Austin Maxi
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The Austin Maxi is a medium-sized, 5-door
hatchback A hatchback is a car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to a cargo area. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second row seating, where the interior can be reconfigured to prioritize passenger or cargo volume. ...
family car A family car is a car classification used in Europe to describe normally-sized cars. The name comes from the marketed use of these cars to carry a whole family locally or on vacations. Most family cars are hatchbacks or sedans, although there are ...
that was produced by
Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
and later
British Leyland British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partly ...
between 1969 and 1981. It was the first British five-door hatchback. British Leyland built and sold the Maxi alongside the 1971
Morris Marina The Morris Marina is a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1971 until 1980. It served to replace the Morris Minor in the Morris product line, which ...
and 1973
Austin Allegro The Austin Allegro is a small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1973 until 1982. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent. The Al ...
. All three were replaced by the 1982
Austin Maestro The Austin Maestro is a five-door hatchback small family car (and two-door van derivative) that was produced from 1982 to 1987 by British Leyland, and from 1988 until 1994 by Rover Group, as a replacement for the Morris Marina and Austin Alleg ...
.


History

The Maxi (code name ADO14) was the last car designed under the
British Motor Corporation The British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC) was a UK-based vehicle manufacturer, formed in early 1952 to give effect to an agreed merger of the Morris and Austin businesses.Morris-Austin Merger Company Named. ''The Times'', Friday, 29 February ...
(BMC) before it was incorporated into the new
British Leyland British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partly ...
group, and the last production car designed by famed designer
Alec Issigonis Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis (18 November 1906 – 2 October 1988) was a British-Greek automotive designer. He designed the Mini, launched by the British Motor Corporation in 1959, and voted the second most influential car of t ...
. It was the first car to be launched by British Leyland. Originally, under BMC's plan for its new model range, which it had been developing since 1965, the Maxi was to have been called the "Austin 1500" on its spring 1969 launch, and a saloon version the "Morris 1500" was to follow in the autumn. However, upon the merger of BMC and Leyland the new management abandoned the four-door saloon
notchback A notchback is a design of a car with the rearmost section that is distinct from the passenger compartment and where the back of the passenger compartment is at an angle to the top of what is typically the rear baggage compartment. Notchback cars ...
and developed the
Morris Marina The Morris Marina is a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1971 until 1980. It served to replace the Morris Minor in the Morris product line, which ...
instead. The Marina, launched in April 1971, was a rear-wheel drive car available as a saloon, coupe or estate. The new chairman Lord Stokes decided to also change the hatchback's name to the Maxi in homage to the Mini of 10 years earlier. All Maxis were produced at the Cowley plant in
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, although the E-Series engines were made at a new factory at
Cofton Hackett Cofton Hackett is a village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove District of north east Worcestershire, England. It is southwest of the city centre of Birmingham and northeast of Worcester. In 2011, the village had a population of 1,893 but wit ...
in
Longbridge Longbridge is an area of Northfield in the south-west of Birmingham, England, located near the border with Worcestershire. Public Transport Longbridge is described as a hub for public transport with a number of bus services run by Kev's Co ...
. The Maxi was launched in Oporto, Portugal, on 24 April 1969, in a blaze of publicity; it was one of the first cars to appear on the BBC's new car programme ''Wheelbase'', a forerunner to ''Top Gear'', which debuted in 1977. It was one of the first hatchback models to be produced in the world, and the first in Britain; the five-door hatchback echoed the French-produced Renault 16, which was
European Car of the Year The European Car of the Year ("ECOTY") award is an international Car of the Year award established in 1964, by a collective of automobile magazines from different countries in Europe. The current organising companies of the award are '' Auto'' ( ...
following its launch in 1965. This type of car increased in popularity rapidly during the 1970s and during the 1980s became the most popular type of car in most European markets. Underneath the Maxi's practical and spacious bodyshell lay an all-new
front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitu ...
chassis, which was interlinked with an innovative five-speed
manual transmission A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission (mechanics), transmission ...
