Allegro vs Marin - Clarkson's Car Years - BBC

[Tryvaltor]

The Allegro looks exactly like an Austin Princess.

[AdamAus85]

The Alegro thing looks okay.

[volvomantom]

@AdamAus85 It's not THAT bad to look at really, is it? The later (series 3) ones were apparently decent cars, but I suppose the TG masses will never be able to accept that of the Allegro name.

[ssssroryssss]

"I like princesses!" :D

[shobin05]

hah, the worst cars... .... ... EVer made..

[dcanmore]

Well I had the 'pleasure' of learning to drive in a 1981 poo brown Morris Ital 1.3L, the facelifted Marina for 80s! haha. It was my mother's car and I never felt safe in it. The suspension felt it belonged to a smaller car, the clutch was sensitive and the acceleration non-existent and the seats were cheap and uncomfortable. After 10 minutes I couldn't wait to get out of it. It was replaced with a 1983 Opel Rekord 2.0ltr, now that was plush!

[lynnissohot]

@LochlanachViking It was the same in the UK with,French,Italian and Japanese cars where these cars were called either "Rust Buckets" or "Jap Crap" or sometimes a combination to produce things such as " Italian rust bucket" or "crap French rust buckets" ect.

[rckid143]

now i see why they hatehim

[aaronpapanos]

I always liked the Allegro, rented one for a week and thought it was the oddest car I'd ever driven, weird exterior colour too, but it grew on me. I like it

[hejjagedu]

anybody noticing the title of the video is "allegro vs MARIN"?

[trident1702]

On the paper the Allegro was mend to be the worlds best car. If only it had been made in Germany or japan, it would have had a chance!

[iLaytonnn]

@LochlanachViking So, the Mini, morris minor and the MGB were rubbish were they..... right :)

[lexus5011]

it's my theory but a guy's taste in woman reflects a guy's taste in cars..

[Monsieurturmoil]

Lol - it's a 1.8 SDL Marina in Mallard Green, my Dad bought a new one in 1973 except it was a coupe, it was his second he'd bought one of the very first a J reg a 1.3DL coupe in Bedoiun Beige. The green one I wrote off a few years later and gave him a Marina 1.8 TC I owned to replace it!

[bruffie]

I don't get all of the Marina hating really...I had 3 Marina TC 1.8 Coupes. For the time it was comfortable, reasonably good looking and not too slow.

[69waveydavey]

I worked on these back in the day, they were no better or worse than the opposition. Italian were more astheticaly pleasing but dissolved before your eyes and Japanese were more reliable but did the same. most comparable british made were much the same. The thing is the rest of the world realised their mistakes and moved on. BL did eventually but too little too late. RIP British industry

[Motorfordtoyota]

Top gear needs to import a Ford Pinto so they can run a Marina into the back of it and watch it blow up. Theyd have the two worst cars ever there. lol

[boo66]

The Marina was designed for one reason.. To get fleet order sales which had been going to Ford, Rootes and Vauxhall (GM) as fleet buyers were put off by front drive cars percieving them as difficult to maintain. Basically a Hillman Avenger-esque body style on Morris Minor mechanical bits. I don't think they wewre bad looking but the driving experience wasn't so nice.

The Allegro was a victim of Leyland's committee design team.. To many cooks! The original sketches looked quite good.

[boo66]

The Marina was designed for one reason.. To get fleet order sales which had been going to Ford, Rootes and Vauxhall (GM) as fleet buyers were put off by front drive cars percieving them as difficult to maintain. Basically a Hillman Avenger-esque body style on Morris Minor mechanical bits. I don't think they wewre bad looking but tyhe driving experience wasn't so nice.

The Allegro was a victim of Leyland's committee design team.. To many cooks! The original sketches looked quite good.

[malcstag]

The Marina TC was a good looking car at the time, I don't recall as a lad anything looking much better? I don't understand why the retro haters? Look at Roots stuff? Cortina's, Datsun's etc. at the time.... All this BL haters are probably the same people that buy foreign cars and cheap foreign goods then moan that their taxes have gone up due to the UK trade deficit!

