| Allegro History |
The Allegro was
launched in 1973 and stayed in production until 1983, with a total of
640,000 being made. The original Harris Mann
design drawing was of a sleek and stylish car, but something went wrong
with the photocopier so the final result was the car we know today.
The Allegro was basically a big Mini with Hillman Avenger headlights.
Believe it or not, British Leyland actually created at least one works Allegro rally
car, which competed during 1975-1976. It apparently won it's class in one
event. The car was brown, I saw a photo of it many years ago but alas
don't have the picture of it any more. There may also have been a second
rally car in red and white. If you have
details or a picture of either car please
let me know.
There are apparently features on the Rally Allegro in Cars and Car Conversions August
1987 (p126) and Rally Sport Magazine Feb 2000 (p76) but I don't have copies.
My 1976 Allegro was accident damaged from a collision with a bus, and was
bought for the princely sum of 60 quid (50 for the car, 10 for the stereo).
With a new wing and door and a large vat of filler, the car was soon ready
for the road. The engine was a 1275cc A-series, which ran pretty well at first. I
was lucky as the suspension had sagged at the front giving an
"aggressive" rake. Soon after
getting the Allegro I crashed it in a car park.
The engine on my Allegro
gave me a lot of trouble. It was
my first car and I was still learning so I made a lot of mistakes. When
the car started burning oil I changed the head gasket and reground the valves.
A friend skimmed
the head at work, but when it all went back together is didn't run any
better. I eventually fitted a recon head from a Marina but still no luck.
The rings were gone, but I wasn't brave enough to venture beyond
the head, so a tube of piston sealer was enlisted to effect a
partial repair.
The most noticeable features of my Allegro were the four
bonnet-mounted spotlights. The independent control buttons mounted in place of
the stereo allowed that all-important 'Knight Rider' effect which seemed a
lot less silly then than it does now. As the lights could not be
permanently switched on, they were useless for night driving unless a
passenger could be enlisted to hold the buttons in.
Eventually my
Mum offered me her old Datsun for free, and the Allegro lived in the
driveway with no wheels for a year before finally being sold for scrap
for 20 quid.
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For all you underground Allegro fans |
| Stefan Petterson's Home Page |
Swedish Mini/Allegro/Maxi owner |
| Allegro Club International |
Details of the club |
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