Austin Allegro - Reputation

Reputation

The car was somewhat underdeveloped at the time of its launch, and a number of design flaws plagued the early models. Most of these were fixed in the Allegro 2 edition of the car, launched in 1975.

In spite of all of this bad press, the Allegro was still a very popular car. As late as 1979, six years after its launch, it was the fifth best selling new car in Britain, although sales were falling by the time it was replaced by the Maestro in March 1983. In certain overseas markets it is not uncommon to see Allegros still in daily use.

Sales in its final years were disappointing, and by 1981 it had fallen out of the top 10, as more buyers were choosing two newer BL products: the similar-sized and more viable Triumph Acclaim, and the smaller Austin Metro.

In a July 2008 poll conducted by The Sun, the Austin Allegro was named, "the worst British car ever made".

In his book, Crap Cars, writer Richard Porter says "the only bit of the Allegro they got even vaguely right was the rust-proofing". The Allegro placed second worst in his list, beaten only by the VW Beetle. Despite this, the Allegro picked up a reputation for rust problems during its life. This was probably due to association with many other cars of the period (both from BL and other manufacturers) which had poor rust proofing. An early edition of What Car? ran a feature on the then new Allegro, including an interview with staff at a BL dealership, who were asked if any problems occurred with the car in service. They replied that the car suffered from rust problems to its rear subframe. However, the staff thought they were being asked about the 1100/1300 car, which had been out of production for five years. Nonetheless, the magazine went on to report on the Allegro's non-existent rust problems, creating a serious image problem.

The poor reputation of the car, and the inefficient production and management techniques in British Leyland at the time at which it was produced, have meant that the Austin Allegro has become associated with waste, inefficiency and poor quality. In Clarkson's Car Years Jeremy Clarkson compares the Austin Allegro to the Morris Marina. He concludes the Allegro is a better (less worse) car than the Marina, because the Allegro is a horrible car in a more original way than the Marina. In 2007, Sir Digby Jones, in criticising the inefficiencies of the Learning and Skills Council, said, "It is what I call the British Leyland model – you put a lot of money in at the top, and an Austin Allegro comes out at the bottom".

In February 2006 it was reported that more than 1,000 Allegros sold in Britain were still registered with the DVLA, a better survival rate than the more popular Morris Marina, most of which were dismantled for parts that were interchangeable with other British Leyland cars such as the MGB and Morris Minor.