Austin Allegro E-Book

Ben Wanklyn

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

The stylist of the Austin Allegro, Harris Mann, said of the car that 'It took a lot of stick, but it wasn't that bad a car ... The trouble was that every one off the line was different in some way, thanks to quality control.' As a result, few have bothered to explore the little Austin's background; what it was designed to achieve, how it became the way it was, and what happened to make it so infamous. Austin Allegro - An Enthusiast's Guide redresses the balance, telling the Allegro's tale of grand designs, high hopes, management compromises, failed dreams, industrial unrest, national ridicule and finally, redemption. Now experiencing something of a comeback as a cheap and cheerful classic, the book provides ownership advice and buying information for all models.

Leseprobe

Austin Allegro

An Enthusiast’s Guide

Ben Wanklyn

THE CROWOOD PRESS

First published in 2014 by The Crowood Press Ltd Ramsbury, Marlborough Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2014

© Ben Wanklyn 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 84797 677 2

The Author

Ben Wanklyn is a motoring writer, with a passion for unusual and under-appreciated classic cars. A freelance writer for Practical Classics, Classic Cars and Classic Car Weekly, Ben has road-tested a diverse range of classics, dating as far back as the 1920s. Based in Dorset, he has owned, driven, repaired and had adventures in a number of Allegros. He currently drives a 1963 Humber Sceptre.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

CHAPTER 1    THE CREATION OF THE ALLEGRO: A LEGEND IS BORN

CHAPTER 2    THE ALLEGRO SERIES 1, 1973–75: NEW BEGINNINGS

CHAPTER 3    THE ALLEGRO 2, 1975–79: GROWING PAINS

CHAPTER 4    THE ALLEGRO 3, 1979–82: TWILIGHT YEARS

CHAPTER 5    BUYING AND OWNING AN ALLEGRO

Index

FOR SALLY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to: Jenny Thurston, and all the Allegro Club International members who were so kind to offer their assistance; Richard Dredge of Magic Car Pics (www.magiccarpics.co.uk) for his help with sourcing images; Russ Smith, for the action photograph on the cover; Richard Gunn, without whose infectious enthusiasm – and extensive picture collection – this book would not have been possible; my parents and my girlfriend, Sally Eyre, for their unwavering tolerance of my Russet Brown Allegro 3. You were right, Sally…

© BMIHT – All publicity material and photographs originally produced for/by the British Leyland Motor Corporation, British Leyland Ltd and Rover Group including all its subsidiary companies is the copyright of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and is reproduced in this publication with their permission. Permission to use images does not imply the assignment of copyright, and anyone wishing to re-use this material should contact BMIHT for permission to do so.

Much maligned and yet also much loved, no other car is held with as much affection, both despite its failings and because of them.

INTRODUCTION

We love our cars. Of all of the inventions of the twentieth century, no other machine evokes quite the same blend of excitement and emotion as the automobile. But not only do we love great cars, we also have a twisted fascination with bad ones.

To be honest, the Austin Allegro wasn’t a particularly bad car. Sure, it looked funny, and the reliability and build-quality troubles weren’t great either. It also had the severe misfortune to be built in a time of great industrial unrest, by one of Britain’s most troubled car manufacturers. However, it did everything one expected of a car, in a competent manner. Well, most of the time.

The trouble is, no other car in living memory seems to have been branded with such a negative image as the Allegro. For years, it’s been a sitting duck, waiting to be pelted with the verbal equivalent of rotten tomatoes. Just read any newspaper poll on the ‘world’s worst cars’ and see what I mean. In the absence of anything more memorable, the Allegro is an ideal scapegoat for the problems of the British motor industry.

Few put it better than the Allegro’s stylist, Harris Mann. ‘It took a lot of stick, but it wasn’t that bad a car,’ he later recalled. ‘The trouble was that every one off the line was different in some way, thanks to quality control. I had one as a company car, and it was one of the good ones’.

As a result, few have bothered to explore the little Austin’s background; what it was designed to achieve, how it became the way it was, and what happened to make it so infamous. And what a shame; it’s a tale of grand designs, high hopes, management compromises, failed dreams, industrial unrest, national ridicule and, finally, redemption.

Belonging to an era of motoring that has very few survivors at all, the fact that a number of Allegros have endured says something of their ruggedness and the high esteem with which they are held by a loyal band of enthusiasts. Today, many passersby are intrigued, or even delighted, to see such a vehicle from their youth still in active use. Nostalgia is a great healer.

When the author was growing up in late 1990s Dorset, Allegros were ten-a-penny. Within a fiveminute walk from my house, lived a beige twodoor saloon, a Blaze orange estate and a faded 1.7HL Allegro 3, complete with its glorious vinyl roof. What’s more, a sighting of a crusty brown Vanden Plas 1500 on its way to the shops, or a red 1300 Super stopped at traffic lights, was no rare occurrence. Allegros were just ordinary cars, to be bought cheaply and driven into the ground.

Despite reasonable longevity, the Allegro’s prolonged struggle to pull itself out of banger territory has seen a steady number of them disappear from the roads, forever. Even today, with the little car experiencing something of a comeback as a cheap and cheerful classic, numbers are still dwindling. For the Allegro to fade away, as so many 1970s and 1980s family cars have done, would be to lose a four-wheeled reminder of our motoring history. It’s a snapshot of another time, wrapped up in velour and vinyl, and sent bouncing down the road.

With affection and interest increasing every day, it’s time that this humble Austin was re-evaluated. Once it was legendary for being below par, but now, it’s simply a legend. No other car has etched itself on to the public consciousness in the same way as the Allegro.

The questionable ergonomics of the infamous quartic steering wheel were legendary. Although awkward to use, its design has become a 1970s icon.

Despite its Marmite styling (you either love it or you hate it), the Allegro was still a functional design. The load-lugging estate variant offered remarkable versatility.

Ignore the ‘pig wearing a grille’ jibes; the Vanden Plas 1500 was a winner in its niche market sector, thanks to superior trimmings and commendable ride comfort.

Holding the keys to Austin’s most controversial product marks you out as a free-thinking adventurer, yet the Allegro’s low cost and economy makes them a sensible classic choice.

CHAPTER ONE

THE CREATION OF THE ALLEGRO: A LEGEND IS BORN

Unveiled on 17 May 1973, the Austin Allegro was unforgettable. However, the story of British Leyland’s most infamous product doesn’t start there. It owed its very existence to the events that had shaped its creators’ fortunes for decades beforehand. To view the Allegro purely as a phenomenon of the 1970s, isolated from the circumstances that led to its conception, is to miss the point. The Allegro’s heritage can be traced almost as far back as the dawn of the motor car.

AUSTIN POWERED

The Allegro took its identity from Herbert Austin, one of the pioneers of the British motor industry. The first horseless carriages, powered by internal combustion engines, had appeared in the 1880s, but by 1895 Austin had built his first car. This threewheeled machine, with its tiller steering and flat twin engine, owed much to motorcycle technology, as many pioneering motor car designs did. However, it was the start of something big.

As head designer and general manager of the Wolseley Sheep-Shearing Machine Company, Austin developed larger, four-wheeled car designs, which were finally put into production in 1901. Within four years, he had left to start his own company, producing the first Austin car in 1906. From there, the only way was up. A thriving factory was soon producing a wide range of motor cars, varying from 60bhp, 8.7-litre leviathans, all the way down to a modest 6.8bhp offering, named the ‘Seven’.