Austin Allegro
Austin Allegro (1973-1975)
The Austin Allegro ( development code: British Leyland ADO67 ) was a car in the compact class, the British car manufacturer British Leyland. It was produced from May 1973 to March 1982 and offered by badge engineering under various commercial names.
In addition to the Standard Model Austin Allegro there was the identical model with sophisticated equipment Vanden Plas 1500/1750. In Italy the car from 1974 to 1975 was also sold as the Innocenti Regent.
The Allegro was originally designed nor of the poached from Ford of Britain under independence of the British Motor Holdings designer Harris Mann, however, the final model is not implemented as planned by Him. On the market the series came as two - and four-door hatchback and as a three-door station wagon. She was at its introduction as a beacon of hope for the crisis-ridden BLMC group, but could not build on the success of its predecessor by far. In particular, the car suffered from a bad reputation and its problematic design, caused by some unfavorable political decisions on the part of the Executive Committee. In ten years or 642 350 units were built, far less than his predecessor Austin 1100/1300.
- 9.1 Literature
- 9.2 External links
- 9.3 Notes and references
Formation
In the 1960s, the BMC was 1100/1300 very successfully in the lower middle class with their model Austin. The car sold on the domestic market as in the (former) colonies in large numbers; in ten years, more than two million units were built.
Around the same time with the emergence of the British Leyland Motor Corporation in 1968 work began on a new development in this market segment. Here, the Austin should be 1100/1300 according to the will of the Executive Committee replaced by two different models. The conservative -designed Morris Marina ( development code ADO28 ) with rear wheel drive should undemanding customers and especially corporate clients operate and thus act as a direct competitor to the popular Ford Cortina. The technically much more demanding Allegro, however, should be offered in the middle and upper price range.
Was put together relatively quickly and mostly during the Marina from existing and often abundant elderly components of Triumph and BMC models, the Allegro was created as a completely new development. Only the engines of the A- series still came from the Austin 1100/1300.
The choice fell on the original design by Harris man. This design showed a dynamic, oblong and smooth molded body with a low waistline and a gently sloping to the front bonnet, pointed ran together with a forward sloping, low grille.
The body fell against his predecessor slightly from increased; the extra length and width was particularly beneficial for the trunk, the accessibility of the engine compartment and passive safety. Wheelbase and interior dimensions were against it compared to the previous model remained virtually the same.
However, had to be changed significantly, especially in the area of the front of the car before production molding. Because according to the will of the Executive Committee, among others, the heating from the Marina should be used in combination with the newly developed engines of the E series in the Allegro. This engine series built by their overhead camshaft higher than the old engines of the A- series with side camshaft. And the heating of the Marina was also advised very deep. The result was a noticeably higher waistline and a headstrong arched top car, which has greatly negatively affected the shaping of the general opinion.
New to the Allegro was the nitrogen - gas suspension Hydra. It represented an evolution of Hydrolastic suspension from the BMC group and now used nitrogen instead of rubber in the damping elements. In addition, the suspensions were connected by pressure pipes, which made for a more balanced road holding.
Inside the wagon there was a special feature, the Quartic, a steering wheel in the form of a square with rounded corners. It was built by the will of the group management and should stand as a symbol of progress. The " round instruments " were initially shaped such.
Model history
In May 1973, initially went the Austin Allegro car in production. The timing was propitious generally considered; the Ford Cortina had just been relaunched and had transmission problems. Sales of the Austin 1100/1300 were just beginning to decline. BLMC hoped the long run 4000 units per week to settle and thus achieve eight to ten percent market share. However, the wrong or not the decisions taken with regard to production locations and capacities contributed to the fact that initially enough units could not be produced as in the Marina. Thus actually only about half as many cars were sold. Later, although the production possibilities demand were created by the expiration of other models, however, no longer available according to well due to the defects now known. So was the 1975 production at well over 2000 pieces per week.
