For those interested in old cars.

[Northmoor]

3 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

The only Allegro I rode in was a 1500 and it seemed quite nice once one got used to the steering wheel.

 

Certainly no worse than the rest of the common herd. Escorts (for instance) were pretty grim until you got to the hot versions of 1600cc and above.

Everyone (who's never driven one) slates Allegros for being awful, but they were little more than a rebodied 1100/1300 which was Britain's best-selling car, for understandable reasons.  The restyle reduced sales of the replacement model by two-thirds.

[Danemouth]

Allegros - tell me about them. I bought one brand new in January 1979 - YKG27T. I had a fair few moments of interest with it. 

 

I had enough of it be the following September and part-exed it with just over 6,000 miles on the clock for a brand new Cortina - talk about chalk and cheese.

 

Dave

[Oldddudders]

While the design was sound in most areas, the Quartic steering wheel not being among them, build quality was at times iffy, and industrial relations within BL atrocious, which affected the build, no doubt. Hence the nickname "All-aggro"!

[PhilJ W]

I had an Allegro estate series II with the 1275 cc engine. I had it for four years doing c. 25,000 miles per year with little trouble. It was very roomy for a car of it's size and its performance was adequate for what I used it for (including towing a trailer). The high mileage took its toll and the diff carrier developed a crack* and then collapsed locking the front wheels in the middle of a busy road junction during the rush hour.

* The workshop reckoned it was something thrown up by the tyres hitting the diff casing.

Edited Sunday at 15:05 by PhilJ W

[45655]

My father had one of those.  A very practical load carrier.  I believe that, at the time, the Allegro estate had the tallest tailgate opening of anything bar a Volvo estate, combined with a very low floor.

 

Keith

Alton.