue which was a lovely colour and cost me a mere £75! Which was in 1997, that’s how unloved they were at the time. I wish I had the money to buy one now as they are a Substantial amount more money now!

I live in New Zealand. We assembled the Austin Allegros here. The Austin Maxis as well back in the 1970s. I remember them being in bright colors such as Canary yellow for instance. We only had the 4dr saloons The 2dr and estate models, we didn't have on our car market. That Allegro looks good in that blue color. It's in nice condition too.

I had the 1750 sport special which was remarkable for consuming drive shafts at a new set every 3 months or so - luckily I lived then close to Cowley so they replaced them free of charge without complaint

Lovely Jubbly, very nice video on a very very nice example of this 1970's British Leyland car.

Amazing how much better it looks with that great paint colour

Car reputations, it was ever thus. As Frank Zappa nearly said, Most motor journalism is people who can’t write interviewing cars who can’t talk for people who can’t read. Back in the day l was out & about in my Rover 2000TC with my friend. We pulled up next to an Allegro at a set of lights on the North Circular Road with the intention of easily beating him away from the line. When the lights went green he took off like a scalded cat with a cheery wave & l had to pretend that l wasn't really trying. By the Lord Harry, it was quick.

Thanks for the upload but Nigel Nigel…..the 1100 and 1300 was hydrolastic not hydrogas lol 🙂

A guy in my estate who does up old cars currently has a very clean beige Allegro on his drive. It’s a couple of years older than this one but almost as clean. As a kid I laughed at the Allegro, today I just smile whenever I see one, which is very rarely.

My uncle had one he liked it. I do remember it but don't think it lasted very long think the tin worm ate it. The A series is and was a good reliable little engine. Good review 👍

Jonny Smiths channel is rebuilding a 2 door Allegro in to a sleeper with a Civic type R engine he has a thing for Allegros. A friend had a 1750 ss in the 80s it was quite fast.

Wow that is one immaculate car. It looks brand new, and nothing says Thatcher's Britain like a car that always sounds like its going backwards. I like it a lot, almost as much as your slightly psychotic intro :-)

I had one when it was 6 years old. One of the hydrogas pipes had rotted though already but a bodge repair got it through an MoT and it was a pretty good car.

You people in the UK 🇬🇧 are so lucky 🍀! We never had this imported into the US, no, BL ignored us. I think this is quite lovely! So I hope it ends up in a good home.

I always liked the estates, helps if they're a nice chocolate brown colour like the one a neighbour of mine had when I was a kid. I loved the look of that car back then 😂

Great video! That Allegro looks in immaculate condition! I really want one, especially in that colour that really suits the car. 👍

I love allegros I've had a metro and I've been in an allegro! The allegro feels far more solid and comfortable although my metro needed the suspension doing but even then I think the allegro is still nicer. Good video

Beautiful

The Mini's big brother's son Gerard who used to wear a sweatshirt tied over his neck ... you just don't get that level of detailed knowledge on most so-called car reviews! 😁 Mustard with a discerning eye for the original car colour!🖌👀 Great to see Andy in action with the history book! Looks as though he has done a great job with the restoration 👍

Great review funny as F#&k, you should do more reviews

You have struck on a very powerful idea. Many cars today are like snakes or lizards - slippery, shiny, fashionable and exotic looking, but no personality and likely to bite you. The Allegro is indeed like a dog. Not always popular with strangers, but loved by their owners for their loyalty and willingness to get up and have fun, even though some may be a bit slow these days.

Wow if i had the money id buy it. What a little gem. Love the video. My uncle don had one in the 80s but then he upgraded to a Maestro. Maybe ill sell the wife.😁

I had a 1978 Allegro 1.1 deluxe in snot green back in 1988. Handled better than the Marina I had before it, but it was slow in 1100 guise. Very roomy inside and mine was totally reliable. Bought cheap, thrashed it, sold it!

