Without being patronising, its nice to see a young man interested in our motoring heritage and willing to keep it alive through researching and talkiing about. With people like this our proud, world leading and somewhat troubled car industry will never be forgotten. From a Rover Group worker in the 80s.
Yup, the Brits have accomplished some of the greatest feats of automotive engineering the world has seen, poor management killed the industry for them however.
@@nudisco300 Agree, the Rover SD1 was built at Lode Lane. I worked there for around six years after SD1 had ended and the space used for Range Rover production. I was in East Works BIW, also where the axles were made. You could see a lot of signage referencing to SD1 production, but it had gone. They used a buzz word for the transition from Leyland to Rover group, they called it "Roverisation"
Brings back happy memories of family holidays in our austin 1100.... Later my dad got a brand new Allegro, which seemed light years ahead of all the other square boxey design cars on the road at that time. Hold on cyber trucks are square and boxey, I guess auto trends eventually cycle back around much like fashion trends like check suits and flares!😊 Later my dad bought an old maxi for towing our caravan, he said the 'wheel in each corner made it the best towing car! Plus it had a good amount of torque from it's 1750 engine.
Here's one for you... Back in around 1990 Practical Classics magazine mentioned an MG Marina prototype. The owner in Norwich refused to sell it if I remember correctly. I hope you can give it a go.
Rovers will always have a place in my heart. I’m 47 and I think I owned and taxed most of them. My favourite was my 600 vitesse. Cossie fast/ recaro interior 2.0 turbo. Lost my licence in a Tomcat. Always wanted and will get one day a P5B. The 220 Turbo coupe would eventually do ( or show on the clock ) 150mph ( I did it ) 😂. My 827 SLI ( 3 of them ) awesome Honda collaboration. I had Metros MG,s 200/400/600/800 just awesome cars and of course a load of Minis
Seeing that Austin 1100 bouncing around in a field I can vouch for it's ruggedness. I passed my test in my Austin 1300 GT and drove it for around a year until I bought a Mini 1000.Looking back, I took that Austin 1300 car to hell and back and it kept going.
Inherited my Grandmothers 1982 series 3 Allegro 1.3L 3 speed auto in 1990 it was Champagne Beige it only had 12,000 miles on the clock, I could not drive at the time but soon passed my test in a manual car, I loved the little Allegro it went everywhere I drove the entire length of the UK in it on camping trips I was mocked by other young lads in their Astras and Escorts I did not care it was such a reliable car only maintenance was an annual re-gas of the hydra gas (it did tend to loose pressure over winter) and an oil change and I replaced the points, the engine and auto box shared the same oil so it was a very simple little car to maintain , in the end its electrics gave out and it needed to be scrapped that was at 36 000 miles even then the car ran smooth and efficient, I was so impressed with the car being my first car it will always have a special place for me.
I actually had a Allegro 1750 HL in 1976 and had it for a couple of years (with the twin carbs and 90 bhp). It was a very good car and went really well. I remember shocking a Cortina 2 litre by being much faster than him. The HL did not have the quartic wheel but I was not against it and it helped in seeing the instruments better. Good ride, good fuel consumption. The gearbox was OK but at the time most gearboxes were not great. Woolly change. Only had 155mm tyres but had surprising grip in the wet and dry. Great motorway cruiser with its 5 speed gearbox. I liked the looks as well although mine was a lovely blue metallic with black vinyl roof. No mechanical issues only had a problem with the headlining due to the 1976 heat/drought crisis (must have been early global warming) which was fixed under warranty. Only sold it it because I got a company car and was doing too many miles.
I recall Austin used the French pronunciation: EH-KEEP, even though there was no acute accent over the first “é”. Bond had an identically named Bond Équipe from 1963-70, and that was definitely pronounced as in French
I liked the Zander a lot! But what blew my mind in this video, was the aerial and heated windscreen. I always thought, because no other manufacturer had the heated screen, Ford invented that. But it seems Triplex invented it, and then did an exclusive deal with Ford. Arguably, a missed opportunity for Rover who (it seems) were offered it first 😳
My first crush was on a teacher at primary school. ..only because she had a brand new Allegro Equipe. It was everything my dad's M-reg Harvest Gold 1.3 Allegro wasn't.
Much underrated cars - sold em when I started out in the trade in the late 70s. Owned a couple of Mini’s and a Marina 1.3 Coupe which ended up with a Midget cylinder head, Midget carbs and manifold- made my own exhaust!! Happy days…nice video, good work. Now a subscriber 👍
I remember going with my grandparents to test drive a brand new A35 Countryman in Woodyatt's Garage on Court Road in Malvern. In the same showroom were Citroen DSs and they were like something out of space! Sadly my grandparents didn't buy the A35, though they did buy an 1100 (the first of three they were to have), which I thought was amazingly modern (well, compared to my parents' split screen Minor van, they were!).