In March 1974, the Allegro was introduced to the continental European market. In the same year, the station wagon version appeared Estate. In Italy, the production of the Allegro began under the name Innocenti Regent, which was discontinued for lack of demand but after only 18 months.
Facelifts
1975
In October 1975, the second series, the Austin Allegro was 2 nachgeschoben to eliminate some errors from the first series. Changed engine mounts eliminated the bucking on the drivetrain by shifting the benches of the footwell grew in front of the rear seats, and the Quartic was replaced by a conventional round steering wheel.
The necessary per se fundamental revision of the body design and the interior remained under for lack of money. Because at that time British Leyland was already bankrupt and nationalized. And with the use of taxpayers' money, there were other priorities.
Rear view
Austin Allegro 2 Estate ( 1975-1979 )
1979
In the spring of 1979, the Allegro finally a second time has been revised. The Allegro 3 received bumpers made of black plastic instead of the previous chrome bumpers and a new grille, also made of black plastic. In the interior, new colors were added, a new instrument panel and overall better equipment. Also the fuel consumption could be reduced.
In the same year also the Allegro Equipe appeared. This model with silver colored paint, racing stripes, Alloy wheels Karositzen and should compete with the VW Golf GTI and the Alfa Romeo Alfasud ti. However, the team was equipped only with the regular 1750 engine and did not reach so far the performance of the competition.
Austin Allegro Equipe (1980 )
But the second revision was no longer able to increase sales of the Allegro. The sales figures fell to around 1000 pieces per week.
Production ended in March 1982, with the introduction of the successor Austin Maestro until the beginning of 1983 took place.
Models
As with its predecessor Austin 1100/1300 BLMC also launched at the Allegro from the same design different models (badge engineering), in order to cover different price and market segments. The models differed only in details here, such as the grille and the standard equipment.
Had during the Austin 1100/1300 served as Morris, Wolseley, Riley and Vanden Plas all market segments, the Allegro should cover only the middle and upper price segment. For less demanding clientele and the major UK company car fleet easier conceived Morris Marina was provided.
The Austin Allegro was built in the Austin strain Longbridge plant in Birmingham and from 1978 also in the Belgian Seneffe. It was offered as the only model not only as a sedan, but also as a combination named Austin Allegro Estate. The Allegro was over the entire construction period the most important and best-selling model by far; the ADO67 is practically only known by this name.
The name " Allegro" is from the music and it is the slowest of the fast tempos. The word is Italian and means " perk " or "happy".
For the high price range British Leyland Allegro offered by the autumn of 1975 until early 1980 as a Vanden Plas 1500 and 1750.
The car stood out like his predecessors by better equipment from such as leather seats, wood trim on the dashboard, folding tables behind tinted windows. Then there was the characteristic large, chrome grille. Although the Vanden Plas was basically the same as the vehicles came in its own factory in Kingsbury.
1979, the production moved to to Abingdon. The vehicles from this last Year were called Vanden Plas 1.5 and 1.7.
As before, the Mini, the vehicle manufacturer Innocenti of Milan also built the ADO67 licenses and offered it to the Italian market as the Innocenti Regent. The name Allegro was not used, because these also "happy" can mean " tipsy " within the meaning of the Italian vernacular.
Technology
The Allegro was offered as a two - and four-door hatchback sedan or three-door station wagon. He had a self-supporting body made of sheet steel. Despite the typical for the compact class sloping rear of the car had no tailgate, but only a small trunk lid beneath the rear window.
For the Allegro first there were four, later five different water- cooled in-line four-cylinder petrol engines with 1.0 to 1.75 liters and 32 kW (44 hp) to 53 kW (72 hp) to choose from. The engines were fitted crosswise at the front according to the tradition of the previous British Motor Corporation ( BMC), also the gearbox were among them, and drove to the front wheels. The ADO67 was also the first car in the company's history with " Hydragas " suspension, instead of rubber springs ie ( " hydrolstic " ) as its predecessors, served hollow spheres as springs, which were filled with nitrogen under high pressure.
