Classic & Sports Car UK – September 2019

BuildqualitywasprobablytheAllegro’sbiggest
problemwhenit wasnew– thiswasthetimeof
strikesandunrestat BritishLeyland,remember,
andmostcarswereshoddilyputtogether– but
thosethathavesurvivedarelikelytobethefew
thatwereputtogetherproperly.Mostofthose
faultswillhavebeencorrectedbynowandit is a
carthatis veryeasytoworkonat home.
Asfarastheengineis concerned,if it’snot
rumbling,rattlingorsmoky,thenit’sgotplenty
oflifeleftin it – andevenif it is wornout,it will
berelativelycheaptorebuild.A-seriesunitsare
wellservedandpartsareeasytofind– the
E-seriesnotsomuch,buttheclub’sspares
servicecanusuallyhelp.Gearboxeslastwell,too

• checksynchros,especiallyinsecond– witha
  goodchangeonfour-speedA-seriescars,but
  a much-criticisedshiftontheE-seriesfive-
  speeds.Theoptionalfour-speedAPautomatic,
  inMkIIform,wasnotthemostrefinedeither,
  butit didhavea usefulmanualselectionoption
  andis quitedurable,thoughfewspecialistscan
  rebuildthemnow.Overallgearingwasalways
  high,togiverelaxedcruisingandreasonable
  economy.Clickingontightcorneringindicates
  worndriveshaftCVjoints.
  SaggingHydragassuspensioncanbereadily
  pumpedupbyanyMGF-servicinggarage–
  providedthatthegassphereshaven’tfailed.
  Bounceeachcornerandif onefeelsmuch
  harder,it mayneeda spherereplacement(again,
  theclubhascomeupwithsolutionshere).

On the road Owning one

“Mymumhadonewhen

Iwasakid,”recallsAA

patrollerAlexPhillips.

“Wewenteverywherein

herlittleyellowAllegro

soIhavefondmemories

ofit.WhenmyRoverP6

waswrittenoffin2014,

Iwantedanotherclassic

todrivewhileitwas

beingrebuilt–andsawthisAustinfor£800on

eBay.WhenIsawhowlittlerusttherewasand

thebigfileofpaperwork,Iboughtit.

“Ithadonlyhadoneladyowner,whotraded

herfour-year-oldTriumphHeraldforitandkept

itfor 40 years.Ihadthedentstakenout,some

smallrepairsweldedinthebottomofthefront

wingsandthesillsresprayed–thenendedup

withafullenginerebuildbecauseitwassmoky.

I’vesprayedthefadedcarpets,sourcedNOS

hubcapsandcutdownFX4’screenchrometofit:

it’swonacoupleofawardsandIlovedrivingit.”

“IsawitoneBay:ithad

onlyhadoneladyowner,

whotradedherTriumph

HeraldfortheAustin

andkeptitfor 40 years”

Alternatives

ALFA ROMEO ALFASUD 1972-’84, 900,835 built

Giugiaro was on the money with the styling and

there was great handling, plus good pace from

the ohc flat-four. Rust is rampant, though, so

good ones are costly. Price now £3500-12,000

CITROËN GS/GSA 1970-’86, 2,473,499 built

The air-cooled flat-four grew from 1015cc to

1299cc, and it gained a five-speed ’box and a

hatchback in 1979. Refined and capacious, but

complex and rot-prone. Price now £3-12,000

214 Classic & Sports Car September 2019

BUYER’S GUIDE

Although some of its
mechanicals were aged,
the Allegro’s on-road
performance was praised
by road testers; post-’75
cars were improved