Near the end of the turbo T series era you could get a crate engine dirt cheap direct from rover. The MG maestro lads bought them and put them in. I've even heard of a few maestro vans running T series turbo's 😊
Pretty sure there’s one that has been built.. all I can remember till I find the practical classics mag I’ve got that it’s on the cover of is that it’s bright blue with orange wheels, might only be a 1.8 vvc though, but pretty similar conversion
Learned a lot here, great job Tom. The Allegro Equipe’s alloys were notoriously porous apparently, resulting in many a flat tyre. Wasn’t aware until now of the Allegro Special LE that came before it…
Equipe owners had the delightful experience of coming out of their house in the morning to get in their car only to find it let it’s own tyres down overnight
In 1986 as a 17yr old running an old banger (1977 1.3 allegro) I came across a crashed Equipe in a scrap yard! I had the dashboard binnacle, steering wheel and seats out of it 😂 I reckon my humble 1.3 was probably the only allegro ever fitted with these tasty goodies 🤣 Sadly the wheels were nowhere to be seen so never got those. Fun times.
Fantastic mention of the Aqila. An amazing, highly important prototype . Think and compair to the MK3 Astra its insane. Never seen a Mastro prototype LC10. The 1967 Pininfarina Aerodynamica a British CX sadly never built in UK.
@@htimsid to be honest, I didn't see the engine but it had decals that said "2 litre" Wish I had looked, sorry not to have more info. I can only guess that it must have been the same engine the Princess had. Was at a race track (my dad was involved in Rallycross, Colin Howard, so you may well have heard him commentating if you have watched the old vids!). All the best, Steve.
I had a 1750 Allegro in the early 80s, for about 18 months, it was blue with a blue vinyl roof went really well and never let me down, was an ex soldiers car and drove it back from Germany and in late 80s early 90s had a 2lt EFI Maestro Turbo in dark blue had that for about 7 years wish I still had it
Another superb informative video. You must put hours into your research. My Grandad was a huge Austin fan. In fact ive still got a pair of door pockets from his last Austin 1300. He had the first 4 door Austin 1300 registered Derbyshire, also had the last 4 door 1300. He wanted the allegro but supply was poor due to strikes back in 1973 so he had the 1300 instead.
Hi Tom, another great video, when the wedge came out it replaced the ageing 18-22 range but initially the new range was designated as 18-22 range, BL was in financial difficulties and After the Ryder report the Austin Morris and top of the range Wolseley was re designated as the Austin Princess range. At the same time the Riley 1300 was also dropped putting Riley and Wolseley into history books. Well done in the great work in your content . Kinds regards , Mark
Hi Tom , the princess range was very forward at the time , I believe it’s 1st car to have seat belt alarm , light went on on light switch unit on right hand of dash until the seat belt clicked in holder. Thanks for your hearted response. Regards mark
Worked in the Old West at Longbridge... The Tomcat WAS always going to be a Classic Car from day one . I felt it from day one, as like The Stag I now own , the “T” bar roof was an immediate feature, plus with the added Turbo , and also been in Coupe form ,she was one HOT motor. As for the Rover P5 B that one day I do hope that you get , as like the 2 door Coupe XJ 6 , was too , going to be a future classic whilst still been in production. Along with the Stag , these 2 , if I had the garage space , would also have one of each . Good luck in your quest in getting your dream Rover
Reply to badgersalesman . The Tomcat / Tracer ( convertible R8) and the R8 estate were made in the Old West Works at Longbridge away from the main R8 framing and build line in the New West, on the old Austin Westminster track at a ratio of about 3Tomcats 2 convertibles 2 estates
Out of all the cars you showed the AR16 looked a really great design and a huge missed opportunity. The pre face-lift 800s looked the best and the AR16 clearly built on this…
I’m 40 and too young to remember alot of these cars but through my grandad showin me Haynes manuals of his old cars from Vauxhall velox to Austin Westminster that he said a police man he gave a lift too asked him to floor it as he was getting one to see how quick it was gave me a similar interest in old British metal keep up the good work a great channel thank you 👍👍
Glad to see you featured the Metro Ranger Tom. A cool little pick up, I'd have bought one! Didn't Gaydon sell the prototype 20 years ago? I heard rumours it had been broken for spares with bits advertised online, a shame if true.. There is a cool army green Metro pick up that does a lot of the shows, well worth a look too..
Its weird that the Healey prototype with the sloped front sort of finally materialised but under the Jensen Healey brand. You can see the similarities in the front end and rear end design in that final sports car utilising the Healey name.
17:54 "It's not known who designed the bodywork on this car". Judging by its looks, I'd go with 'nobody'. The Xander though, if anything, that one foreshadows the Allegro (just look at the early drawings of it) and the Princess alike. You can definitely see echoes from this design in them, much more so than in the TR7, I'd say.
I remember the Allegro Equipe, loved the graphics and the alloy wheels, but there had already been a 'Hot Allegro' the 1750 SS, I only ever remember seeing a couple, they were replaced by the HL, which was focused more on comfort and luxury. Yes it was a 'slightly dumpy looking car but, with a bit of imagination it could be a bit of a 'Q car' and with Hydrogas suspension very sure footed?
My wife and her late husband had an Allegro Equipe, which was involved in an accident. Nobody could get hold of the graphics after it was repainted and it was pretty hard telling people that it was something special when all it really was, was a car with some stripes
I remember visiting Longbridge in the 1980s and seeing the fabulous robotic production line producing metro and rover 200 bodyshells before going across the road and back in time 20 years to the mini assembly line!
Nice go thru on this forgotten gems...... Did see a MG made of coal-fiber (Kevlar) when the Bad Obsession gave an info on coming works....... Do any of you know any more about that car or concept.
