A few years ago, the Austin Allegro was voted Britain’s worst car ever, this came 25 years after production of the car had ceased. Made by British Leyland for a decade between 1973 and 1983, the Allegro was cursed with many design problems, it was dubbed the All-aggro.

An example of its poor construction was the fact it was actually more aerodynamic when it travelled backwards than when it was being driven forwards. In extreme cases the rear window would also pop out when the vehicle was jacked-up. There were far more serious problems of wheels dropping off the vehicle, due to a design of wheel bearing. A total of 642,350 Allegros were manufactured in the decade, which meant a motor insurance quote was given for a lot of Allegro’s. The early versions even came with a rectangular steering wheel. It was hugely popular with drivers during the 1970s and by 1979 it was the 5th best selling car in the country, but its popularity fell away and now there are less than 1,000 still registered with the DVLA. What is so sad about the story of the Allegro, is it could have been a world beater. It came with front wheel drive, it was the perfect size, and was technically advanced

The conception and development of the Allegro was not seriously instigated until 1968. Today progress moves at such a fast pace that it is unthinkable to leave a vehicle in production for almost 6 years. The Allegro was finally launched in May 1973, and the small family vehicle’s launch was perfect, meaning the new car was launched with an air of optimism.

Allegro had been developed thoroughly and British Leyland management thought it was going to be a great success. At launch, Longbridge was making up to 1200 Allegros each week, giving what BL management claimed was the best launch figures of any other of the company’s cars.

Problems which became evident in the first few years of production resulted in a quick facelift which was announced in October 1975. The facelift included the interior being upgraded, and more equipment added. Also the moving of rear panels gave rear passengers more legroom, and adjustments to the suspension gave an improved quality of drive. The Allegro 3 was launched in 1979. Once again, the styling was given a wider range of new colours, new lights, and a new radiator grille it also had an improvement in fuel consumption, which was very relevant in 1979. The end result was a pleasant to drive allegro. Disappointingly, sales continued to drop until it was finally replaced by the Maestro in 1983.