; the fifth gear was another rarity on family cars in 1969 and one which many manufacturers did not adopt until more than a decade later. The gear selector suffered from notorious problems with its control linkage, especially in early models which had a cable-operated linkage prone to cable stretch and other problems. These were noted by autotesters such as Vicar in ''Today's Driver'' (1969), who wrote: "This is probably a good idea that just needs a little bit of working on." This criticism actually came as a result of a road test two months before the car officially went on sale. The later rod linkage was less problematic. All models were prone to problems brought on by the "cogs in the sump" layout, whereby the gearbox and engine shared a common oil supply. The clutch oil seal was also prone to leakage. Power came from a ,
E-Series E series may refer to: * BMC E-series engine, a series of automobile engines * Electronic E series of preferred numbers, a series of preferred values for electronic components such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, zener diodes * Entwicklung seri ...
petrol engine which would later be used in other British Leyland products, such as the
Austin Allegro The Austin Allegro is a small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1973 until 1982. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent. The Al ...
. The 1750 and twin-carburettor 1750 HL models, added to the range in 1971, offered good performance by the standards of the era, with a top speed of , while the smaller-engine version could exceed . Despite the new platform, the Maxi's styling suffered from the decision to save tooling costs by re-using door panels from the Austin 1800 "Landcrab", which gave the Maxi an unusually long wheelbase in relation to its length, coupled with the fact that the carried-over doors made the Maxi resemble a scaled down version of the 1800 (and the Austin 3-Litre, which also used the same doors). This design was by then five years old, at a time when curvaceous American-inspired " coke bottle" styling (typified by contemporaries such as the Ford Cortina Mk III and
Hillman Avenger The Hillman Avenger is a rear-wheel drive small family car originally manufactured by the former Rootes division of Chrysler Europe from 1970–1978, badged from 1976 onward as the Chrysler Avenger. Between 1979 and 1981 it was manufactured by ...
) was very much in vogue, contrasting sharply with the Maxi's obviously mid-1960s looks. Another styling ambition for the car was a four-door saloon version, to compete directly with the
Ford Cortina The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car that was built initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in fiv ...
. A prototype was built, badged as a Morris, but it was not put into production, since the booted extension made the Maxi almost the same size as the 1800 model, which was itself replaced in March 1975 by the 18-22 series models (renamed the Princess soon after its launch). Also worthy of note is that the Maxi was voted the least stolen car in 1971 and 1972. In Australia, owing to recently increased local content assembly tariffs which would have resulted in the Maxi being uneconomic to build, Leyland Motor Corporation of Australia developed in the UK the
Morris Nomad The Morris Nomad is a car that was produced in Australia by British Leyland Motor Corporation of Australia from 1969 to 1972. It is a hatchback version of the Morris 1500 sedan, itself a locally produced variant of the British BMC ADO16 desig ...
, a hybrid utilizing the Maxi's E-series engine/transmission and rear tailgate, fitted to the Morris 1100 body which was already being assembled in that country. For a short while the Nomad (under the Austin name) was exported to New Zealand and offered alongside the locally assembled Maxi. The Maxi featured a spacious interior, comfortable passenger accommodation, competitive prices and reasonable running costs. It was let down by a dull interior and poor build quality, although it was not as notorious for its failings as the
Austin Allegro The Austin Allegro is a small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1973 until 1982. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent. The Al ...
and
Morris Marina The Morris Marina is a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1971 until 1980. It served to replace the Morris Minor in the Morris product line, which ...
were during the 1970s. The Maxi had several rivals during the 1970s, including the
Volkswagen Passat The Volkswagen Passat is a series of large family cars manufactured and marketed by the German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen since 1973, and now in its eighth generation. It has been marketed variously as the Dasher, Santana, Quantum, Mag ...
(1973) and Chrysler Alpine (1975), although its best-selling rivals from Ford and Vauxhall did not produce a hatchback until the early 1980s. One unusual feature of this car was that the rear seat back, as well as folding forward as in a conventional hatchback, also folded back. In combination with fully-reclining front seats, this gave satisfactory, if spartan, sleeping accommodation. Towards the end of the Maxi's life, in 1980, a lightly revised model was marketed as the "Maxi 2", although by now sales were declining and a new car to succeed the Allegro and Maxi was being developed. Its launch was delayed by the extra investment required to develop the
Austin Metro The Metro is a supermini car, later a city car that was produced by British Leyland (BL) and, later, the Rover Group from 1980 to 1998. It was launched in 1980 as the Austin mini Metro. It was intended to complement and eventually replace the ...
, launched in October 1980.