Great video. Andy 👍

Thoroughly enjoyed watching this. Made me chuckle too!. I also own an Allegro. Its brown. Actually theres a lot of videos of it on my channel. He's called George!. Mister Hubnut met him too. Anyway, thanks for sharing this. I was so impressed I subscribed. Excellent taste sir!. :)

INTERESTING THAT YOU MENTIONED GETTING INTO THE BOOT! I WAS a lodger in a flat, with my friend and his family. His 10 year old son Martin, normally very nice, was on one occasion, being a pain. He had bought a Star Wars plastic Ninja lance, and kept poking me with it! I said I had to go outside to my Allegro, and wanted Martin to come with me, as I wanted to SHOW him something. I showed Martin the Allegro's boot and said I'd just had enough of it - being poked with his plastic Ninja lance - and would LOCK HIS LANCE IN THE BOOT if he didn't stop! Immediately Martin challenged me to lock HIM in the boot - so he could practise his ESCAPOLOGY ( he had escaped the previous week from a pop-up suitcase!) So "Doubting Thomas", (i.e. ME) locked Martin in the Allegro's boot, and was AMAZED when just MINUTES later, an expert 10 year old escapologist emerged , with a large "click" of the boot lock he squeezed from INSIDE! The rest is HISTORY Suddenly we heard a round of applause! We heard it coming from above - above where the car was parked, at the back of the flats. All the kids on the block had met up on the walkway above, where it was like a pavement running past people's front doors - and they'd ALL been watching! Martin said "who wants to see me escaping from the boot if the car AGAIN? " So, to more applause, each time, "Martin The Magician" escaped from the Allegro's large boot several more times!

I have owned four Allegro's in my time. All of them were brown.

Nice review.

What a beautiful colour! And the title PROJECT NIGEL is appropriate. That's MY name, and I had one! I always thought it looked "cuddly" and friendly! A proper car to own, and not one pretending to be a sports car..

I always thought the Allegro looked a bit sad and grumpy, not befitting its cheery name. And for that I salute it, being a grumpy old man with quite a jolly name myself

Fair review, as you say they were a best seller and the contemporaries were probably little better built except the Japanese and irrespective almost all 70s car rusted away. I had a 1.3L MK2 Escort and I couldn’t keep up with my mates Allegro! Brings a new meaning to removing the cat😂😂

The Allegro, generally a pensioners car. Four engine options, 1100, 1300, 1500 and 1750 and the posh Vanden Plas. This one has a rear armrest that even the top of range Ford Granada GXL lacked.

The looks of the Allegro have actually aged pretty well - my father owned one of these in that oh-so-70's mustard colour and, as I recall, brown velour seats. I'm guessing it had the A-Series motor because I can remember the sound of it as if it was yesterday. "Clunk-whirr-whine" and you're off down the road. That one is in far better condition than his was!

My friend’s dad bought an Allegro for his son, my friend, to drive. He had a Mazda Montrose, remember them? It was a really cool car, still is or would be if they weren’t extinct, which was surprising because he wasn’t a cool man. His son, my friend was, but his dad wasn’t. Lovely guy, just not cool despite his Mazda Montrose. He had a Talbot Solara before the Mazda so that’s the kind of cool level we’re dealing with. Anyway he bought this Allegro for his son, my friend, to use much to my friend’s disgust. Still, an Allegro is better than no car so we did out stuff in it. That noise, that whining, chugging noise, always reminds me of that time. I remember particularly the last journey we had in that car as it ended up with us upside down in a ditch. That was where I learned that if you find yourself upside down in a ditch, brace yourself before unclipping your seatbelt. You can have that for free, though I hope you never have use for this knowledge.

This is a lovely cay. My background is Minis, but I've always fancied getting its 'big brother'. Are there really quite a few around Halifax, its not far from me? I believe this one is now sold?

If it had been a hatchback it would have been a real success. Whenever anyone criticises them I just say oh, have you ever owned or driven one? I have and they are okay. BTW they didn't rust either.

Together witn the Princess 2200 HLS my favourite english car!

