![[challenge entry]](/images/board_posticon_c.gif "Challenge Entry: British Marketing Board"){kind=small}
Why did we ever buy them?
Click for bigger (269 kb)
I think there's probably only 3 left and two of those are in museums.
From the British Marketing Board challenge. See all 32 entries (closed)
(, Sun 20 Oct 2019, 10:25, archived)
My dad (passed away 2 years ago at 87) worked in films and TV for years in a company which supplied vehicles and stunt drivers etc.
They did the original adverts when the Allegro was launched.
British Leyland supplied 12 new Allegros, straight off the production line for using in the advert.
The advert involved driving them down a hillside, over some lumpy bumpy bits.
It was quite an advanced vehicle at the time but budget requirements meant that all the good design was effectively 'designed out' to enable use of BLMC spare parts bin (door handles, headlights, switchgear, etc etc).
Unfortunately, thanks to poor build quality caused by bad management and a slack workforce sustaining excessive strike actions and lack of staff motivation to do the job well, these (even brand new) vehicles were not up to the task.
All 12 vehicles were returned at the end of filming just falling apart and most were undriveable. My dad told me that right from driving them off the car transporter they were having to 'gaffer tape' panels and trim into place, and the chassis of one car was in pieces as it hadn't been welded together properly.
(,
Sun 20 Oct 2019, 10:44,
archived)
They did the original adverts when the Allegro was launched.
British Leyland supplied 12 new Allegros, straight off the production line for using in the advert.
The advert involved driving them down a hillside, over some lumpy bumpy bits.
It was quite an advanced vehicle at the time but budget requirements meant that all the good design was effectively 'designed out' to enable use of BLMC spare parts bin (door handles, headlights, switchgear, etc etc).
Unfortunately, thanks to poor build quality caused by bad management and a slack workforce sustaining excessive strike actions and lack of staff motivation to do the job well, these (even brand new) vehicles were not up to the task.
All 12 vehicles were returned at the end of filming just falling apart and most were undriveable. My dad told me that right from driving them off the car transporter they were having to 'gaffer tape' panels and trim into place, and the chassis of one car was in pieces as it hadn't been welded together properly.
And here is the original advert!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=73rKQXCRHeA
(,
Sun 20 Oct 2019, 10:47,
archived)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=73rKQXCRHeA
Quite a few still on the road My uncle had one and it never let him down and he would still have it only it got stolen! (god knows why) mates mother had 3 that all needed new clutches within 4 months of ownership.
(
TBL I posted this on,
Sun 20 Oct 2019, 12:33,
archived)
There's plenty leftMine's just turned 43, and is still happily plodding along... At the rate I'm going, it'll outlive me!
(
JustHere4Coffee remembers when all o' this were car parks,
Sun 20 Oct 2019, 14:26,
archived)
By the end of the production of the Allegro it was the mark 3, last rolling off the production line in 1982 (yes they made these things in large numbers for 9 years from 1973!). Amazingly the last ones made were pretty good, and they had managed to almost sort out the hideous looking front.
motor-car.net/images/A/austin-allegro-3.jpg
.
(,
Sun 20 Oct 2019, 18:47,
archived)
motor-car.net/images/A/austin-allegro-3.jpg
.