Can we talk about the Austin Allegro VP
Discussion
I love it that people keep these old things going, would hate for them to all dissapear, crap as a car but a lovely bit of nostalgia and I love to see them, lines of pristine Healeys and E Types are nice but they werent what most people had back then, most had an Allegro, Princess, Horizon, Cortina, Escort, Avenger etc etc.
An Allegro VP was a wealthy old lady from Tumbridge Wells type car, would love to know its history, the owners it had, especially when new, bet there are some really interesting stories, back then, wealthy folk didnt generally buy German Stuff or Range Rovers, Husband will have had a Rover or Jag, maybe even a Silver Shadow, excellent chariot for attending lunch and bridge games.
An Allegro VP was a wealthy old lady from Tumbridge Wells type car, would love to know its history, the owners it had, especially when new, bet there are some really interesting stories, back then, wealthy folk didnt generally buy German Stuff or Range Rovers, Husband will have had a Rover or Jag, maybe even a Silver Shadow, excellent chariot for attending lunch and bridge games.
For some reason I found myself watching a program about the Allegro on youtube recently. The original design looked quite good, but the project suffered from the usual problems of corporate incompetence, meddling and mis management, against the backdrop of a terminally ill car workforce and unions (Red robbo!) It ended up being a parts bin bodge up. It was supposed to have a new engine and low slung body bit they ended up putting the ancient a series engine in it (which was too tall) and didn't they bother with the rapidly emerging popular hatchback configuration, but stuck with a bootlid. It ended up looking like a squatting toad. It was supposed to be as good as anything from Europe but I think that less that 2000 were exported in total. Even the designer of it walked away at the end of the tv program and didn't try to defend it. No I've never owned one, and would never want too, but it is nice seeing a survivor on the roads now and again, even if it is a completely crap car! Did they have square steering wheels??
Edited by GSE on Sunday 7th February 12:25
GSE said:
For some reason I found myself watching a program about the Allegro on youtube recently. The original design looked quite good, but the project suffered from the usual problems of corporate incompetence, meddling and mis management, against the backdrop of a terminally ill car workforce and unions (Red robbo!) It ended up being a parts bin bodge up. It was supposed to have a new engine and low slung body bit they ended up putting the ancient a series engine in it (which was too tall) and didn't they bother with the rapidly emerging popular hatchback configuration, but stuck with a bootlid. It ended up looking like a squatting toad. It was supposed to be as good as anything from Europe but I think that less that 2000 were exported in total. Even the designer of it walked away at the end of the tv program and didn't try to defend it. No I've never owned one, and would never want too, but it is nice seeing a survivor on the roads now and again, even if it is a completely crap car! Did they have square steering wheels??
that was the James May prog,Edited by GSE on Sunday 7th February 12:25
I recall when NEW there was 27 different ways for water to get into the boot.
Welshbeef said:
marmitemania said:
I give you the Allegro Equipe 0-70 10 seconds sports graphics and twin carb!
0-70 in 10 seconds is for the time respectable - on par with a Maestro GTI or 205 GTI The 1750 Sport/Sport Specials weren't anywhere near that?
dbdb said:
I like the Allegro as a sort of old and nostalgic curiosity. And such an optimistic name! I don't think they're ugly. Despite what most PHers seem to believe, the Allegro suffered less from rust than the average car back then.
This one amused me!
snigger at that grille.This one amused me!
And yes, I don't know why everyone remembers the Allegro as being rusty. They were pretty rust-resistant for the time.
Not many people seem to agree with me but I think it's better looking than the mk1 Golf. That's more a criticism of the styling of the Golf than an endorsement of the Allegro though. I like the mk3 Golf styling but I've always thought 1 and 2 were awful things to look at.
The Vanden Plas were terrible; by the time they came out they didn't even have the legendary USP of the Allegro Quartic steering wheel to help sell them 
(for younger readers, yes the British Leyland years were so grim and bereft of creative spark that there was actually a nadir point when BL thought a square steering wheel would help sell their product)
A mate had a VDP Allegro back when you could buy a sound one for about 200 quid tops. I have two overriding memories of it; one was him driving with his head out of the window because the wiper motor had seized solid in the pissing rain on the way to Brixton Academy one night. It's hard to enjoy a gig when you have severe frostbite of the face. The second is of being profoundly ill in the back on the way back from a particularly lurid party (though I blame the squidgy suspension as much as the gin). I thought I'd do the decent thing and be sick into the pickernick table to make it easier to clean up. Didn't work; they've just got an open back so all it did was channel it down the back of the seat... although it did funnel a surprising amount into my boots so I suppose it worked in a way
(for younger readers, yes the British Leyland years were so grim and bereft of creative spark that there was actually a nadir point when BL thought a square steering wheel would help sell their product)A mate had a VDP Allegro back when you could buy a sound one for about 200 quid tops. I have two overriding memories of it; one was him driving with his head out of the window because the wiper motor had seized solid in the pissing rain on the way to Brixton Academy one night. It's hard to enjoy a gig when you have severe frostbite of the face. The second is of being profoundly ill in the back on the way back from a particularly lurid party (though I blame the squidgy suspension as much as the gin). I thought I'd do the decent thing and be sick into the pickernick table to make it easier to clean up. Didn't work; they've just got an open back so all it did was channel it down the back of the seat... although it did funnel a surprising amount into my boots so I suppose it worked in a way
http://www.sherwoodrestorations.co.uk/portfolio/pr...
If I wanted leather and walnut on a small scale, I'd go for this rather than the Allegro every time.
In fact at £3495, that looks a lovely little thing.
If I wanted leather and walnut on a small scale, I'd go for this rather than the Allegro every time.
In fact at £3495, that looks a lovely little thing.
I had one of these in blue with leather and jolly nice wooden picnic tables.
It belonged to a neighbour and when it failed its MOT (for various small jobs plus some welding) he offered it to me for £50. After a bit of haggling we agreed on the princely sum of £35!.
I still think I paid too much for it !
As with all the other All-agro's I've had it was rubbish in every respect.
It belonged to a neighbour and when it failed its MOT (for various small jobs plus some welding) he offered it to me for £50. After a bit of haggling we agreed on the princely sum of £35!.
I still think I paid too much for it !
As with all the other All-agro's I've had it was rubbish in every respect.
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