Forgot to mention that in new series 'Massive', which started on BBC3 9pm Sunday and is a weekly, the 2 main characters drive around in an Austin Allegro. Not sure which model, although it's obviously not a Vanden Plas.
I'm surprised (and worried) to find myself thinking it looks quite good... and no road tax...
BBC website: www.bbc.co.uk/massive/
(no pictures of car though)
F
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Saw a blue Allegro at the weekend on the M1 near to Meadowhall - first one I have seen for ages - obviously some sort of rally going on because the M1 was dotted (going north bound) with several old Routemasters too! Saw two colour schemes that I recognised Bradford (red with a cream band) and East Yorkshire (a very dark blue with a cream band) Traction.
Sounded & smelled lovely (oh, she complained about the smell of course) especially the Routemasters - well I was sat behind one for a few miles!
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That mansion they used for that drug dealers house was filmed near my house [Chorlton Green] and its set in Manchester so I find this series very interesting as I know all the bars/pubs they use in filming.
I saw and took a picture of the old Alegro used in life on mars, it appeared to be dumped round the back of the BBC's car park on Charles Street, Manchester. I wonder if it was the same one?
Either way if you want to why there is no Alagro#'s on the road anywhere ask BBC Manchester :D
Oh BBC London have written a few of as well during filming of Top Gear :D
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Saw a blue Allegro at the weekend on the M1 near to Meadowhall - first one I have seen for ages - obviously some sort of rally going on because the M1 was dotted (going north bound) with several old Routemasters too!
Blue Allegro? M1? Last Weekend? Meadowhall? There was a transport rally at the shopping centre.
That'd be me :-)
Diligently sticking to the inside lane with the occasional excusion in to the middle lane to overtake the buses.
Practical top speed - 60-65 mph. I spent a bit of saturday tweeking the mixture and advancing the timing. Think I've over done it with the timing as its pinking a bit and has lost a bit of "go" at the top end.
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I did see all the modern buses in the car park as we drove by and wondered what was going on - thought it was an early Xmas shopping trip!
Yep, I waved and 'tooted' you as we passed you by!
The next time one of these is on would you put a 'heads up' posting on here to let others know.
The Missus can go shopping - we can come and look at engines!
Sounds good to me...
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Yep I waved and 'tooted' you as we passed you by!
Cheers, sorry I didnt wave back - I mustn't of heard you - the engine is pretty loud at those speeds.
The next time one of these is on would you put a 'heads up' posting on here to let others know.
No problem:-)
The Missus can go shopping - we can come and look at engines! Sounds good to me...
Sounds good to me!
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Hmmmm would you have the 1100 or 1300 engine then (or maybe the 1L with the A+ engine ?) and the 4 speed gearbox ?
You'd be easily able to do 70mph with the 1500 or the RAW POWER of the 1750cc engine and 5 speed gearbox!
Now I am going all misty-eyed at the memories of my first car, my applejack Allegro 1100. Only rebuilt the engine twice in 45000 miles...
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My father owned various BMC/BL cars through the 70's and 80's (1800, Maxi 1750HL, Princess 2 2.0HL, Allegro 1.3 Super), and the Allegro was the only one that truly lived up to the appalling reputation of BL cars. Dreadful car in every way. Used a litre of oil a week, bits fell off, terminal rot, and random failures.
The others were all fabulous cars, particularly the Maxi and Princess.
Cheers
DP
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Its a 79 T reg series 2 1100 four door in Pageant Blue.
45bhp (on a good day on leaded fuel) of wild horses:-)
I love that little car.
It will do 75/80 (the speedo is suprisingly accurate for a cable job) but the engine is screaming and sounds like its going to jump out of the bonnet. Shakes a bit too at those speeds.
The engine is rock solid, no visible smoke and the HC's at MOT time are low. I think the old a-series is as tough as old boots and takes punishment. Has a bit of timing chain rattle, leaks abit of oil from all the usual places.
Bizzarre really, but for any journey I have a pick a couple of way faster/better modern cars but the little austin just winks at me from the drive and says "come on! lets go for a drive!"
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I'm not sure how true it was but some TV presenter mentioned that the last MGBs had a slower 0-60 time than the 1750 Allegro!
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Probably the 2 door Equipe model produced at the end of production with the 1750 engine?
Had several Allegros in my time and they were all fine, just like most of the BL stuff I had - the only duffer was a Mini with a broken engine mount on Shap once! After that was fixed it ran fine!!
BTW AustinRoverOnline is a good site for history of all their models in the 60s to 80s... and most of the models have their own owners clubs!
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Wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Allegro
"The car was somewhat underdeveloped at the time of its launch..."
"In February 2006, it was reported that more than 1,000 Allegros sold in Britain were still registered with the DVLA."
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that's good.
Ironically the Allegro I had actually lasted 15 years, it was a W reg and carried on with various owners until 1995 when my dad went into work and through his office window he spied it on top of the scrapyard heap on the other side of the road (Bayton Road Ind Est, Bedworth for those fact fans).
My wife said that she was glad she didn't know me when I had the Allegro. I take that as a hint that I shouldn't think about buying one........
My dad also owned a whole series of BL cars in 70s & 80s as that was all that you could get as a company car when you worked for Leyland Bus as he did.
If you thought the ones they sold to the public were bad, then you should have seen some of the ones that were kept "within the group" and ended up as company cars.
One of my dad's Maxi's started rusting from the inside out within a year and had to have a replacement engine within the year. Strangely, I doubt it that one is still on the road!
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