1973 Austin Allegro television advert

[richyrich98765]

Infact I'd rather drive a turd on wheels than one of these... Which is pretty much wot they are any way

[richyrich98765]

Lol .. Always was and will be a triumph in English car making at it very worst... Thank fuck BL went up the swany

[yippitydodah]

front disc brakes, and oblong steering wheel, crazy man

[yippitydodah]

Driven by Arthur Fowler from Eastenders - anyone spot that?

front disc brakes, radial tyres all around - "pull yorself togeffer Arfur"

[yippitydodah]

@yippitydodah OOPS - many have, well done. Where's that charity box that I can raid?

[moochincrawdad]

I don't know anything about the Allegro but I just wish BL had just put a little more imagination into its design.

[mig189189189]

Cool Add!

[bleeptester]

Everyone disrespects the Allegro but my dad drove one for 10 years and it never let him down. There are still some about. What people forget is that most Japanese cars of that time were more reiable but rusted out very quickly. They all had faults. Allegro to me is a happy childhood memory.

[Paddy075]

One of the four horseless carriages of the apocalypse. Marina, Allegro, Maxi and Princess.

[eatalettuce]

Square Steering Wheel :-)

[courtney359]

arthur was a bit of a lad in his day.

[midsaint776]

blimey is that arfur off enders ?

[MrPetrolhead09]

These cars are brilliant. The Allegro will always be a great classic! :)

[MrJezza31]

hahaha bl tried but failed here i had an allegro the fuel gauge diddnt work

[JOCKATEO]

looks like 70s joyriders

[JABORG666]

My first car was an allegro - what a piece of shit it was!

[lovemorembigi]

The Allegro - truely in hard competition with Lada for the title Worst Car Ever Marketed.

[adamr5206]

What a bag of derrier emmisions of a car my granpa had two having previously owned two austin 1100's, needless to say he bought a mazda 323 being a true brit returned to austin to buy a meastro vanden plas in 1983 didnt keep it 10 months , kept a running history of all cars bought and this one was 10 pages long! and you wonder why they went bust!

[Klottelitsch]

I like that car...its typical 70s cult car made in UK...wonderfull...its not worse than a Fiat or Opel

[MasterBattle2000]

I bet that they were'nt using the original engine or brakes for that ad the Allegro is one of the worst car names ever

[steamwally]

Yes, esspecialy as allegro means "fast!"

[citroeno]

I had FOX 886L it was one of BLs promo cars,and i catch a glimps on various old videos,it was photographed in the front of Haynes workshop manual,it to me down to st tropez camping and back and went fine,but then it had been pulled apart and put back together at HAYNES workshops.

[richkennett]

Good to see Arthur from Eastenders in the driving seat! Don't remember seeing performance like that from an Allegro anywhere on a British road though - he must've been the Jensen Button of 1973...

[shagford99]

worked on these cars many times biggested load of crap on the road if you jacked them up in the wrong place the front or rear sceen would pop out due to the body flexing

[81MJT]

Lol see him struggling with the square steering wheel at 0:28. Bet they were pretty dangerous when needing to turn quickly

[cacaaleau]

Rubbish like almost all british cars.

[barbarossaUK]

Racist

[bleeptester]

The more aerodynamic going backwards thing was true but it is also true for most earlier cars that had exposed radiators or radiator grils fitted. The poor old allegro just got blamed for it even though many other models were the same.

[Turismo87]

more aerodynamic going in reverse...lol

[bikersrule07]

this is fake, it did not break down...

[fagAshLil1234]

yuk

[ezpzinedinburgh]

Is the guy driving the actor who played Arthur Fowler in Eastenders?

[81MJT]

Sure is! I just noticed that

[delboyplonker]

The Austin ALL AGGRO! :)

[ziggazaggy]

They should of had 'square' wheels as well would of probably drove better !

[743degrees]

The early models (like the one in this vid) had "square" steering wheels! Bizarre!

[kent286]

Yep thats Arthur fowler!

[nipperoid]

fox867l was one abused allegro, and someone bought it and used it for 10 years! 1750 power!

