MEET THE OWNER – STEVE YOUNG AND HIS AUSTIN ALLEGRO SERIES 1 ESTATE

Steve Young is the owner of one of the rarest cars in the UK - an Austin Allegro Series I Estate that narrowly escaped the scrapyard. As he explains, “‘It was laid up in a garage from about 1989 to 2018. Then it was due to be sold to the fire brigade to be used as a practice car, so it would have been cut up or burned. A guy saved it and advertised it on eBay, it was sold to a guy who started to re-commission it, but lost interest after about 18 months and sold it to me in June 2020”.

The estate version of the Allegro debuted in June 1975, over two years after the original saloon. It was a belated successor to the Austin 1300 Countryman, which ceased production in 1973, and your friendly local BL dealer would probably tell you how it had 37% more interior space. However, as Leyland revised the range as the Series 2 in time for the 1975 London Motor Show, this makes LGU 430 P an extremely unusual machine. It is also a sign of long ago 1975 was that Leyland’s sales copy boasted of a rear wash-wipe as standard equipment. The line-up consisted of the 1300 at £1,880 or the 1500 at £1,976, the latter having a five-speed gearbox as standard. Car, somewhat predictably, grumbled about the Allegro’s looks but did regard it as “A comfortable shopping car” that would “very adequately fulfil the needs of many families who want a second car for mum and kids”.

When a snappily dressed Tony Bastable evaluated the Austin for Thames TV’s Drive-In, he found the appearance “an acquired taste”. However, his report concluded, “the Allegro Estate is, as standard, probably about the best equipped and best value for money in the medium estate-car field at the moment”.

Such views fly in the face of the tedious ‘Allegro Jokes’, and it should not be forgotten that in 1975, there was no other choice of British FWD estate in the Austin’s class. The Ford Escort, Hillman Avenger, and Vauxhall Viva HC were all rear-wheel-drive and considerably older designs. The main competitors were from Italy – the Fiat 128 Estate and France – the Citroën GS, Peugeot 304, Renault 12 and Simca 1100, all of which had the advantage of four side doors.

The last Allegro departed the factory in 1982. For too long afterwards, they were the subject of ‘wit’ on a par with the worst of Little and Large. Today, LGU is a fascinating reminder of a lost realm – pomp rock, disastrous male hairstyles and The Goodies on BBC2. Steve notes the response to his Estate is “mainly good - a lot of people say they ‘haven’t seen one for ages’ or ‘my dad had one’. You sometimes get the old comments such as ‘Allegro, wheels fall off’ etc., but in the main they are positive”. Best of all, it more than lives up to British Leyland’s promise - “not like any other estate you’ve ever seen”.

With Thanks To – Steve Young