Austin Allegro Estate | Retro Car | Car Review | Drive In | 1975

Even for the 1970's this was a pig ugly car!

Make sure that bonnets shut Tony😂

I don't mind the look of the Allegro per se, but I remember that there was a brown Allegro estate in my hometown when I was a kid (late 80s/early 90s) and I was terrified of it. I'm not sure why. I think it gave me the impression of being a mix between the furnishings of an elderly person's house of that era, the Grinch or a character from the Moomins and a herse. Child psychology, but otherwise I have nothing against the Allegro.

And we wonder why we have no car industry. Well wonder no more. 🤦‍♂️

My mum reckoned it looked like a hearse

My best friends' parents had a brown one of these. We never owned a car but used to hire for our annual holiday. It was always an Allegro

Seatbelts were seriously a £20 option back then? 😂

Down a few she goes ..I'd say

Whow ..

Where did We Go Wrong..........

Lovely fit on that rear headlining🤣

I prefer it to the standard size Allegro . Looks good for weekend camping trips.

Richard Hammond adores this very car
...........................(fact).................................

Learned to drive in the Allegro Estate, straight back end very handy for reversing, as was the long back window. My instructor put a mark on the window by the wheel as a cheat for reversing. Used nail varnish so wasnt obvious to the Examiner! Remember feeling the change from 2 to 3 version felt a big lift in looks and quality, but I was young then,

*Travels back to 1975. BL dealer salesman ''Can I interest you in our new Allegro estate?'' Me: '' let me sleep on this on this for 10 years and Ill get back to you. I hear you will have a far more superior and better looking estate car called the Montego'' Salesman ''Really? you mean we actually produce a pretty good and buyable Estate car? blimey''

That arsehole was got-at by BL along with Griss Coffee from top gear - brown paper envelopes in the post. This car was rubbish.

Fugly rear

Imagine if the Allegro was availble as a van, in BL competion with the Marina. There were some unusual estates at this time like the Datsun 100A and Hillman Husky (Imp estate). A black Allegro estate looks like a small hearse and a yellow one, a banana.

Our dad had one in the 70's, in that BL dark brown, I loved it

A friend's grandad had one of these new in the late 70s. Six months later he had a new Mazda, saying he'd never touch a BL car again.

If that estate has been 4 doors, it may have sold better... but we know build quality was NOT the same as what this presenter got. I'm 36, why do BL failings annoy me so much?

omg...hideous !!!

Looks old even when new

Ugh, take an Allegro and extend it, equals more shite Allegro. In black? Instant hearse!

Lol BL was really snatching at straws weren't they?

should have got a Datsun or a Toyota Estate instead of this! 😆

it does not even have a reliable engine (the only redeeming feature on these budget cars)

My dear old mum thought these looked like a hearse

Interesting video for me ,as I have a last generation 1981 Allegro Estate with a 1750 engine and manual gearbox. Any one Interested I have a couple of videos on my You Tube channel called Cottons Classics which features my Allegro

I actually always liked the design of the Allegro, but it was much maligned from its day of release onwards. I remember being in a bar with some mates years ago, when we heard fire engines. Looked outside and saw my mate's Allegro Vanden Plas, which he had just bought, engulfed in flames!

It seems odd that the windscreen wipers are in the left-hand drive configuration.

Tony "I get a haircut between shots" Bastable

Awful in every way! The Maxi was a beauty compared to... What was BL thinking?!

The 79s were great 👍

The poor old Aggy. They really were not a bad car in their day. You hear so many myths about them, they're the but of so many jokes, the top of so many b*llsh$t "worst car" lists. It's all b*llocks.
Had they got the styling right from day 1, it would have been a different story I'm sure, and the sales success of the ado16 would have continued on with the Allegro.

Perfect..... For a butcher shop car...

This was 45 years ago, and I wouldnt mind at all if it was yesterday

The Allegro had guillotines in their factory to effectively chop off the rear.

Austin Aggro nowt but trouble but no worse than the other crap being produced at the time IMO.

Notice the wipers set up wrong as if for left hand drive, leaving an unwiped area blocking drivers view, still love cars from the '70s, fond memories growing up & hardly any left now.

Wipe blade is design for left hand drive.

Watching this car to drive, it somehow gives me an impression of an helpless disabled person.

This made a lot more sense than the ordinary Allegro.

Honestly, I quite like the Allegro for the precise reason that everyone else hates it. I'd absolutely like to buy myself a Vanden Plas version.

I had the mustard coloured 1.5. The clutch seal went and oil contaminated the clutch :( Apart from that I don't remember any other bad things. I can confirm the rear with the seats down was indeed spacious enough for a shag :)

Using the "Central" release lever, Down she goes 😂😂

Is this the ugliest car ever made? Probably and with awful build quality to match !

Such an underrated car. Good looking and so fit for purpose, hey?

Tony Bastable, shame he had such a short life. He really was the quintessential motoring journalist of his day.

Oh and the Allegro is possibly the most rust-resistant car made in the 1970s.

I still don't know why the Maxi was never an estate car. It couldn't have made it any uglier