[mrspivvy]

Can't help wondering if any of the grunting thickos who in word association, when they hear "Marina" respond with "Piano", have ever actually sat in one,let alone driven one?

[mrspivvy]

Both these cars MADE MONEY for BL. anyone want to say why the Marina was so bad, other than Clarkson telling you it was?

I was around when they were current, they were no worse than any other '70s product, and in terms of longevity leagues ahead of all those Fiats/alfas/Lancias everyone now waxes lyrical about, conveniently forgetting that they all rusted to nothing in less than 5 years. mine did 120000 miles in the 10 years i owned it, no major issues.whats wrong with that

[47ambrose42jpm]

Clarkson is a very good complainer

[dlipplob]

at least they started,better then say a volkswagon beetle as they was only good after rebuilding the engine and the skoda of the times was only good if you had a strong legged wife with a firm push, but yes these cars was bad visually, brand new they looked like they just come from a skip , under sunlight the paint would flake off , the electrics would corrode and would hear a ticking noise of the metal forgetting what shape its supose to be, cold starts forget it, the choke was a joke.

[quirpco]

If these were the ONLY two cars built on planet Earth, I'd take the Marina, but ONLY because it has a proper round steering wheel.

[KingsIndianCR]

@quirpco So did later versions of the Allegro...the square one was only featured on certain earlier models.

[arospeed169]

4:08 i like princesess!!! FAIL

[SanderOfficial]

Yes indeed, 'one of the worst cars ever made'. 'Because at number 1 is the Vauxhall Vectra' xD I guess that's how this clip ended :-)

[orel0r]

"mmmm squared wheel. good idea." legendary

[TheYorkMan]

The main problem with the design of British cars in the early 70's was that the companies producing them had to face the prospect of a diminishing market. Look at any photos up to 1972 and you'll see hardly any 'foreign' cars. The opening of the EEC and the derestriction of import quotas meant that suddenly there were these advanced offerings from abroad. Peoples' mindsets shifted very quickly, and within 10 years the British car industry had imploded. Personally I prefer Marinas to Allegros.

[charlesnorte]

Marina is daugther of Chevy Nova 70. Watch the both Bodies! In Argentina was made like Dodge/ WW 1500/1800. Its was a good and strong car.

[MrChris1316]

@charlesnorte sorry i think you mean the hillman avenger ,the marina was never built in south america ,just south africa and austrailia

[charlesnorte]

@MrChris1316 May be possible. The Hillman Avenger belongs to same factory than the Morris Marina? Because our D/W looks like a M M. Greetings from Argentina.

[gamesbok]

@charlesnorte Wasn't the Hilman Hunter built in Iran?

[charlesnorte]

@gamesbok I don´t know about it (Iran). Now our D/W is a classic, there are many 1500´s collectors who have a clubs.Sorry for my English, but I hope you understand me.

pd. Siam Di Tella was the first factory at the end of fifties began this car and Rileys, pick ups and Stations Wagons. Do you know that? GM Argentina, Bedford trucks.

[exdribbler]

the marina with a new suspension replacement & real wheels, spoiler , skirt i personally believe its gods gift , cheap too, if they reintroduced them in the original form selling between 1 to 3k id buy one as for the allegro i wouldnt but was amused , concider them to be quite surreal as they are really small in angles yet rather large in others & completely out of proportion,everything is off and not straight heh defo a scientist's car that can jump in & out of black holes with ease.

[andypdq]

I had an 1800 Marina for £ 75.00 when I was about 20, I was the last owner before it got scrapped. Good fun, rear drive shit heap for merciless thrashing, sliding sideways through hedges , off roading and general contemptuous abuse. Did 8000 miles in it and it cost me fuck all. Happy days!

[hobotob0]

Without a vinal roof the marina doesn't look too bad to be honest.