The smaller engines up to 1.3 liter engine came from the older A- series; they had overhead valves and four-speed gearbox; the bigger engines were from the modern, developed four years for the Austin Maxi E-Series overhead cam and five-speed gearbox and were delivered as standard with power steering. All engines from 1.3 liters were available with either a three-speed automatic transmission. The maximum speed was depending on engine and transmission 127-152 km / h
Competitors
The Allegro was an advanced car at its launch in 1973. There was a power steering, some even featured as standard, the modern nitrogen - suspension and five-speed gearbox. The body was technically good on the amount of time and rust protection.
Most of its competitors of that time were based on significantly older and especially simpler constructions. This was particularly its chief rival in the UK market, the Ford Escort Mark I and Mark II and the Vauxhall Viva ( " Opel Kadett B / C"). Technically equal was only the Alfa Romeo Alfasud, which, however, had to contend with strong rust problems and its bad reputation. Ford and Vauxhall could only catch up to about 1980.
In addition, the Allegro got the parallel offered Morris Marina competition from its own home. The car was a bit larger, very conservatively designed, but based on much older technology that was simpler equipped. Nevertheless, there was lack of coordination overlaps.
Reviews
The trade press praised at the beginning of the great technical progress of the Allegro compared to the predecessor model. They criticized the somewhat high price and weak engines. The 1300s from the A- series was a little overwhelmed with the higher weight of the car and the sports version 1750 Sports Special with the 1750 engine does not reach the performance of the competition.
However, the majority of the negative reviews was aimed at the design of the Allegro. The design was perceived as idiosyncratic. The strong curvature of the front end upward and to the side let the car especially in the context of closely spaced headlights from the front, "inflated" appear. In general, the car was more of a " caricature" of the original design of man. The interior was " tasteless " and the whole car just " bad taste ", especially compared to a Citroen GS or a VW Golf. The general assessment of the ADO67 contradicted the spirit of the times and customers' tastes perfectly. 2008, the Allegro was elected to the worst British car ever.
In addition to the narrow footwell was criticized in front of the rear seats, the Quartic steering wheel was perceived as strange and impractical. These two criticisms have been remedied with the introduction of the second series in 1975.
Problems
With a total of 642 350 units built in nine years, the Allegro was a great defeat for British Leyland, especially compared to its predecessor Austin 1100/1300 with over 2 million units. This marked a significant loss of market share resulting in the lower middle class. Much of it was collected, paradoxically, by the parallel offered, antiquated Morris Marina, which has clearly surpassed him even in the number of units and also two years to build longer.
The cause of the failure of the Allegro is the quality problems and the bad reputation of British Leyland and the bad reviews about the design of body and interior to be seen. The latter are mainly due moored, that the production was stopped in Italy after 18 months. Similarly, the missing tailgate customers have tasted. Overall, it means that the Allegro was the opposite of what I wanted the market.
In addition, the long period of construction of the Allegro proved to be a problem. For the financial difficulties of British Leyland in the second half of the 1970s could be omitted even for the early development of a successor or extensive revisions to the Allegro. The competition was open but technically around 1980 and more attractive models on offer. As published in the UK in the autumn of 1979, the Vauxhall Astra Mark I ( " Opel Kadett D") and in the summer of 1980, the Ford Escort '81, the Allegro was no longer competitive.
Among the technical problems included the suspension. The workshops were not initially cope with the design and mounted the wheel bearings wrong. As a result, the wheels in question could be dislodged while driving.
In addition, the body was not rigid enough. Incorrectly an attached jack the rear window could fall out. During the testing, the body had cleared in sharp ride in rough terrain. This story was in everyday life, although only slightly relevant, but was expatiated in the tabloids.
Because of its design and quality problems of the Allegro was given the nickname " All- aggro ", German: " All- nuisance ".