Excellent video, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it some things I’ve never seen before we were very interesting. I’m hoping this is part one of many more parts for the rest of the BL brands, and maybe some models too. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Great video 👍 All car manufacturers have at one time or another been saved by a bread and butter model,if only the original Allegro got the new engine design then we wouldn't end up with the one we did oh and a proper body engineering "stiffness".
I had an allegro 17.50 sport complete with square steering wheel lol. Went Glastonbury 1983. I think.£5 to get in. And park right next to your car and tent. 🥳🤪🇬🇧😵💫
I wonder if some old boy (or girl) had the wheel transferred to their Equipe as the quartic wheel was long since gone! I honestly wouldn't be surprised!
@@htimsidWell, it was rated poorly by the people who were being asked to buy it... they decided to buy Fords, Vauxhalls and Humbers. BMC's last car, along with the MGC, was given a half-cocked launch to a largely indifferent public, and things went downhill from there. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing, but like the AH4000 also discussed in this interesting video, sadly ADO61 was a catalogue of how not to do it.
By the mid 70s in NZ the Japanese invasion was underway and although these cars were not warmly welcomed, they used less gas and they didn't fall apart like the British cars.😅
Austin Allegro - we called our the All Aggro, because it spent more time in the garage being fixed again, than it did on the road. In the end we got rid - it was so unreliable!
the LC10 front end looks more like a modern Range Rover than a modern Range Rover does, and it still looks ok now. A lot of the concepts and prototypes are infuriating in the way that you look at them and just know it was never going in to production and is a waste of time.
Am I the only one seeing a lot of rov3r in later Citroens the I’m thinking ar6 front and re, sd3 looks a lot like the Citroen bx and the mouse theme Mpv looks a lot like a Picasso there use of hydro gas …maybe they should have being brought together?? I guess a lot of it maybe function over form but still
@@niceuneasy My grandad used to be a salesman for BL commercial vehicles in the 60s and 70s and would have a new Allegro as a company vehicle usually every year (prior to that he had 1100s, Moggies etc). His last one was an R reg 1500 Super estate in white. He liked that one so much he bought it and drove it until his passing in 1981. My nan carried on driving it up until 1995! The memories of whipping along in it to the static caravan they had in Ynyslas at Searivers caravan site in Wales! (To their 1966 Bluebird Defiant!)
Some very different original designs and lots of big names involved it proves this country can do this and do it well I don't know why the people with all the money won't invest in this country and continue to achieve into the future go back to the drawing board have another look at what came before improve and reinvent but one important factor being that it would be British built through and through get parts from this country only
My ex boss worked in design for BL and worked with the designer for the Allegro as well as other models. The Allegro suffered a hatchet by the money men with it ended up with whatever was left from other models. It had a massive engine and proper brakes etc but it ended up being the butt of everyone's jokes
I had a Maestro. Great looking car. Good handling. Terrible old, underpowered, noisy, unreliable engine (the A-Series). Cheap, tacky, plasticky interior, with a fairly poor finish. So the same old story for 70s and 80s BL. Such a shame. With top modern engines and interiors, the Metro and Maestro could have done so much better.
Allegro horrible cars metro same mini kept company alive after trying kill production few times I built 1275gt in late 80s fitted with a bored out tuned mg metro turbo engine was like rocket powered gokart stuck too road with 12inch banded steel wheels cost 200 for mini complete and running and 150 for rear ended metro turbo spent 100-150 on bits 500 -550 on road be lucky get MK1 cooper wheels for same it'd be worth mad money swapped it for ford escort RS 2000 mk2 I didn't complain lol 2000 worth 3-4000 at time only BL car I'd keep 6r4 metro but not really a metro mid engined spaceframed 4x4 with metro clothes
@@tomdrives Yes, because the British perception of European languages is affected by the French (almost) silent S endings - and any other ending for that matter, hence "Porsh" instead of "Porschuh". But Vanden Plas is Belgian and of Germanic (specifically Flemish) origin - it simply means "from the pool" or even "from the puddle"! The contraction "vanden" makes it most likely to be Flemish rather than Dutch where the contraction is less common and it would be van den Plas.
@@tomdrives Where did the image for the white ADO22 at 14:38 come from? And where did the image for the grey '1100 project' image at 15:11 come from? They're both clearly AI generated images. Cheers.
An average car looks like an average car. Put ugly wheels on it, and it's dead in the water. Show me a successful production car that had such horrid wheels as these guys came up with.
But there is just one thing you have NOT pointed out... BL cars from the 1970s were bloody AWFUL! OK .. Let's just hypothetically borrow Dr. Who TARDIS and go back to 1974 Which car would you buy if you were looking for a brand-new car 1) MK 1 VW Golf 2) Austin Allegro You are not old enough to remember when these BL cars were a common sight on our roads here in the UK ..I am and I can tell you BL cars from the 1970s were BLOODY AWFUL CARS. BL just automatically assumed people would buy them because they were made in Britain and that "Buying British" was the correct thing to do... How very wrong were they.. How they lasted until 2005 before going bankrupt is actually amazing. Yes, sure buying an Austin Allegro / Morris Marina /Austin Maxi in 2024 as a classic car and using it for a few hundred miles a year in the summer is great ..But as use "Everyday" cars to driven 12,000+ Miles a Year ..These cars simply were NOT up to the job... Cars such as the MK 4 Ford Cortina and the MK 1 Ford Escort were MILES better cars. Truth pills are never very nice to swallow.
