Allegro Club International

[M. Irvine]

Well done Colin for his letter, and to Josh, with his lovely Allegro 1300, for putting on such a good show in the Giant Test: Britain V Japan.

The author of the 'Giant Test' mentions 'Leyland Bashing' and then creates the 'faux pas' of saying about the Allegro suffering from 'transmission problems' and 'poor front brakes'. Really? What evidence does he have that either of these two 'faults' were 'issues'? It made me laugh also that in the previous paragraph he mentions the VW Golf, early versions of which had brakes which verged on being downright dangerous!

Merv.
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ALLEGRO = Agile, Lively, Legendary, Economical, Genial, Reliable & Outstanding.

[Paul-V]

Was the author Andrew Roberts by any chance?

He has an annoying habit of regurgitating stuff from old road test reports rather than evaluating the cars himself (if he actually bothers to turn up for the shoot)

I do believe that in 1973 one magazine criticised the non-servo brakes fitted to early Allegro 1100s and 1300s.

The best Mk1 Golf brakes would have been on driving school cars: at least there would have been a brake pedal on the same side of the car as the master cylinder!

[Richard Howe]

I have heard that he was actually ill for the shoot with Colin Corke, hence his non-attendance... Can't fault the rest of your comments though.
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...that's why Allegro will look as good 5 years from now as it does today.

[M. Irvine]

You are right Paul, the article was attributed to Andrew Roberts.

Comments made about the Princess were of note also. It mentions 'driveshaft failure' and 'suspension problems'.

If my memory is correct drive shaft issue was on the 2200 automatic only, and BL dealers were instructed to fit alternative engine mounting brackets to move the engine/gearbox and reduce the driveshaft 'angle'.

Suspension problems. The rear suspension cross tube mountings did fail (they were the same as an Allegro) and this was rectified, I believe, by reverting to a manufacturer who could successfully bond rubber to metal! (Dunlop?) The 'genuine' mountings (FAM8101 was the last part number for the Allegro) lasted well, and I believe that is still the case today, unlike pattern alternatives.

On early cars rear suspension noise was an issue. Plates under the back seat, adjacent to the sills needed to be 'adjusted' with a heavy hammer blow, to prevent them amplifying noise. I am not sure if this ever became an 'official' modification but it cured the problem!

Merv.
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ALLEGRO = Agile, Lively, Legendary, Economical, Genial, Reliable & Outstanding.