Absolute Radio kill an Allegro

[MANTAMAN]

Looking back at this whole episode i'm now thinking it's a set-up right from the start,

They chose an Austin Allegro then repeatedly kept telling it people that in one survey it was voted the worst car ever, as if they where paving the way for justifying its destruction

When they filled it up with diesel conveniantly they spefically filmed the act, now if you wanted the car to fail and didn't have specific mechanical knowedge to cause a believable breakdown then filling up with diesel is the easiest method, as for how far it got before it spluttered to a holt, the video suggest it went a long way but on the broadcast i'm sure they said the layby was only a mile and half from the filling station, which would probably be a float chamber and fuel lines worth.

They said on the broadcast that it would cost far more to repair than they paid for it ( which i think was around £400 from as they said 'a dodgey car dearler' ) hence it was only fit for scrap, who came to that conclusion? the engine could have been damaged, in which case another engine would have been the obvious answer, A series 'lumps' can be found for not alot of money, but it may have only need the fuel system draining but it seems there was no attempt to investigate how much damaged had been done, the poor car being recovered straight to a scrap yard.

Not sure how some people have concluded that there was no engine and box in it, cant make out it's absense on the video, and it's removal would needed to have been done very quickly somewhere between the Allegro being recovered and arriving at the scrap yard, when it was forklifted away i think where they took would have been one of those bays they have to remove all fluids before scrapping.

I was listening to Absolute radio on the morning of the 22-6-2012 (friday) and i texted and e-mailed them saying dont scrap the Allegro and offering them help, but the only mention of listeners responses to the events was that many people have contacted them saying dont scrap it, but they said there was no hope for it, they never for one moment considerd that there was any other course than scrapping it making me believe that crushing of it on air was a pre-arranged dramatic end to the story.

there are good grounds for suspecting that this was a pre-arranged series of events in an attempt to make 'good radio' but my prediction that it would back fire on them appears to already be coming true if you read the comments left on you-tube.

[OneCarefulOwner]

It was a one-owner 58k car, bought from a dealer who had been listing it reasonably at £799.

[Oldcarnut]

http://player.absoluteradio.co.uk/core/ ... uts/60039/

[rich.]

what i find sad is in these times of crisis etc they have money to waste like that & then there is the fuel which has been wasted & thats really great for the environment..

[mach1rob]

I note a fair number of comments on C OCks Facebook page over this got deleted and the posters blocked from commenting on the page any more, myself being one for calling him said appendage for doing this in the name of entertainment.

You may like to know that he thinks anyone who thinks he did a bad thing was a mouth breather!

His conveniently deleted comment to the aggro (pun intended) that he got

"Some of the comments here are hilarious. Especially the wonky eyed angry ones from the mouth breathers! Facebook is the ideal home for some very angry, whiny people! Think we will share some of these Monday!"

[Blackfox]

I can't believe someone would do this to what may be fundamentally a 'bad' car but in many ways is all the better for it! I bought a Vanden Plas 1500 a couple of years back to drive accross Europe for the very reason that it's reputation was that of a rubbish car (I like an adventure). I drove it for a couple of months in the UK first and quickly realised that it was in fact a great little car. Koupy (named due to numberplate) had had a 5 speed gear box put in so was capable of motorway runs, was really comfortable, fuel efficient and a real talking point, all for £375.00!
The road trip was sadly bought to an end in San Tropez when the clutch went (wasn't great when I bought it and could happen to any car). My breakdown cover were great, provided a replacement car (boring fiat minivan as they had the car down as a Vanden Plas Limo and had no idea it was tiny) and shipped the car all the way back home. I sold the car on ebay to some enthusiasts from Yorkshire and am sure by now its back out on the road. My only regret through all of this... selling it!