What’s left to be said about the Allegro – it never met sales predictions, earned a terrible reputation in the press and with buyers, and its fame far exceeded its influence in the automotive industry. British Leyland threw everything into making it a success, and yet failed dismally… Goodbye market share WHAT is so very [...]

Designed and specially built to become the Corporation’s new mid-sized engine, the E-Series had a troubled early life, but eventually matured into something very worthwhile indeed. New engine, new factory; new start? By the mid-1960s, it had become clear to BMC’s management, that in order to maintain sales volumes, the company would have to produce [...]

The A-series engine did service in a variety of cars for almost 50 years, during which time it was available in a bewildering variety of capacities and states of tune. A hard act to follow The A-Series engine was certainly a case of the ‘British Curate’s egg’ – good in places. In fact, that is [...]

A few images from Allegro sales brochures…

The main problem with Hydragas is that over time, the sealed units would lose gas and become less effective. Alexander Boucke describes the steps involved in getting your Hydragas suspended car back into rude health From 1977/78, Maxis leaving Cowley no longer used the Hydrolastic suspension system, having been upgraded to the more advanced Hydragas [...]

For June 2003, we are doing something different for the Car of the Month feature…. In May 1973, the replacement for the seminal Austin 1100/1300 – for many years, the UK’s best selling car – was launched to the world’s press. For a long time, the car was known to many in automotive circles as [...]

Soon after the Allegro was launched, Twickenham-based dealers Spikins saw the potential for a convertible version, and began to produce this Crayford-designed conversion. Tested in Mike McCarthy in MOTOR magazine shortly after its launch, he summed up that it was the logical, but expensive successor to the Minor Convertible. Alfresco Allegro SUMMER. Summer is lazing [...]

THE Italian Allegro, that it seemed, no one wanted… Short and not-so sweet THERE’S not much to say really about the Innocenti Regent. This version of the Allegro was produced in Italy under licence during 1974 and 1975, and lasted a scant 18 months in production. The Italians allegedly begged British Leyland to let it [...]

Hydragas suspension was one of the quiet achievements pioneered and refined by British Leyland – and yet, it never received the praise it deserved. KEITH ADAMS briefly explains how the system works. Pioneer that led nowhere… SINCE the introduction of the Mini in 1959, BL’s predecessor, the British Motor Corporation (BMC), had been right at [...]

Some photos taken during the Allegro’s development… Alternative frontal treatment for the Allegro GT model. Did the 1750 version (with a single carb) deserve the “GT” badge? Austin obviously thought not. The grille on this 1970 mock-up was solid because the intention was for the Allegro to have its radiator side mounted, like the Mini [...]

Vanden Plas prototypes The coachbuilding firm of Vanden Plas had been purchsed by Austin in 1946, and thus became part of the BMC empire that was created by the merger of Austin and Morris in 1952. Until the end of the 1950s, the factory at Kingsbury in north-west London was chiefly used for the production [...]

Keith Adams WITH THE number of BMC/Leyland/Rover cars on our roads diminishing rapidly, we take stock of the successive companies’ ten most popular cars during the post-war years. Some of these numbers are going to shock you, simply because the cars are so rare on the road now. In fact, even the latest car on [...]

Keith Adams You think I’d never learn. Soon-to-be ex-Practical Classics staffer, Sam Glover, dropped me a note asking if I’d be interested in taking his delightful Allegro off him. Seems he can’t keep it once he moves down South, and as always, thought of me once he’d found himself in a must-get-rid-of-old-donkey scenario. Allegros and [...]

YOU might know this car better as ‘Molly, the Beige Babe’ – the car that conveyed Keith Adams, Alexander Boucke and Declan Berridge to Naples in September 2005, but it has gone on to a new life in Germany. Now owned by Martin Blum, from Cologne, this very special Allegro 1500 will form the centrepiece [...]

As you probably all know, an intrepid team of three austin-rover.co.uk correspondents entered in the world famous Staples2Naples challenge last year – and nearly won it… In 2005, we did it again… We didn’t win anything this time, but it was an enjoyable occasion, and we proved once and for all that the term ‘All [...]

If getting to Dakar, Naples or Chernobyl seems a little on the easy side, you could always drive to Tashkent. Oh, and make sure you do it in a superannuated Austin Allegro… Karl Parsons fresh from his Plymouth-Dakar adventure comes back for more punishment… The mother of all adventures… FOLLOWING on from the runaway success [...]

Plymouth-Dakar has gained a cult following in the few short years it has been taking place. The idea, put simply, is to take a £100 banger and deliver it to Africa. This is Karl Parsons’ account of what it meant for him… THE Plymouth-Dakar Challenge is a kind of wacky races-meets-scrapheap challenge. The object of [...]

For June 2003, we are doing something different for the Car of the Month feature…. In May 1973, the replacement for the seminal Austin 1100/1300 – for many years, the UK’s best selling car – was launched to the world’s press. For a long time, the car was known to many in automotive circles as [...]

By Peter Waymark Motoring Correspondent British Leyland is dropping three models in its Austin Allegro small saloon range, less than a year after the car was introduced, because of poor demand. They are the two-door versions of the 1300 de luxe, the 1500 super de luxe and the 1750 sport. The Allegro was launched in [...]

By Clifford Webb Midland Industrial Correspondent More than 14,000 car workers were laid off at British Leyland’s Longbridge plant yesterday because of a series of labour disputes. Production of the new Austin Allegro, the Mini, 1100/ 1300 and 1800 was at a standstill. A company spokesman described the shutdown as “a tragedy”. It came at [...]