Now thats a bold statement mate.....they say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so each to their own, BUT, go and google the Davis Divan and then tell me the Allegro is uglier than that utter abortion😁
So many of Roy Axe's designs were excellent - elegant and clean. Most of today's designers would do well to study them. It's such a shame so few of them reached production.
Fascinating stuff Tom. Just an aside, have you seen the Healey 30000? It was a 3000 with 4 inches added to the width and a similar big carbed engine, disc breaks and suspension to the 300. All the way through there were good engineers and designers but it was foiled by militant unions and inept managers. Once we joined the Common Market the British car manufacturing was going to be under intense competition. How different it could have been if we had taken on VW in 1946.
The Austin Zander looks pretty cool. I can see the similarities with the Triumph TR7. A car that would look good badged as a Lotus as well. That’s how good the design looks. British Leyland was the saviour that never was. Rushing in like a cavalry to save the British Independent Car Industry from demise. It’s so disappointing to look back and see the British independent car industry collapsed. As I recall when Toyota had problems with their gearboxes being recalled, the top brass at Toyota saw that as a humiliation and was determined to put it right. So why couldn’t BL. Perhaps in a parallel life.
Without being patronising, its nice to see a young man interested in our motoring heritage and willing to keep it alive through researching and talkiing about. With people like this our proud, world leading and somewhat troubled car industry will never be forgotten. From a Rover Group worker in the 80s.
Yup, the Brits have accomplished some of the greatest feats of automotive engineering the world has seen, poor management killed the industry for them however.
Yeah but his side gig is running a ruckus with a shiv on Friday mornings
Be fair he didn't have to grow up with them 😅
@@nudisco300 Agree, the Rover SD1 was built at Lode Lane. I worked there for around six years after SD1 had ended and the space used for Range Rover production. I was in East Works BIW, also where the axles were made. You could see a lot of signage referencing to SD1 production, but it had gone. They used a buzz word for the transition from Leyland to Rover group, they called it "Roverisation"
@@nudisco300 No. Something came along called 'The Seventies', and everything turned to shit.
Brings back happy memories of family holidays in our austin 1100....
Later my dad got a brand new Allegro, which seemed light years ahead of all the other square boxey design cars on the road at that time.
Hold on cyber trucks are square and boxey, I guess auto trends eventually cycle back around much like fashion trends like check suits and flares!😊
Later my dad bought an old maxi for towing our caravan, he said the 'wheel in each corner made it the best towing car! Plus it had a good amount of torque from it's 1750 engine.
So sad it’s all gone now a lot of fantastic designs
It is, couldn’t help but feel sad myself editing those photos of a disappearing Longbridge together.
The Cybertruck cribs the Allegro's quartic steering wheel, BL truly was a visionary car marker.
Even the Boeing 747 had an Allegro steering wheel albeit with the top and bottom bits cut off! (David Gunson - What goes up might come down...)
Here's one for you... Back in around 1990 Practical Classics magazine mentioned an MG Marina prototype. The owner in Norwich refused to sell it if I remember correctly. I hope you can give it a go.
Rovers will always have a place in my heart. I’m 47 and I think I owned and taxed most of them. My favourite was my 600 vitesse. Cossie fast/ recaro interior 2.0 turbo. Lost my licence in a Tomcat. Always wanted and will get one day a P5B. The 220 Turbo coupe would eventually do ( or show on the clock ) 150mph ( I did it ) 😂. My 827 SLI ( 3 of them ) awesome Honda collaboration. I had Metros MG,s 200/400/600/800 just awesome cars and of course a load of Minis
Seeing that Austin 1100 bouncing around in a field I can vouch for it's ruggedness. I passed my test in my Austin 1300 GT and drove it for around a year until I bought a Mini 1000.Looking back, I took that Austin 1300 car to hell and back and it kept going.
That’s why I love these older cars, they are just rugged simplicity
Inherited my Grandmothers 1982 series 3 Allegro 1.3L 3 speed auto in 1990 it was Champagne Beige it only had 12,000 miles on the clock, I could not drive at the time but soon passed my test in a manual car, I loved the little Allegro it went everywhere I drove the entire length of the UK in it on camping trips I was mocked by other young lads in their Astras and Escorts I did not care it was such a reliable car only maintenance was an annual re-gas of the hydra gas (it did tend to loose pressure over winter) and an oil change and I replaced the points, the engine and auto box shared the same oil so it was a very simple little car to maintain , in the end its electrics gave out and it needed to be scrapped that was at 36 000 miles even then the car ran smooth and efficient, I was so impressed with the car being my first car it will always have a special place for me.
I actually had a Allegro 1750 HL in 1976 and had it for a couple of years (with the twin carbs and 90 bhp). It was a very good car and went really well. I remember shocking a Cortina 2 litre by being much faster than him. The HL did not have the quartic wheel but I was not against it and it helped in seeing the instruments better. Good ride, good fuel consumption. The gearbox was OK but at the time most gearboxes were not great. Woolly change. Only had 155mm tyres but had surprising grip in the wet and dry. Great motorway cruiser with its 5 speed gearbox. I liked the looks as well although mine was a lovely blue metallic with black vinyl roof. No mechanical issues only had a problem with the headlining due to the 1976 heat/drought crisis (must have been early global warming) which was fixed under warranty. Only sold it it because I got a company car and was doing too many miles.