All myths spread by the heard if from a mate numpties re the Allegro especially the crap Top Gear bores. Yes there were teething problems with them at first like with most cars but they were actually very reliable and exellent cars once they were sorted out - certainly far better than the agricultural Mk2 Escorts that were designed by a brick manufacturer. We had two Allegros in the family at the same time - my mothers 1978 Allegro 1500 LE and my 1980 Allegro 1750 TC Equipe and both of them were very reliable and excellent cars - the Equipe was fast for its day as well you would have loved that car. They would have sold more of them had they gave it the hatchback it was designed to have. The Allegro was actually one of the most aerodynamic cars back then - so much so the BBC in one of their science programmes - cannot remember which one - used an Allegro for this reason to try and find out the best aerodynamic shape for cars by sticking foam and cardboard on the car and keeping putting it into a wind tunnel. From what I remember they came out with the fatc that an aerodynamic perfect car would be so ugly no one would want to own one and it would have to be a small airplane fuselage shaped car as well so would be impractical on the road.

Nice. We didn't get these as Imports here (Thank Christ 👀..). However, There's several AUSTIN..... NOT MORRIS.... Marinas roaming around here. The dry climate keeps these awful things together and in 1 piece 🚗🇬🇧🇺🇲.

The grille looks super cool, with the AA badge at one end, and the RAC badge at the other end. As if it'sade for it@

For some reasons i love those little cars 👍

My dad owned a white Allegro in the early 1970s

No idea if Allegros work in Barnsley but I can confirm Metros do as I took my test in one there.

My dad had one when i was 5, ive just bought one 33 years later

They had problem with stub axel snapping off .

And the colour is beautiful

Had a 1300 2 door and a 1750 4 door ..never broke down and drove really well

Allegro

IMO, the problem with the Allegro was that no one really cared about technological suspension on a small family car. It looked ugly and wasn't a hatchback. Just ONE year later, the Mk VW Golf was launched.

Get a good one and you could expect good suspension, and a generally economical and reliable car. Get a bad one, though, and abandon all hope!

I think it is a very good-looking car.

Nice allegro

Lovely colour 🚗🚙🚘👍👍👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Had one!. Green with Black vinyl roof...

I have wanted an Equipe since they came out. M.

How much was it ?

My Dad had a couple. They were good, reliable cars which gave us years and years of trouble free motoring. Not sure why the hate but then the press did side with the tories on just about everything.

had a 1750ss in orange

So how much?

One of a handful of old cars I'd like to own. Better than an Escort? Course it is.

Long live allegro man

I now own this car

Noble… and cute. Two diametrically opposed adjectives and neither of which suit the All aggro. Although perhaps in some perverse way it could have been considered slightly cutesy.

Love your reviews however citroen produced hydraulic suspension in 1954 that was just as affective . That said i like the allegros shape it does appeal to me probably because its a bit like the alfa sud and the astra mk2 being a child of the 70s growing up in the eghties i noticed shapes of cars and then looked out for the names written on the back . Wow the a series was an old engine . Now my neighbour had an x reg allegro estate in the eighties 1984 or 5 i used to wash it for pocket money. 70s and 80s allegro estates really did look good to me . Boaty still needs an ash tray for those sticks of fire is he a cave man or just a child of those times . Allegro man indeed does know his stuff if i was in business i would tackle cars in the way he does and do my best to buy right. In my mind although the vp version would be luxurious and with better engines . But the bonnet is an afterthought. Any way i cant think of any more , except to say not all heros wear capes and not all people with long hair are called jesus or ghandalph.

@5:11 to 5:22 that rubber switchgear will soon be even worse when the rubber coating starts to flake off, exposing hard white bare plastic. Looking at you, VW/Audi.

Just look at the Ford Ka and Vauxhall Adam that nobody bought except a few impressionable women.😊

Lovely car. Unfairly maligned.

That car has something that other cars had A quick think? Marina Lotus esprit & other lotus , Land rover Discovery (tr7 I think) Run out of thinks anyone else say?

British Leyland suffered from quality issues and somehow they got the styling wrong. It looks like Miss Piggy when compared with e.g the Citroen GS.

Tin worms favourite.

ahh there you go- if you had worked a little bit harder you could've had a 1500 super which DID have a 5th gear🤣

Comment 👍

DeCambiode cauchoa se Bomba frèno

I’m off to sell one of my kidneys.See you soon 😮

ok so, mustard and boaty sell no cars in during the death of the Queen, 2 prime ministers, and probably a nuclear war, and yet this allegro will sell before I finish this comment. but it is rather nice..

They bought one because humans are like sheep lol 👍😤

Gearboxes lasted 5 minutes…no thanks