[Neweraoutsourcing]

Outstandingly adequate, lol

[Hurricane101167]

A Morris Marina... and no piano?

[bigM10231]

@Hurricane101167 it happened right after the film

[yorrickwi]

@Hurricane101167 this aint no top gear so aint no piano sorry

[PurestSpirit]

"Allegro vs Marin" - what on Earth is a Marin? They have an Allegro and a Marina in the video - where does this 'Marin' fit in(!) :-p

[BeeABaw]

in the US the Chevy Vaga was our worst car ever made.

[NorthwesternNL]

Normal Person: "Oh yeah, they're horrible!"

Mentally Sick Idiot: "But at least it's got character.."

lol who the fuck cares, they still suck. Piano please!

[americanu197]

the allegro is a bit more stylish then the bland marina

[MrThestig8]

wheres the piano!

[kjo78]

piss off homebase!!

[EddieLolz3r]

Jeremy Clarkson for president!

[jspector86]

Between the Marina and the Allegro, I can't decide which model gets smashed by a piano!

[recessionlover]

Where did Jeremy Clarkson manage to get those cars? I thought that those shitboxes had all rusted away.

[Speedster083]

no idea why people hate the MArina especially!! they may have had old technology suspension but! they were reliable! we're still full of them over here, even tho we have rubbish roads, all other 70s cars dissappeared except the Marina!! :)

[dominiccook12]

@GranTurismo0517 - too many hahaa!

[Jon13bur]

Wierd, I'm American, and wouldn't mind owning the Marina. It's kinda cute, in a slightly challenging way. Looks like a European Dodge

[hardcore4republican]

spuare is the new round! That is innovation.

How can anyone waste $45 million pounds designing those cars? I can recreate the morris marina design for 45 yen.

[Darkside1974]

@hardcore4republican There's a difference between "Recreating" and "Designing".

[R33Racer]

@hardcore4republican, It's £45 Million, not Dollars (would be about $65 - $70 ish).

[dantedshaw1996]

the marina is the unluckiest because the 3rd time after top gear set it on fire,a piano fell on it,and it happen again at the rwd challenge when james drove and beat jeremy and richard and they were impress and they walk away and a piano fell on it,and again at the jeremy clarkson car movie duel a piano fell on it,and the same thing at top gear

[mikepukenz]

Ha ha, I knew the Marina would win! Must surely be the worst car ever built!

[supercarfan0146]

@mikepukenz I Know! Wheres the piano? LOL!

[chazdango]

@mikepukenz

Zzzzzzz...

[masci883]

Riecco er COCOMERARO

[78s4FR]

My dad had a 1500 Allegro back in the 80's. The engine mounting once broke and we drove 160 miles home with the crank pulley resting on the chassis, creating a cascade of sparks all round the engine bay. I wonder if UUL 200M is still out there?

[FirthWynnMyre]

@78s4FR: Hi friend this car was scrapped on 01/05/1989. Hope that helps.

[78s4FR]

Thanks for that. At least it gave 15 years of Allegro pleasure - despite having the heaviest steering known to man, and an engine mounting made of Dexion!

[charlieflint]

@78s4FR

Are your pants on fire?

[78s4FR]

I wear knickers darling. But yes....they're on fire all right!

[charlieflint]

@78s4FR

Oh I'm sorry darling cutie pie etc etc, but yes, I can believe they're on fire for a number of reasons...

[78s4FR]

Reveal all Charlie Flint!

[charlieflint]

@78s4FR

I would but you'd just blush...

[Monacomaverick]

Now all he has to do is compare them to the AMC Gremlin and Pacer.

I must say these two cars are about the ugliest vehicles Great Britain has ever produced. They make the TR7 look sexy.

[akamola11]

Anybody who likes either the allegro or the marina is .... TOTALLY UNCOOL !!!! I don't even have a car, but I would but either of these junk buckets even if I was paid to do so. Well, actually I would buy them ... FOR DEMOLITION PURPOSES !!!!!

Let's see if newtons laws of gravity work on automotive disasters.