I recall Austin used the French pronunciation: EH-KEEP, even though there was no acute accent over the first “é”. Bond had an identically named Bond Équipe from 1963-70, and that was definitely pronounced as in French
yes you're right, for those of us old enough to have lived through these times, that's how I remember it being pronounced.
It's French for 'team', I think.
My first car at age 18 was a Bond Equipe - single headlight early version.
Just imagine the AR 6 with a screaming 2 l Honda Type R engine as an answer to the Clio Williams !
I liked the Zander a lot! But what blew my mind in this video, was the aerial and heated windscreen. I always thought, because no other manufacturer had the heated screen, Ford invented that. But it seems Triplex invented it, and then did an exclusive deal with Ford. Arguably, a missed opportunity for Rover who (it seems) were offered it first 😳
The Austin Princess had a torsional stiffness of 12,000Nm verses the Mercedes W123 8000Nm
I read the in a CAR road test article.
The Princess had a lot of things good about it, sadly a lot of it isn’t known.
@@tomdrives One of my favourite BL era cars.
My first crush was on a teacher at primary school. ..only because she had a brand new Allegro Equipe. It was everything my dad's M-reg Harvest Gold 1.3 Allegro wasn't.
Much underrated cars - sold em when I started out in the trade in the late 70s. Owned a couple of Mini’s and a Marina 1.3 Coupe which ended up with a Midget cylinder head, Midget carbs and manifold- made my own exhaust!! Happy days…nice video, good work. Now a subscriber 👍
Some really interesting concepts.
I remember going with my grandparents to test drive a brand new A35 Countryman in Woodyatt's Garage on Court Road in Malvern. In the same showroom were Citroen DSs and they were like something out of space! Sadly my grandparents didn't buy the A35, though they did buy an 1100 (the first of three they were to have), which I thought was amazingly modern (well, compared to my parents' split screen Minor van, they were!).
When I was in my late teens, I really wanted an allegro with a T16 turbo engine… I wonder how easy the build would be 🤔
I wonder too, I’ve always been obsessed with the idea of making a modernised Allegro
Near the end of the turbo T series era you could get a crate engine dirt cheap direct from rover. The MG maestro lads bought them and put them in. I've even heard of a few maestro vans running T series turbo's 😊
Pretty sure there’s one that has been built.. all I can remember till I find the practical classics mag I’ve got that it’s on the cover of is that it’s bright blue with orange wheels, might only be a 1.8 vvc though, but pretty similar conversion
Have you seen The Late Brake Show Allegro SS development?
@@GuanajuatoUK yeah must be costing a small fortune.
Learned a lot here, great job Tom. The Allegro Equipe’s alloys were notoriously porous apparently, resulting in many a flat tyre. Wasn’t aware until now of the Allegro Special LE that came before it…
Equipe owners had the delightful experience of coming out of their house in the morning to get in their car only to find it let it’s own tyres down overnight
😂
I love the Zander. So beautiful
They would have sold shed loads !
So many fantastic possibilities that never came to be. Some looked fabulous. That Austin Healey beast at the end there....wow !!
In 1986 as a 17yr old running an old banger (1977 1.3 allegro) I came across a crashed Equipe in a scrap yard! I had the dashboard binnacle, steering wheel and seats out of it 😂 I reckon my humble 1.3 was probably the only allegro ever fitted with these tasty goodies 🤣 Sadly the wheels were nowhere to be seen so never got those. Fun times.
Fantastic mention of the Aqila. An amazing, highly important prototype . Think and compair to the MK3 Astra its insane.
Never seen a Mastro prototype LC10.
The 1967 Pininfarina Aerodynamica a British CX sadly never built in UK.
I’ve read about the Aerodynamica fantastic design. The Aquila is a good story as well.
I remember coming across a 2 litre Allegro...only ever saw one, but it had the same decals as the Equipe...
Which engine did it have?
@@htimsid to be honest, I didn't see the engine but it had decals that said "2 litre"
Wish I had looked, sorry not to have more info. I can only guess that it must have been the same engine the Princess had.
Was at a race track (my dad was involved in Rallycross, Colin Howard, so you may well have heard him commentating if you have watched the old vids!).
All the best,
Steve.
@@htimsid Probably the O series 2.0 from the Princess...
I had a 1750 Allegro in the early 80s, for about 18 months, it was blue with a blue vinyl roof went really well and never let me down, was an ex soldiers car and drove it back from Germany and in late 80s early 90s had a 2lt EFI Maestro Turbo in dark blue had that for about 7 years wish I still had it
Another superb informative video. You must put hours into your research. My Grandad was a huge Austin fan. In fact ive still got a pair of door pockets from his last Austin 1300. He had the first 4 door Austin 1300 registered Derbyshire, also had the last 4 door 1300. He wanted the allegro but supply was poor due to strikes back in 1973 so he had the 1300 instead.
