Pre July '83, roadworthy and under £1k?!

[John Jones Jr]

Good luck.

 

[John]

Well done Dave!

I think I saw that one on Car and Classic as well.

Without revisiting the ad for the 944, John (poor signal at the mo), I thought the interior looked a bit work in progress?

I must admit, I only looked at the outside but it was a project car thinking about it.

Ah well - at least you got something good.

 

[Scott_F]

You've done extremely well to find a tidy looking Allegro with a long MOT for so little. However, the 40th anniversary occurred in May 2013 !

If you do decide to keep it (and why wouldn't you ?) it will go up in value as the survival rate is low and interest is increasing.

But is the steering wheel non-standard.....??

 

[SL300-24]

nice old Allegro Mike enjoy...

 

[MD5]

You've done extremely well to find a tidy looking Allegro with a long MOT for so little. However, the 40th anniversary occurred in May 2013 !

If you do decide to keep it (and why wouldn't you ?) it will go up in value as the survival rate is low and interest is increasing.

But is the steering wheel non-standard.....??

Given the nature of the purchase, I'm hoping I don't get a soft spot for the car, because I have nowhere to keep it!

The car looks better than it is, from the mechanical perspective. It jumps out of 4th under stress (which I won't give it), it's possibly had a replacement engine and I think the suspension is knacked, but it should still serve my purpose, and it looks tidyish.

I didn't even haggle down from the price, I just what the sweet spot was, and this was his offer over the phone (from a £695 ask). Given what else I've seen this last week, I still think it's a very good price, and as you say, their survival rate isn't great.

I had a quick look for owners' clubs, and the one I found was apparently set up as a dare, co-incidentally, but seemed inactive. I read on the front page mention of a 40th anniversary, which is probably the last time it was updated! There was also mention of a magazine, called the Quartic, after the steering wheel. Whilst I think it probably has the original steering wheel, I don't think the quartic ran to the end of production, and this, I think, is the final series (3) of the model.

I have a certain feeling now about the Allegro, given the image it had in it's day, but I never really heard bad press from owners. I used to work for Firestone in the early to mid 70s, and a bulletin was sent round to all stores to strictly adhere to jacking instructions, as rear windscreens were at risk of popping out if the body twisted from the wrong position. Nonetheless, they will have a certain following, with a cute look I think they have grown into, in my eyes.

I'll form a better opinion when I pick it up later, and attempt its 80 mile journey back to mine. Once I've had a good look over it (I was more interested in the seller's other cars at the time!), and get a bit of feedback from a Sunday afternoon on Bournemouth cliff top, I'll decide the car's fate in my ownership.

 

[John Jones Jr]

I had a Series 2 (I think) and it had normal standard st.wheel. I suspect the Quartic wheel was only available on the Series 1?

P.s. small world I worked for an ex-Firestone (Brentford) employee back in the late 80's.

 

[Scott_F]

The car looks better than it is, from the mechanical perspective. It jumps out of 4th under stress (which I won't give it), it's possibly had a replacement engine and I think the suspension is knacked, but it should still serve my purpose, and it looks tidyish.

The Hydragas suspension should give an excellent ride and decent handling for what is essentially a 1970's car. Why do you think it has problems - is it sagging ?

I had a quick look for owners' clubs, and the one I found was apparently set up as a dare, co-incidentally, but seemed inactive. I read on the front page mention of a 40th anniversary, which is probably the last time it was updated! There was also mention of a magazine, called the Quartic, after the steering wheel. Whilst I think it probably has the original steering wheel, I don't think the quartic ran to the end of production, and this, I think, is the final series (3) of the model.

The quartic steering wheel was a bit of a gimmick and was phased out in about 1975 well before the end of Series 1 production. But you could always do a retrofit:

Austin Allegro Square Steering wheel Quartic Series 1 S1 Steeringwheel and pad | eBay

 

[MD5]

Picked the car up on Monday, and decided it was best to avoid the motorway back! I think the engine will be fine for local trips, but a fair bit of mis-firing, so I will get it looked at next week now. There is a metal on metal clunk over bumps, which may be subframe bushes, but the suspension otherwise seems fine. I'm enjoying the tease I am having with my friends at the moment more than I probably will the ownership of the car, but if the engine isn't as bad as I think, I could grow fonder!

I had a Series 2 (I think) and it had normal standard st.wheel. I suspect the Quartic wheel was only available on the Series 1?

P.s. small world I worked for an ex-Firestone (Brentford) employee back in the late 80's.

I misread your post, John, and thought you were at Head Office yourself. I used to report to a couple of people there in different roles I had, Alan Jessiman, and Dave Humphreys, who I think went on to high places within the company, if I've remembered his name correctly.

 

[Druk]

Looks alright to me Mike
And it won't need plugged in to find out what if anything goes wrong

 

[Charles Morgan]

Superb - what a lovely little car! Wonderful to see someone being interesting (ditto the chap who sold it to you, anyone with a DS...).

I used to be driven to school in one by a neighbour. Lovely ride.

 

[MD5]

Thanks Charles/Derek, its looks are its strong points, with minimal signs of rust anywhere, but the engine isn't well at the moment.

The DS wasn't the best I've seen cosmetically, but from what he said it was wanting for nothing, mechanically. His car has the same gearbox as my old DS23, the semi-automatic with the gear selector on the steering column. An electronic signal is sent from the gear lever to the hydraulics, which in turn operate the gear change manually, but without the need of a clutch pedal. Quite rare, and the nearest Citroen had to an automatic at the time, I think.

My DS23 Safari was one of the cars I had back in the days of flat-sharing with Smith. He parked too close to mine one night (actually, most nights/days - usually just touching) in his Volvo 144 estate, and I had a very early morning start the next day (and a towbar!). Can you see what's coming? Well, I didn't (plus it was dark), and couldn't work out why I couldn't pull away. I then realised that as the car had raised itself, the towbar had hooked behind the front bumper of the Volvo, and I had managed to drag it a few inches, but I quickly came to my senses. Happy days!

 

[Scott_F]

I used to be driven to school in one by a neighbour. Lovely ride.

The Allegro or the neighbour ??

 

[MD5]

Well, the old girl had her inaugural trip to the promenade today - well Bournemouth cliff top, to be precise. She was in fine company, and had a two mile round trip.

One fellow car enthusiast, who had brought an Austin A30, carried out his apprenticeship on Allegros, and had a good crawl underneath. New brake cylinders, exhaust and generally a good, rust free car. The engine does miss a bit at higher revs though, so he's given me his number. She might get a bit of tlc yet!