End of production

On 8 July 1981, the Austin Maxi's 12-year production run came to an end. Its replacement, the
Austin Maestro The Austin Maestro is a five-door hatchback small family car (and two-door van derivative) that was produced from 1982 to 1987 by British Leyland, and from 1988 until 1994 by Rover Group, as a replacement for the Morris Marina and Austin Alleg ...
, which also replaced the smaller Allegro, was introduced in March 1983. Shortly after the Maxi's demise, BL met the demand for a larger family hatchback by revamping the
Princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subs ...
and renaming it the Austin Ambassador, although this was a short-lived model which only lasted until 1984, when the
Austin Montego The Austin Montego is a British family car that was produced by British Leyland from 1984 until 1988, and then by Rover Group from 1988 until 1995. The Montego was the replacement for both the rear-wheel drive Morris Ital and the front-wheel ...
was launched. This completed BL's rationalisation, as it now had just one model competing in this market sector, five years after offering four similar-sized cars. The Maxi production lines at Cowley were changed to the production of the
Triumph Acclaim The Triumph Acclaim is a front-wheel drive compact family saloon/sedan manufactured by British Leyland (BL) from 1981 to 1984. It is based on the Honda Ballade. It used a Honda-designed engine, was manufactured under licence from Honda, a ...
, which was launched in September 1981. Despite its practical design and remarkable space efficiency (it is shorter, narrower and lower than the sixth generation
Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car marketed by Ford since 1976 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and has been positioned below the Escort (later the ...
), the Maxi never came close to reaching its projected sales targets. BL management decisions involving the Maxi had significant knock-on effects to the rest of the car line-up. BL marketing decreed that the Maxi should be the only car in the range to feature a
hatchback A hatchback is a car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to a cargo area. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second row seating, where the interior can be reconfigured to prioritize passenger or cargo volume. ...
. This stance prevented the
Morris Marina The Morris Marina is a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1971 until 1980. It served to replace the Morris Minor in the Morris product line, which ...
,
Austin Allegro The Austin Allegro is a small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1973 until 1982. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent. The Al ...
and Princess models gaining hatchbacks despite those designs all being capable of receiving them. The policy was discontinued with the arrival of the
Rover SD1 The Rover SD1 is both the code name and eventual production name given to a series of executive cars built by the Specialist Division (later the ''Jaguar-Rover-Triumph'' division) of British Leyland (BL), under the Rover marque. It was produ ...
in 1976, and the fast-growing popularity of hatchbacks during the 1970s and 1980s saw British Leyland launch a raft of new hatchback models. The Austin Metro, launched in 1980, was only available as a hatchback, as was the 1983 Austin Maestro.


