1980 AUSTIN ALLEGRO
The brief was simple. Take an Austin Allegro to where Austin’s European cars were assembled – Seneffe, in Belgium – and report back from the Antwerp Classic Salon. The reality was a saga involving security checks and one near-death experience.
I remember the chap who searched the car at Dover used to have one, but to this day I still find it quite amazing that we were pulled in for questioning in an Austin Allegro.
Next up, the near-death experience at the hands of a biker. My memory of this is patchy (possibly repressed to preserve my sanity), but one biker took exception to a manouvere made by a certain newspaper editor, and chased us down to have a word. Being a right-hand-drive car, the brunt of the biker’s ire fell on me when we did stop.
And finally, the breakdown. Before embarking on this particular trip, I remember thinking that I would be as pleased as punch if we only broke down twice on this 350ish-mile journey. So, imagine my elation at breaking down only once – and on home turf in Blighty, too. Of course, when I say ‘elation’…
We were on the M25 heading home. It was 10pm, pitch black, and mighty cold, when the Allegro suffered a sudden loss of power. We got it started again and attempted to nurse it to a petrol station, but the Allegro was having none of it and broke down all over again, forcing us to call for emergency backup.
The AA chap who came to our rescue soon dignosed the fault as residing within the distributor, replaced the condenser and sent us on our merry way again, allowing us to arrive back home just before midnight.