[chazdango]

@akamola11

You know what's really uncool though? actually taking the time to find videos on a website and then post bell-end comments. You are on the seriously uncool wall.

Out of interest, what would you do if someone paid you to? I know of a Marina down the road, if I buy it you can see it get driven off the cliffs of Dover, the only stipulation is that you have to be in it when it goes over the edge. I will pay you to do it though, but I will hold onto the money until you get back...

[akamola11]

Well I did have the time to find this video cause I was on vacation ... 5 MONTHS AGO !!! And what's REALLY uncool is losers like you who give a shit about what other people have to say about junk buckets in youtube forums. You would really pay money to watch a human being die, all for the sake of a junk bucket car like the morriss marina ??? Not only are you profoundly stupid, but you the most skewed moral compass of any human I have ever seen.

[UBIQUEROL]

Austin "All-agro"

I saw one broken down on the hard shoulder last week,

i couldn't help but piss myself in laughter.

[charlieflint]

@UBIQUEROL

Cool, I also made up some shit stories the other week too, like UBIQUEROL doesn't post tired, worn out un-original comments...

[UBIQUEROL]

@charlieflint

?

[charlieflint]

@UBIQUEROL

"?"

[MasterChiefAgent007]

I guess Careless Air wasn't founded yet. (If you have no idea what I'm saying watch season 12 of Top Gear)

[wilsob26]

haha, if you saw season 13 , they have a french sister company! hahaha!!

[MasterChiefAgent007]

Yeah I know, LOL

[helmuthoorn]

When you look at the competition in those days and compare the Marina with a Simca 1301, a Peugeot 304 or an Opel Kadett B (good car, but very unstylish and common) they weren't all that bad.

They were practical cars designed for every day use, getting you from A to B, and they did the job adequately.

Lacking style and glamour surely, but people who bought the Marina, just like all Morris costumers by tradition, weren't looking for that.

[PhantomObserver]

Well, we now know that Clarkson's antipathy towards the Morris Marina goes back a long, long, loooooooong way. ;)

[sarahciolina]

HOI

[dominiccook12]

maybe they should drop a piano on the marina

[elli1897]

and guess what. the met police used alllegro unmarked cars with the old bell in the grill. i got chased by one in my cortina 2000e one friday night near catford.

[EXTREME4YEARSTOCOME]

the policeman must have been from dogford haha

[GreatBritain1981]

Sure the Marina and the Allegro weren't particularly good cars, but look at the European competition at the time. They definitely weren't worse than what Renault, Fiat, Talbot and Vauxhall had to offer.

[psykotanks]

Whats the soundtrack in this clip? love the songs!!!

[cacaaleau]

MARINA caca!

Sounds the same

[irltractor]

Glad too see there are still plenty of communists buying B.L shite

[fontheking5]

2 of the worst cars ever , i saw a Allegro today and i am happy i missed it whit the camera .

[loontheklown1]

my first car was an allegro...twas this colour too!

[chazdango]

@fontheking5

I'm really glad you passed GCSE engrish...

[esraesuocs]

We had a Marina 30yrs ago. It was rubbish.

[bluebus270]

As usual Clarkson has tunnel vision and only sees half the picture. The Marina vied with the Avenger and Cortina in the rep market, and was an adequate family car. In Clarksons brain Marinas are rubbish and Bentley Continental R's are great. Guess which one we can all afford in this day and age......

[rtyees]

U5096

next trick?

vauxhall viva engine in an austin maxi??

[rtyees]

on the hierarchy of crapness, i'd rather spend my sundays power-drifting a robin reliant round redditch with ann widdicombe & gordon brown. with a glovebox full of celery'n'spam sandwiches.

well, ok, perhaps not redditch

[U5096]

im just a regular 21 year old guy who got bored of modern cars and i've now got a 77' Allegro Super in black with an MG Metro engine and I love it. I love the looks I get especially when i'm in london, and people stop me all the time saying how cool it is

[cornflakes002]

So insted of buying a golf gti you bought an allegro and put a mg metro engine in it, Hmmmmm.