Hi Tom, another great video, when the wedge came out it replaced the ageing 18-22 range but initially the new range was designated as 18-22 range, BL was in financial difficulties and After the Ryder report the Austin Morris and top of the range Wolseley was re designated as the Austin Princess range. At the same time the Riley 1300 was also dropped putting Riley and Wolseley into history books. Well done in the great work in your content . Kinds regards , Mark
Hi Tom , the princess range was very forward at the time , I believe it’s 1st car to have seat belt alarm , light went on on light switch unit on right hand of dash until the seat belt clicked in holder. Thanks for your hearted response. Regards mark
The Austin name disappeared with the Princess re-naming. The Riley brand was discontinued in 1969, some years earlier.
@@timgriggs8592 hi, thanks for that , I was just saying like Wolseley name going to history books Riley went before , thanks mark
That Princess estate wouldn't look too out of date today, pity a lost opportunity!
Worked in the Old West at Longbridge... The Tomcat WAS always going to be a Classic Car from day one . I felt it from day one, as like The Stag I now own , the “T” bar roof was an immediate feature, plus with the added Turbo , and also been in Coupe form ,she was one HOT motor. As for the Rover P5 B that one day I do hope that you get , as like the 2 door Coupe XJ 6 , was too , going to be a future classic whilst still been in production. Along with the Stag , these 2 , if I had the garage space , would also have one of each . Good luck in your quest in getting your dream Rover
Reply to badgersalesman . The Tomcat / Tracer ( convertible R8) and the R8 estate were made in the Old West Works at Longbridge away from the main R8 framing and build line in the New West, on the old Austin Westminster track at a ratio of about 3Tomcats 2 convertibles 2 estates
Out of all the cars you showed the AR16 looked a really great design and a huge missed opportunity. The pre face-lift 800s looked the best and the AR16 clearly built on this…
It is a shame we didn’t get a “mini mk1 800” I think it’s a great design too.
We never had an Allegro. A relative had a series 2 Austin Maxi in chocolate brown. It was the early 80s.
I’m 40 and too young to remember alot of these cars but through my grandad showin me Haynes manuals of his old cars from Vauxhall velox to Austin Westminster that he said a police man he gave a lift too asked him to floor it as he was getting one to see how quick it was gave me a similar interest in old British metal keep up the good work a great channel thank you 👍👍
I think the air ace's name was pronounced "Bah-der". A great video, though. Thanks
Yes it was, you are correct. I went to school in Bader hall in Lichfield which was opened by him in 1959. A minor nitpick for a great video though 👍🏼
Glad to see you featured the Metro Ranger Tom. A cool little pick up, I'd have bought one! Didn't Gaydon sell the prototype 20 years ago? I heard rumours it had been broken for spares with bits advertised online, a shame if true.. There is a cool army green Metro pick up that does a lot of the shows, well worth a look too..
another brilliant vid tom
Thanks Chris
So sad to see all that talent go to waste. I worked at Cowley in the early 80s
Your videos are excellent. Keep up the good work, they are very interesting
Very educational well done lad good luck for your future.
Its weird that the Healey prototype with the sloped front sort of finally materialised but under the Jensen Healey brand. You can see the similarities in the front end and rear end design in that final sports car utilising the Healey name.
17:54 "It's not known who designed the bodywork on this car". Judging by its looks, I'd go with 'nobody'.
The Xander though, if anything, that one foreshadows the Allegro (just look at the early drawings of it) and the Princess alike. You can definitely see echoes from this design in them, much more so than in the TR7, I'd say.
I remember the Allegro Equipe, loved the graphics and the alloy wheels, but there had already been a 'Hot Allegro' the 1750 SS, I only ever remember seeing a couple, they were replaced by the HL, which was focused more on comfort and luxury. Yes it was a 'slightly dumpy looking car but, with a bit of imagination it could be a bit of a 'Q car' and with Hydrogas suspension very sure footed?
Had a 1750 equip back in the day it used to eat drive shafts , got to the stage were I used to carry spare 1s in the boot
Very enjoyable video, great overview of a major car manufactures. Cheers Bob
My wife and her late husband had an Allegro Equipe, which was involved in an accident. Nobody could get hold of the graphics after it was repainted and it was pretty hard telling people that it was something special when all it really was, was a car with some stripes
Wheels, engine (twin SUs) interior all Equipe only as I recall.
@@skylined5534 but still for most people to believe it was anything more than an Allegro with nicer wheels
I remember visiting Longbridge in the 1980s and seeing the fabulous robotic production line producing metro and rover 200 bodyshells before going across the road and back in time 20 years to the mini assembly line!
The Allegro Equipe is pronounced ‘E-keep’ for info. Good video 👍
Equweep?
Near enough it's French after all.
It's ay (rhymes with hay)-keep.
@@tomdrivesImagine Quentin Wilson saying it and you will be in the right ballpark 😸
Nice go thru on this forgotten gems......
Did see a MG made of coal-fiber (Kevlar) when the Bad Obsession gave an info on coming works.......
Do any of you know any more about that car or concept.
The Austin Xander wouldn't have looked out of place even today , what a shame it was never put into production ! 😕
The 3 cylinder engine had a review on Tomorrow's World ...
I'm surprised that you don't mentioned the likeness between the AR6 and Citroen's small cars of the era.
