Britain's Worst Car

Check out this fetching brown 1970s Austin Allegro. The name may have stood for fast, cheerful and lively, but the car has been declared ‘Britain’s Worst Car’ in a poll by brand-new digital motoring magazine, iMotormag.co.uk. 4000 people participated in the online poll which chose the Austin Allegro as the worst with 24% of the votes. This was closely followed by the Morris Ital with 23% and the Talbot Sunbeam with 11%. Other cars which received votes were the Hillman Imp (10%) and the Rover 200 (5%).

Although the Austin Allegro is notorious for poor quality and shoddy craftsmanship, the car still has quite a cult following. This poll proved that in a sense, bad publicity can often be good publicity as in an attempt to defend the car, a representative from Allegro Club International made a guest appearance on Chris Evans' BBC Radio 1 Drive Time show last night. The 1970s British Leyland model played starring roles in TV classics like The Professionals, Doctor Who, The New Avengers, The Sweeney, Open All Hours, Inspector Morse and more recently, Life on Mars and Little Britain.



Allegro in Little Britain



For those who like to reminisce about the more vintage classic car from times gone by, Veloce can take you down memory lane with the Those Were the Days™ series. The latest title in the series which is currently forthcoming is:



The Last Real Austins - 1946-1959



This new book examines how Austin bounced back after WWII, and how, despite the severe materials shortage, it managed to develop the largest range of vehicles produced by any automaker in postwar Britain. It examines how these vehicles were received and used in these markets, and is illustrated with rare archive photography depicting the weird, wonderful and the downright imaginative.



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