The Worst Cars of the 1970s

Austin Allegro

This car may well have achieved a level of cult status with fans. But the Austin Allegro was a weird car that really struggled from designer though to driving.

It had an odd look too, it looked so awkward and cumbersome, so difficult and ungainly – when compared with some of the other cars that were produced around the same time as the Allegro.

But the Allegro sold a lot of units, especially to families. It definitely made some unique design decisions. The rectangular steering wheel was strange but new.

The car sold well. But as we often know, that doesn’t mean it was a decent car.

People started to really take exception to the poor quality line of cars that came out of British Leyland in the Seventies. And they had serious workforce troubles of their own at the time. It sold well, but if you saw one today, you might mistake it for a prop from a bad B-movie.