Excellent video, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it some things I’ve never seen before we were very interesting. I’m hoping this is part one of many more parts for the rest of the BL brands, and maybe some models too.
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Shame about the AR16 it looked fantastic, yet another missed opportunity.
Certainly a lot better then reheating the metro again
@tomdrives
Some very odd and questionable decisions seem to be a pattern with BL and Austin Rover.
Lost opportunities Austin / Morris middle name !
Great video 👍 All car manufacturers have at one time or another been saved by a bread and butter model,if only the original Allegro got the new engine design then we wouldn't end up with the one we did oh and a proper body engineering "stiffness".
I saw an Equipé in a scrapyard in '88 - I couldn't see anything wrong with it.
Trouble with the Healey and the mgc is they I listed on putting truck motors in sports cars, and then the datsun 240z showed up
Superb video 🤘
If you can find information on them, I'd love a video on the test mules that Austin Rover built eg the Montegos with K series engines.
Doesn’t matter who designed Austin Healy it will be an actual Healy
I had an allegro 17.50 sport complete with square steering wheel lol. Went Glastonbury 1983. I think.£5 to get in. And park right next to your car and tent. 🥳🤪🇬🇧😵💫
I wonder if some old boy (or girl) had the wheel transferred to their Equipe as the quartic wheel was long since gone!
I honestly wouldn't be surprised!
The Austin 3-litre of 1967, not 68, was very far from "incredible". It has its followers now, but it was an utter disaster commercially.
The ADO61 is a thoroughly underrated car (albeit launched too late).
@@htimsidWell, it was rated poorly by the people who were being asked to buy it... they decided to buy Fords, Vauxhalls and Humbers. BMC's last car, along with the MGC, was given a half-cocked launch to a largely indifferent public, and things went downhill from there. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing, but like the AH4000 also discussed in this interesting video, sadly ADO61 was a catalogue of how not to do it.
By the mid 70s in NZ the Japanese invasion was underway and although these cars were not warmly welcomed, they used less gas and they didn't fall apart like the British cars.😅
fab
The Aquila looks very citroen-y, as does the proposed metro replacement
Oh, and ironic that the hideous cybertruck is made in Austin 😂
I only ever saw one allegro in italy badged up as an innocenti regent.and an austin maestro in 15 years i was there😂
Austin Allegro - we called our the All Aggro, because it spent more time in the garage being fixed again, than it did on the road. In the end we got rid - it was so unreliable!
So, bmc, had a z car (even looks a bit like the datsun z240, with 6 cylinder goodness, & su carbs).
Would love an Equipe. M.
There are so many bad decisions and wrong turns. Extremely short-sighted.
As with most things BL ... If only!
Some would say BL is the common thread with all of these cars I cover becoming shelved.
Cars of the 70 80, had a style of they're own now all cars look like clones
May I point out it is not equip, but the French, Equipe, pronounced aykeep. Nice work.
the LC10 front end looks more like a modern Range Rover than a modern Range Rover does, and it still looks ok now. A lot of the concepts and prototypes are infuriating in the way that you look at them and just know it was never going in to production and is a waste of time.
The ARG ones particularly hurt, binned to reskin decade old Hondas, the die was cast
Am I the only one seeing a lot of rov3r in later Citroens the I’m thinking ar6 front and re, sd3 looks a lot like the Citroen bx and the mouse theme Mpv looks a lot like a Picasso there use of hydro gas …maybe they should have being brought together?? I guess a lot of it maybe function over form but still
I think allegro was a great car 😎🇬🇧
I’d like to have a go in one personally, I do quite like them.
@@tomdrives was a fine car dad had one no trouble at all went Cornwall every year roof chock a block camping stuff he always had an allegro 👌👍
Not my bag but I do love a maxi
@@niceuneasy
My grandad used to be a salesman for BL commercial vehicles in the 60s and 70s and would have a new Allegro as a company vehicle usually every year (prior to that he had 1100s, Moggies etc). His last one was an R reg 1500 Super estate in white. He liked that one so much he bought it and drove it until his passing in 1981. My nan carried on driving it up until 1995! The memories of whipping along in it to the static caravan they had in Ynyslas at Searivers caravan site in Wales! (To their 1966 Bluebird Defiant!)
There is no Y in douglas badar huis name is badar its comon knowlege him being one of the most famous pilots of ever.
I’ve watched a few videos on and read about Sir Douglas Bader and I can safely say I don’t think there’s a Y in his name… it must be a dialect thing.
Most of the old plant is now housing
A really good video. Just a tip. When taking to us, look at the camera lens not yourself on the screen.
Yeah it’s hard not to, I’ve finished my set off so that should be a thing of the past I won’t have to use my phone anymore for those intro bits.
Some very different original designs and lots of big names involved it proves this country can do this and do it well I don't know why the people with all the money won't invest in this country and continue to achieve into the future go back to the drawing board have another look at what came before improve and reinvent but one important factor being that it would be British built through and through get parts from this country only
What was wrong with the British car industry management? Why did they always do wrong??
