1963 Ford Allegro - AllCarIndex
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1963
The Allegro was developed by advanced designers at Ford Motor Company as a study in new design features and unique mechanical devices. It is described by Gene Bordinat, vice president-Design,as “a practical dream car - a car of the future that could be built today.”
As its name indicates, this car is designed to be a brisk and lively performer. Its exterior is distinguished by a long hood with a grille extending forward of the headlights, a compact passenger compartment, and a fastback roofline.
The interior has fixed seats with adjustable brake and accelerator panels.
It also offers an entirely new concept in driver comfort—a cantilevered-arm steering wheel with a memory unit.
The steering column is centrally mounted, with the wheel on a horizontal arm that pivots at the column end. By pushing buttons on the arm, the driver can raise or lower the steering wheel, or move it fore and aft to his most comfortable driving position.
When he leaves the car, he swings the steering wheel up and out of the way for easy exit. On re-entering, he merely touches the memory button to move the steering wheel back to its original driving position.
Also on the steering arm are buttons for power-adjusting both the brake and accelerator pedals forward or backward. This adjustment to accommodate
drivers of various sizes is a result of the fixed-seat design, an innovation that contributes to rigidity and permits lower over-all height.
Such seats also permit the use of retractable seat belts. A spring-loaded belt is pulled through a slot in one side of the seat, and is attached to a buckle on the other side of the seat. A cam mechanism clamps the belt webbing and prevents it from moving until the driver pushes a release button. The
mechanism is concealed within the seat structure, and the belt retracts when not in use.
Wheelbase: 99.0"
Over-All Length: 169.5"
Over-All Height: 49.6"
Over-All Width: 63.6"
Front Tread: 51.0"
Rear Tread: 51.0"
Effective Leg Room: 40.1"
Effective Head Room: 37.6"
Exterior Color: Candy Apple Red