People in the street are probably saying you have a nice car but there thinking to them selfs (hmmm first person ive met whose brain has been amputated)

[PatrickIngham21]

Rock on mate! im a regular 22 year old guy who owns a Montego Estate and an Austin Ambassador ;)

Long live BL tin!!! :D

[depolle13]

You haven't got the idea of this at ALL!!!!

Princess Hahahaha!!!!!!

[FODASSEZOR]

I wonder how many out of the 100's of people on here claiming how the Allegro and Marina were the biggest pieces of shit in human history etc , have ever actually driven on to form that opinion.

[chazdango]

@FODASSEZOR

I think I can calculate a figure... a big fat zero!

[StuRaz]

My Dad and Grandma both had an Allegro back in the day and neither of them have anything bad to say about it but they won't be convincing me aha.

[Jonno841]

"instead of throwing a chair at him they thought, mmmmm shitboxes, good idea..."

[Jonno841]

they were both the two biggest chunks of shit ever built by the british car industry, a total farce the both of them...

[Turismo87]

they're both god awful...

the worst thing ever to happen to the british car industry

[Lumotaku]

they look like typical european cars to me.

[saiteris]

The Old Russian cars are way cooler

[petersfield209]

Does anyone know what the music is beginning at 0.44 with the Marina's entrance?? It fits perfectly!

[BeLegit7]

British Leyland made afwul cars. What hopeless buckets are the allegro and marina. God almighty knows how a man can built such terribly bad vehicles.

[msw191]

they were not all bad.. I mean, ok.. so the quality isn't top notch, but you can't say that the dolly sprint was a bad looking car.

[ThedarkJames1994]

Or the Rover SD1

[SirJiveBunny]

Or the Stag.... even though they should've fitted a Rover 3.5 V8 to them.

[chazdango]

@BeLegit7

Just one man you say? Mr Leyland was a busy boy then.

[1998disco72]

The car has the turning radius of an aircraft carrier. Just like my Land Rover Discovery.

[brettdude92]

I love them Both!

they have something all modern cars don't...

CHARACTER!

[1998disco72]

Yeah and a miriad of problems. Electrical oil leaks. If you call a car with a charactor that is a piece of shit. Than you are the first person who can honestly polish a turd.

[brettdude92]

well, i didn't know electrics could leak oil Idiot! I think you need spelling lesson too. And i dont know how you can say charicteristic cars are a piece of shit because my old Mini is fantastic and has buckets of character! Arsehole!

[chazdango]

@1998disco72

I was going to post something witty but I knew it'd go flying over your (empty) head.

In that case, I'll just settle for calling you a bell-end.

[FelipeCO95]

Yeah, I agree, these cars nowadays are beautiful, fast and technological but there's nothing new about them! No news, not a single one!

"Oh, this car has eletric bonnet opening"

So what, is gettint out of the car and opening it so difficult?

And the Princess was also a great car!

[2003vwgti1]

@brettdude92 CHARACTER??? What CHARACTER???

[brettdude92]

@2003vwgti1 Well mate, Character is this feeling that you have when driving a classic car. A car which despite being mocked has lasted for nearly 40 years! Somthing that you dont get in somthing like a 2003 Volkswagen GTI blandbox! That wont be around it 40 years time will it!?

[2003vwgti1]

@brettdude92 Can you please tell me what kind of feeling do you have when you drive these cars???

[Brera011]

@brettdude92 You forgot the Alfa Romeo's they still have CHARACTER!

[Heartborne7thSeeker]

@brettdude92 I agree.

[arospeed169]

@brettdude92 HELL NO!!!

[nipperoid]

"they set out to invent nothing at all!, look it has a round wheel." gets me every time

[nipperoid]

The guy he was arguing about the allegro with is i think Colin Corke, owner of both this Series 1 1100 VRF144L and Allegro 1750SS ROK981M, he is the Vicar of Longbridge and i met him at the MPH classic show in birmingham, and his xar is lovely, and if you dont like it jeremy, piss off.