My ex boss worked in design for BL and worked with the designer for the Allegro as well as other models. The Allegro suffered a hatchet by the money men with it ended up with whatever was left from other models. It had a massive engine and proper brakes etc but it ended up being the butt of everyone's jokes
Marina were worst car,said my neighbor in 1979 😂
Britisch Elend
I had a Maestro. Great looking car. Good handling. Terrible old, underpowered, noisy, unreliable engine (the A-Series). Cheap, tacky, plasticky interior, with a fairly poor finish. So the same old story for 70s and 80s BL. Such a shame. With top modern engines and interiors, the Metro and Maestro could have done so much better.
Allegro horrible cars metro same mini kept company alive after trying kill production few times I built 1275gt in late 80s fitted with a bored out tuned mg metro turbo engine was like rocket powered gokart stuck too road with 12inch banded steel wheels cost 200 for mini complete and running and 150 for rear ended metro turbo spent 100-150 on bits 500 -550 on road be lucky get MK1 cooper wheels for same it'd be worth mad money swapped it for ford escort RS 2000 mk2 I didn't complain lol 2000 worth 3-4000 at time only BL car I'd keep 6r4 metro but not really a metro mid engined spaceframed 4x4 with metro clothes
It’s pronounced ‘ ekeep ‘ .
Vanden Plas - with an S, not Vanden Plahhh!
That’s how I’ve always heard it pronounced
@@tomdrives 100% with you on this
Yep, Vanden PlaS (not Plah) because it was a Belgian not French company
@@AlexEssex8 we need a good map showing the linguistic areas of Belgium 🗺️🕵🏼♂️
@@tomdrives Yes, because the British perception of European languages is affected by the French (almost) silent S endings - and any other ending for that matter, hence "Porsh" instead of "Porschuh". But Vanden Plas is Belgian and of Germanic (specifically Flemish) origin - it simply means "from the pool" or even "from the puddle"! The contraction "vanden" makes it most likely to be Flemish rather than Dutch where the contraction is less common and it would be van den Plas.
It's a shame you had to resort to AI imaging for the ADO22 segment.
AI imaging? There’s no AI imaging used in any of my videos.
@@tomdrives Where did the image for the white ADO22 at 14:38 come from? And where did the image for the grey '1100 project' image at 15:11 come from? They're both clearly AI generated images. Cheers.
So many concepts and designs were dropped. Unbelievably bad decisions and wasted effort.
Eck eep
An average car looks like an average car. Put ugly wheels on it, and it's dead in the water.
Show me a successful production car that had such horrid wheels as these guys came up with.
This is very good but two glaring mispronounced names. Douglas Bader ... BARDER. Equipe....Eh Keep. I'm just a pedantic git.
But there is just one thing you have NOT pointed out... BL cars from the 1970s were bloody AWFUL!
OK .. Let's just hypothetically borrow Dr. Who TARDIS and go back to 1974
Which car would you buy if you were looking for a brand-new car
1) MK 1 VW Golf
2) Austin Allegro
You are not old enough to remember when these BL cars were a common sight on our roads here in the UK ..I am
and I can tell you BL cars from the 1970s were BLOODY AWFUL CARS.
BL just automatically assumed people would buy them because they were made in Britain and that "Buying British" was the correct thing to do...
How very wrong were they..
How they lasted until 2005 before going bankrupt is actually amazing.
Yes, sure buying an Austin Allegro / Morris Marina /Austin Maxi in 2024 as a classic car and using it for a few hundred miles a year in the summer is great ..But as use "Everyday" cars to driven 12,000+ Miles a Year ..These cars simply were NOT up to the job... Cars such as the MK 4 Ford Cortina and the MK 1 Ford Escort were MILES better cars.
Truth pills are never very nice to swallow.
Amazing and Allegro don’t belong in the same sentence
Wow some very ugly cars
You don’t pronounce Equipe like that !😂
I’ve subscribed to your channel, can you make a video for me showing your pronunciation it would be helpful. :)
@@tomdrives- Just say “Ee-keep” and you’re there, just like it should be Douglas “Bar-der”.😊
The allegro IS THE ugliest car ever made. Like all the rest of those shown, especially the badly named but beautifully styled princess
Now thats a bold statement mate.....they say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so each to their own, BUT, go and google the Davis Divan and then tell me the Allegro is uglier than that utter abortion😁
A lowered 2 door allegro would change your mind maybe 😉
@neil5209 the Davis Divan is not the ugliest either. It just looks like a upsidedown boat 😂
So many of Roy Axe's designs were excellent - elegant and clean. Most of today's designers would do well to study them. It's such a shame so few of them reached production.
Fascinating stuff Tom. Just an aside, have you seen the Healey 30000? It was a 3000 with 4 inches added to the width and a similar big carbed engine, disc breaks and suspension to the 300. All the way through there were good engineers and designers but it was foiled by militant unions and inept managers. Once we joined the Common Market the British car manufacturing was going to be under intense competition. How different it could have been if we had taken on VW in 1946.
The Austin Zander looks pretty cool. I can see the similarities with the Triumph TR7. A car that would look good badged as a Lotus as well. That’s how good the design looks. British Leyland was the saviour that never was. Rushing in like a cavalry to save the British Independent Car Industry from demise. It’s so disappointing to look back and see the British independent car industry collapsed. As I recall when Toyota had problems with their gearboxes being recalled, the top brass at Toyota saw that as a humiliation and was determined to put it right. So why couldn’t BL. Perhaps in a parallel life.