Concepts and prototypes : Austin Allegro
July 26, 2011
· 
Keith Adams · 
11 Comments
Some photos taken during the Allegro’s development…
Harris Mann sketch shows, perhaps, how it was always meant to be: the car here is sleek, characterful and good looking.
Before ADO67 became a fully-fledged project, this facelifed ADO16 was investigated. There was a revised Hydrolastic suspension system under development for ADO16, but this was cancelled by the Leyland management after the takeover of 1968. This car would have clothed the revised mechanicals.
Different frontal treatments were investigated for ADO67 - the left-hand option was abandoned infavour of that on the right. Would the quad-headlight arrangement have worked better? You decide.
| 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 and ADO16. |
The most infamous item from the Series 1 Allegro was the Quartic steering wheel: George Turnbull insisted that this David Bache creation should be added to the new small Austin (as drawn by Paul Hughes).
Full-size clay model from 1969 shows how the two- and four-door versions would look.
The finished article.
This is ADO68/67, an Allegro-based coupe proposal produced for project Condor in 1970.
Related posts:
- BMC 1100/1300 : Concepts and prototypes
- Concepts and prototypes : Allegro Equipe
- Concepts and prototypes : Princess
- Concepts and prototypes : Triumph 1300
- Concepts and prototypes : BMC 1800/2200
11 Responses
Harris Mann’s starting-block design is where the Allegro should have stayed; okay, the headlights look uggerly but it’s nothing a quick quad-lamp refit couldn’t fix. But above all it was a… HATCHBACK! You know… the car that BMC invented (remember the Austin A40 Countryman?) and the world wanted!
Both of the proposed frontal arrangements, the quad and the single with the revised bonnet/grille in the photo above were massively better than the end product. I cannot help but think the car would have been received entirely differently had they made the right decision here, the rest of the car was ok – sales and reputation were damaged from the word go because it looked like a collapsed yorkshire pudding. Of course they should also have added a hatch!?!?
If they kept to Harris Mann’s original sketch with the Capri/Scimitar-style quad-lamps included a hatchback, made use of updated B-Series engines as a stop-gap instead of the E-Series until the alternate O-Series (in 1.4, 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 forms) came along (while introducing the 2.0 B-Series), then the Allegro imo would of been a decent replacement for the 1100/1300 as well as worthy rival to the Golf.
The initial sketch looks rather like the new Audi A3!
WHAT HAPPENED? Really, the first picture shows a very svelte car, not the blow fish it became at launch. Lack of hatchback is unforgettable, more so with the ADO 16 getting conversions already, Primula offered this option, then came Golf and R14!!! Sure that by MKII, it could have been added. Mind you, I still think that the Estate looked great, ditto Alfasud Giardinetta, kinda for the masses “shooting brake” into them, not being 4 door estates, but I must be the only one on this site. Anyway, unless we can turn back time…
Its a shame that Australia was ignored with its hatchback ADO16 “Nomad” proving so popular. Even so I have had several Allegro’s and they all served me well.
You know, it makes me laugh when I hear the usual Leyland bashers (there are plenty on this site too) snigger and sneer at the quartic wheel on the Allegro, but either say nothing or even praise quartic wheels on modern Audis etc… Why do we have to hate products of our own country so much?
@7 – Throughout the history of the car there have been many quartic wheel moments and the success or failure of these ideas appear to be very much in the lap of the gods and not actually relevant the genuine originality or brilliance of the concept.
The current fad of horrible and aggressive LED side and running lights could have – if all buyers thought like me – bombed completely. The original A40 Countryman was a slow seller – it did not revolutionise the industry and everyone follow – for about 20 years. So much of car history is fashion related – rather than ‘adding value’ by virtue of better design. The fact is that if the buying public had thought the quartic wheel was trendy – Ford would have fitted one to a current model and we would all have used one in our cars – until someone got brave and re-invented the round wheel again.
If we were brilliant enough to actually know when an idea was going to ‘take off’ – rather than hope it did – we would all be very rich.
@7 What Audi has a quartic wheel? The quartic steering wheel on the Allegro wouldnt have been an issue if the rest of the car had been any good. In the end it was the only thing remotely novel or interesting on the car so became the focal point when the Allegro failed to deliver. I dont think Leyland bashing has anything to do with the nationality of the company, just its products. Ford was perceived as being very British during the 60s, 70s and 80s and their cars sold like hot cakes.
The Quartic wheel may have been novel for BL, but everything else would have been novel for Ford and Vauxhall, Ford had never produced an FWD car and they were still stuck in the world of leaf spring horse-cart suspension
Yep, the quartic wheel was seen on an American car first in the 60s – same shape as Allegro.
Ford Germany had been producing a FWD mid range saloon since the early 60s. When the Cortina and Taunus ranges where rationalised in the early 70s FWD went out and the Taunus went RWD again…
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