 Its successor, the Austin Maestro, went into production in November 1982 and was officially launched on 1 March 1983.The backlog of unsold Allegro 3 models remained sufficient to stock dealerships into 1983, well after the Maestro had launched.Upon its launch the Allegro was not particularly badly received by critics, but the gearchange drew criticism and the "quartic" steering wheel "comprising four curves joined together by four straight lines, similar to the shape of a Television screen", fitted partly in order to compensate for the shortage of space between the driver and the rather low steering column, was widely derided by motoring journalists, especially when faced with the manufacturer's insistence that this curious steering wheel design was "avant garde and high-tec".