[f1baker]

Top gear in their crap cars book had the Allegro number 2 to the vw beetle.

[lavi8686]

morris look better than the allegro

[Brockie777]

I'm the 10,000th viewer! The Allegro had a stupid rear quarter design because the rear seat was pushed forward, but it would have had no boot & I wouldn't want to be in the back seat if someone rammed up my tailgate. The Allegro was a good concept, but British Leyland screwed it up, then it had to face it's most fearce competitor, the Marina! But how on all earth could they spend more money developing the Marina although it was just a 1960's Morris?

[lostaznking]

lol these cars make me grateful of the car i have

[Killtheunworthy]

Marina looks quite good. Aleegro= Ugly

[nipperoid]

other way around

[IloveAlexisBledel689]

A square steering wheel?! What was that idiot was thinking when he design that?

[volvomantom]

Probably 'I think a square steering wheel would be a good idea'.

[SirJiveBunny]

Apparently it was for one of two reasons, depending on who and what you believe. Fitting a round wheel meant that a) there wasn't enough room for the driver's legs, and/or b) you couldn't see the dials properly.

[jozg44]

Whilst it would be absurd to say that either the Marina or the Allegro were without fault, neither deserve the continual bashing they get. The Allegro had features that would still be cutting edge on a car of its class today- Hydragas suspension being the main one. Much of the 'criticism' is simply bias. The old chestnut about it being more aerodynamic in reverse may be true, but it is also true for virtually every hatchback ever made with a radiator grille at the front.

[mipmipmipmipmip]

three side mirrors on the marina... it's not like the car is that big!

[dragonblood199]

My video card probably cost more then those cars =D

[253UC]

Thats when you know your a nerd

[lastinpurple]

I can't believe that a spanish has to defend Britain's motor heritage for the BBC. No one in Spain attacks the Spanish motor heritage, and even when we made some terrible and ugly cars, badly made and very unreliable, like the Mk2 Seat Ibiza or the Mk1 Seat Toledo.

Stop asking Which One Is Worse, and start thinking How Good They Were.

[lastinpurple]

Great video BBC, thanks for contributing to the bashing of YOUR motor industry, and thanks for the few respect that you show for great british brands that Austin and Morris were, which gave you the original Mini, or did you forget that? Yes, everybody loves the Austin Mini, but everybody hates the Allegro, when it was just as revolutionary as the Mini. Just for things like that, I think that you deserve to pay MG Rover's debt, because you don't appreciate the great cars that you made.

[cheeseboy08]

never had a allegro had 4 marinas loved them if the allegro was built buy another car maker like citroen ford fiat it would have be call forward thinking !! it was ahead of it time may be not as well made as it should but what was it the 70s dont see many datsuns fiat or citroen of that age on the road the truth is BL built cars as good as any other of the time .marina, cortina both bog standerd cars nither really great or really bad .

[shikityshack]

Hmm Square...Good Idea.  LOL!!!

[kidgoku666]

The Allegro to me is one of the best BL cars, purely because when we think of the british 1970's, we think of driveways with Allegros, and maybe the occasional Rover SD1. Also, the general shape of the Allegro was very modern for its time. The Peugeot 205 looks almost the same and that's a late 80's/early 90's car. The Marina was too bog-standard for a 70's british car, which was one of the big problems I have with most cars from British Leyland - they all looked the same.

[crippledbandit2]

Allegro should have easily beat the Merino at losing.

[WelshyM]

Triumph's looked a class apart. they also made money for BL.... But sadly were frozen out by the Austin-Morris and Rover squeeze... Triumph could and should have been the BMW range if it had been further developed.

1972 Dolomite, 2000/2.5 Mk2, Stag, Spitfire, GT6 and the TR6 plus of course the Dolly Sprint which appeared in '73.

[crippledbandit2]

I'm not sure what your statement has to do with mine.