Popular culture

On 1 July 1969, John Lennon crashed a white Maxi on the single track A838 road near Loch Eriboll in the Highlands of Scotland. He was on his way to visit his uncle in Durness with Yoko Ono, his son Julian and Yoko's daughter Kyoko. Originally they had set off from Tittenhurst Park, his home near Ascot in his Mini Cooper, however it soon became apparent that it was too small for them to drive all the way to Scotland, so they stayed overnight at his relatives' home in Liverpool. From there, he rang Apple Records and arranged for a driver to bring the "staff" car; a recently acquired Snowberry White Austin Maxi registered RLA 888G. It featured a full-length white webasto roof and also had a silver apple mounted on the radio speaker top of the front fascia. The following morning, Ono and Lennon transferred all of their luggage over to the Maxi and his driver took the Mini back to Tittenhurst, and the four set off north again to Northern Scotland; stopping briefly in Windermere and
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. Whilst driving along the narrow A838 road, Lennon panicked when he saw another car approaching him and sent the Maxi headlong into a ditch. Whilst the children escaped relatively unhurt, Lennon received a gash to his forehead and Ono injured her back, resulting in a hospital stay in Golspie's Lawson Memorial Hospital for five days where he was treated by Dr. Michael Simpson. After they returned to London, Lennon arranged for the Maxi to be placed on a plinth outside his Tittenhurst home as an homage to their luck, where it stayed for the next few years, during which time Julian took the silver apple from the dash and kept it as a keepsake, though the vehicle was auctioned many years later. Lennon also had its steering wheel removed and it was hung up in his billiard room in the house. When Lennon and Ono finally left the UK for the United States, Lennon sold Tittenhurst to friend and former bandmate
Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
who had the Maxi scrapped. In October 2016, James Walshe, the deputy editor of
Practical Classics ''Practical Classics'', started in 1980, is a British magazine about classic cars. It focuses on affordable classic cars for the man in the street, as well as more expensive and exotic cars that have now become affordable. It has always had a str ...
car magazine retraced Lennon's journey in his 1969 Maxi. The feature later received a top award as 'Best Feature' at the 2017 Bauer Awards. In 1972, a married couple escaped the Soviet quarter of
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
at
Checkpoint Charlie Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War (1947–1991), as named by the Western Allies. East German leader Walter Ulbricht agitated and maneu ...
in the back of a Maxi. Once over into the western sector, the British
Royal Military Police The Royal Military Police (RMP) is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of army service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK and while service personnel are deployed overseas on operations ...
and the West German Polizei were so surprised that two people could fit into a Maxi's boot, that it was then taken up by Leyland West Germany and re-created in a television advert shown across West Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Also in 1972, at the Earl's Court Motor Show a competition was staged by ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
'', the Institute of British Coachbuilders and Motor Manufactures (later incorporated into the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) to design a futuristic concept car based on a Maxi. The winning design was by a young designer, Chris Field, and the prize was to have his design on paper turned into reality. The "Aquila" was constructed by Woodhall Nicolson of Halifax with help from Lucas, Smiths (Motor Accessory Division & Radiomobile) and Triplex. The resultant car was exhibited at the 1973 show and then given to Field. From 1975-80, British Leyland supplied the Lawn Tennis Association every year with official "Wimbledon" Maxis. These were standard single carburettor 1750s but fitted with HL velour seat trim and extra sound proofing. Afterwards, they were sold through local Surrey dealers as ex-demonstration cars. In 1991, punk revival band Fabulous used a Maxi as their "Fab-Mobile" decked out in Punk-art graffiti. It also made an appearance in a video of The Farm's cover version of The Human League's "Don't You Want Me". The 1750 was registered as FRK 315T and according to the DVLA website was last taxed in April 1993.