[roadbikemum]

Oh Mick - are you taking the piss out of me? -that's exactly what i would have said! - Can I try the blue one?. HaHa. I've got a metallic blue one now and it's really nice and shiny!!!!!!!.x.

[montevideobadboy]

My mate used to call them Austin AllAgro. Still, they kept on going and going - I've seen them on the road recently. Now I'm off to search for a Vauxhall ShoveIt hehe

[glennygibson]

isnt that arthur fowler?

[bryemycaz]

The estate version got m. It looked like a Herse

[scaleop4]

damm i rember when my dad had one of them back in 84.lol

[vidpop]

The 1100cc version was not quite so agile.

[shiraqio67]

ooooh! five gears in the top model

real luxury

yeah right!!

how many times do you think they had to do the braking sequence before they got it right?

[Joe90ridesahonda]

it was in 1973!!!

[teraq93]

fair enough. theyre alright cars really

[nipperoid]

yep BL sold the car used in this advert and was used for 10 years!

[lndac02]

LOL alright cars my arse.....wake up, they were shite

[whatsacraic]

I had an Allegro during my university days. It drove forever even though it was written off (uneconomical to repair) twice after being rolled over by articulated lorries. As far as I know its still going.

[nipperoid]

whats its plate ill check it out

[gentil79]

have anyone noticed that the biggest novelty in the Allegro was the square shaped steering wheel? :)

[metyman63]

Brown and orange were popular colours in the 1970s for wallpaper, curtains, carpets, cars ect. My uncle had a brown mercedes benz with orange leather seats.

[britishleylandcrap]

My father has had 3 Vanden Plas models in his time. The Hydragas collapsed on his first one when he braked sharply on a hill and the wipers on his 2nd one broke on the Severn Bridge in a storm. Great days...

[moggpiano]

I worked in a music shop for a while. A girl on the staff owned one of these. Allegro is a musical term for "fast". We nicknamed hers the Austin andante which means walking tempo because thats how fast it went when we pushed the bloody thing to start it every evening!

[MegumiJones]

I used to drive one - never, ever, ever again!

[craiglynthomas]

Arthur fucking Fowler burning rubber...well I never....nice

[1herp1]

These cars weren't as bad as people make out (usually people who have never driven one). Looks-wise it was ahead of its time.

[mjt38]

@1herp1 Lol

[trickye30]

is that arthur fowler driving???

[Longs81]

my granddad had one of them turd brown ones. Turd brown must have been the colour of the era.

[wolvercable]

as if that piece of shit would survive that jump. false advertising at it's least convincing. woman relegated to the back seat, (funny)

[nikvanlanduyt]

if you jack up the rear of an Allegro the back window pops out!

[Pitcairn2]

My memory of the Allegro was a Turd brown one being driven by a Miss Marple Lookalike cruising along at 45 in the middle lane of the Motorway while reading a map at the same time. I was following in my Bright Orange Talbot Sunbeam at the time.. such style is sadly missed..

[g8or8de]

Man, the monotonous voice really hypnotises you -_-;

[michaelc6012]

I love the Austin Allegro I wish I was around earlier whilst they were in production.

[Tipton86]

My grandad had 2 Allegros - an orange 1974 from new and a blue 1976 that was about 1 year old. They weren't as bad as you might think.

All it needed was a hatchback and a bit more space in the back.

Think about it.

The Metro came 4-9 years after similar cars from Ford, Vauxhall, Volkswagen, Renault and Fiat.

The Maestro came 3-9 years after similar cars from Ford, Vauxhall, Volkswagen and Fiat.

At least they were up to date with the Rover SD1 and Austin Maxi!

[midpuzzle]

that car in my oppinion was the worst ever built

[rockyhorror86]

My parents had one of those in turd brown.

[labyrinth95]

I had two of them. A puke green,brown one and a white one. My puke green/brown one was a great drive but the white one was nothing but trouble. Good memories though x

[tiny586]

Those cars were pure crap!!

[BEEFYBAYONET]

As were most cars built about that time - but I love them all!

[rozdog333]

And then the poor sod ended up driving a Lada in Eastenders!!