Timeline

*May 1969: Introduction of the Austin Maxi 1500 5-door hatchback with transversely-mounted 1485 cc E Series engine and 5-speed manual gearbox driving the front wheels, independent suspension with hydrolastic shock absorbers (often referred to as the "cable-change" models). *October 1970: Revisions: redesigned front grille with centre badge, bodyside strips, gearchange rods (instead of cables), better sound insulation, new seat facings, all-new veneered wood dash design and smaller steering wheel. Introduction of the Austin Maxi 1750 with larger 1748 cc engine and revisions as for Maxi 1500. Assembly by IMV in
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also commenced in 1970. *1971: Alternator fitted to all UK models, revised direction indicator circuit, matt finish wood dash, plastic engine shield mow black instead of cream. 1750 now has its own gold/yellow chequered grill badge. *1972: Introduction of the Austin Maxi 1750 HL, with twin SU HS6 carburettor version of the 1748 cc engine, which gave a higher output of at 5250 rpm. Other additional features for the HL were 165 x 13 radial ply tyres, black grille with chrome upper and lower strips and red "HL" motif, red chequered front badge, front bumper under-riders, chrome exhaust trim, black rimmed hub caps, body coloured mouldings along the sides and rear, electric windscreen washers, 3-spoke alloy steering wheel with leather-bound rim, padded vinyl dashboard, dipping rear view mirror, vanity mirror on passenger sun visor, front door pockets, simulated wooden gear knob and brushed nylon upholstery. *1973: Hazard flashers introduced on UK models. In common with the Austin/Morris 1800, body changes to the Maxi simplify production and reduce costs (the A posts are no longer lead loaded). *1974: Optional 4-speed automatic transmission available on 1750 and (from May 1979) 1750 HL. *1975: Fuel tank enlarged, revisions to the rear squab bed adaption facility. All models now feature cigar lighter and heated rear window as standard. *1976: All export LHD models now designated "Maxi HL" with specification similar to UK 1750 HL but without twin carburettor or three-spoke alloy steering wheel. *1977: Austin name officially droppedHistory of the Company, www.austinmemories.com
Retrieved on 26 October 2017
by BL under recommendation by the Ryder Report. Model now officially designated "Maxi".Maxi advertisement, www.pinterest.co.uk
Retrieved 26 October 2017
The only noticeable difference was the rear tailgate badge along with the handbooks, so general public and dealers unofficially still called it the same name. Dual circuit brakes now fitted to UK spec cars. *1978: All models now have hydragas suspension instead of the hydrolastic system which required a revised front subframe, and all models now feature electric windscreen washers. The HL loses its three-spoke steering wheel and a walnut finish dash replaces its padded dash. *May 1979: Introduction of the Maxi 1750 HLS with walnut dash and twin carburettor engine previously restricted to the HL (the HL now with the single carburettor and wood dash). All models now feature the same copper coloured front grill badge, black wipers and door mirrors, the rear tailgate badge is now below the trim line, also revised illuminated switches, cigar lighter and revised windscreen wiper control instrumentation. The 1500/1750 now have 'Marle' fabric seat facings replacing the previous PVC "basketweave" leatherette. Single rear foglight now fitted across the range. *Dec 1979: Maxi 1500 discontinued. *Aug 1980: Introduction of the Maxi 2 range in 1750 L, 1750 HL and 1750 HLS variants. All models feature revisions including new bumpers incorporating indicators (front) and reversing lights (rear), new side repeaters, full cover plastic wheel trims and broader side moulding inserts. Inside the instrument bezels are now in matt black, the switchgear is again revised, the headlight switch is now on the steering column and there is a choke warning light. The L replaced the previous Base model and added LM/MW push button radio, nylon trim, door bins, laminated windscreen and walnut veneer dashboard. The HL gained intermittent screen wipe, velour seats, tinted glass and extra sound insulation. The HLS gained a burr walnut veneer dashboard. However, LHD export Maxi 2s were still referred to as 'Austin' Maxis in sales literature, only one version being available, the single carburettor HL, though unlike the UK spec cars it did not feature a radio as standard. *1981: Chrome bumpers replaced by matt black. *July 1981: Last Maxi 2 rolls off production line, its place at Cowley taken by the new
Triumph Acclaim The Triumph Acclaim is a front-wheel drive compact family saloon/sedan manufactured by British Leyland (BL) from 1981 to 1984. It is based on the Honda Ballade. It used a Honda-designed engine, was manufactured under licence from Honda, a ...
. The last Maxi, a champagne L model, is now owned by the British Motor Museum, Gaydon.


References


External links


The Austin Maxi Owners ClubThe unofficial AustinRover Web Resource: Austin Maxi indexPrivate Austin Maxi Website, J.D. Meyberg, Germany
*http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Community/Forum-Landing/Forum-Categories/Topic/?&topic-id=6269 {{British Motor Holdings and British Leyland cars, 1966-1986 Maxi, Austin
Austin Maxi The Austin Maxi is a medium-sized, 5-door hatchback family car that was produced by Austin and later British Leyland between 1969 and 1981. It was the first British five-door hatchback. British Leyland built and sold the Maxi alongside the 1971 ...
Austin Maxi Issigonis vehicles Hatchbacks Cars introduced in 1969 1960s cars 1970s cars 1980s cars