why does the Maxi escape from the flack?

[dozeydustman]

Agree with this apart from the comment about the "more Mini Clubman style grille" (unless you were joking).

Not just the grille but the entire front end treatment couldn't be much more alike if they had cloned it directly.

 

Exhibit A M'Lud:

 

Austin_Mini_VDG289J_Maxi_YDU590S.JPG

 

 

The Maxi had been on sale for a number of years before they did the Croydon Clubman facelift on the Mini.

Must have been one of the cheapest exterior facelifts of all time as they only changed the frontal styling and it is patently a scaled-down copy of the entire Maxi front end. The Mini Clubman even uses front sidelight/indicator units that are identical to the Maxi's.  Not that this is necessarily a bad thing as I think it actually looks quite good and gives a sort of "corporate Leyland" look to the two models.

 

 

The maxi had a flat front, the clubman was proud at the top with a slight bow out toward the centre, as shown below. 

 

 

I agree there are similarities between the maxi and clubman front ends, however those couple of little tweaks inspired by the clubman would have sharpened up the maxi a lot and made it look purposeful, maybe a set of 5 3/4" main beams or spots on higher end models. I think the Clubman and 1275GT still look sharp today.

 

The original maxi grill was hideous.

 

And both the maxi and clubman were launched in 1969

[Felly Magic]

The early cable changers were slammed by the press, so the car got off to a bad start, the driving position wasn't great, and that was common with the Mini, and I really don't get the hype about the Mini, I found the driving position truly awful, and gave me terrible back ache

[Walter White]

I don't think the Maxi escaped any flack.

They were clearly useful cars but I don't think they were aspirational.

Looking at brochure photographs the useful side of the car is emphasised but a photo of a washing machine being loaded into the boot is... well sums the car up.

In fairness there were brochure shots of a Maxi towing a dinghy up a slipway but more emphasis on going to the garden centre.

Clearly '70s dad or grandad could find a Maxi useful but probably no more.

As for the shot of the surveyor sitting in the boot of a brown Maxi 1750 studying the drawings whilst surrounded by mud, probably not a company car. Tax bands were 1.6 and 2.0 litres for years on end so BL producing 1.5, 1.7, and 1.75 litre engines must surely have impacted on sales to company car buyers.

I think opinion of Maxis when I was a boy in the late '70s was a useful old duffers car so I think the Maxi got plenty of flack.

[egg]

Indeed. Compare that to the 'aspirational' advertising for Ford escorts/cortinas - completely different emphasis.

[Paul Dupart]

I don't think the Maxi escaped any flack.

They were clearly useful cars but I don't think they were aspirational.

Looking at brochure photographs the useful side of the car is emphasised but a photo of a washing machine being loaded into the boot is... well sums the car up.

In fairness there were brochure shots of a Maxi towing a dinghy up a slipway but more emphasis on going to the garden centre.

Clearly '70s dad or grandad could find a Maxi useful but probably no more.

As for the shot of the surveyor sitting in the boot of a brown Maxi 1750 studying the drawings whilst surrounded by mud, probably not a company car. Tax bands were 1.6 and 2.0 litres for years on end so BL producing 1.5, 1.7, and 1.75 litre engines must surely have impacted on sales to company car buyers.

I think opinion of Maxis when I was a boy in the late '70s was a useful old duffers car so I think the Maxi got plenty of flack.

 

 

Exactly this^

 

My dad bought a used 1750 in the mid 70's.  We were a family of 5, we had a couple of holidays in Spain as one of his workmates had a villa there.

 

Loaded up with a roof rack, we'd ferry across the channel, drive down through France, taking a 4 berth tent to stay in one night on the way down and same on the way back up, but return journey laden up with mucho cheapo plonko.  We couldn't afford to fly or stay in hotels in those days.  Remember asking dad for they keys so me and my sister could sit in it and listen to the top 20 on a Sunday night (could get radio2 when it was on long wave!) on the Radiomobile push button radio.

 

2000+ mile round trips at a time, The Maxi never missed a beat!

 

Happy memories, holidays were a real adventure then...

[Walter White]

Yes agree, Ford were always sharp on their marketing in that era plus they made a profit so had money to spend.

In fairness to the Maxi brochures the Renault 16 brochures showed lots of reclined and folded seats. Illustrations of loaded boots, just a little more stylishly, picnic hampers etc.

BL tried with photos of Maxi with sailing dinghy and equestrian equipment in boot but then the everyman appeal of loading the boot with vegetables or a washing machine were also featured in the 1979 brochure the page after the shot of the surveyor parked in a swamp of a building site.

At least the marketing department drew the line at washers and vegetables and didn't show '70s dad using the car to go to the tip.

[Walter White]

Exactly this^

 

My dad bought a used 1750 in the mid 70's.  We were a family of 5, we had a couple of holidays in Spain as one of his workmates had a villa there.

 

Loaded up with a roof rack, we'd ferry across the channel, drive down through France, taking a 4 berth tent to stay in one night on the way down and same on the way back up, but return journey laden up with mucho cheapo plonko.  We couldn't afford to fly or stay in hotels in those days.  Remember asking dad for they keys so me and my sister could sit in it and listen to the top 20 on a Sunday night (could get radio2 when it was on long wave!) on the Radiomobile push button radio.

 

2000+ mile round trips at a time, The Maxi never missed a beat!

 

Happy memories, holidays were a real adventure then...

Good stuff.

There it is. The Maxi facilitated lots of cool stuff to happen as well as the practical. The car itself just wasn't cool but definitely admirable.

[HMC]

I wonder why it had such a long production run? Making the princess a hatch from the off would have allowed it to be replaced, but IIRC that was launched into a different market segment originally? Confused by their product planning.

[Walter White]

I wonder why it had such a long production run? Making the princess a hatch from the off would have allowed it to be replaced, but IIRC that was launched into a different market segment originally? Confused by their product planning.

True.

I guess BL sold "enough" to keep producing them, clearly there were few changes so little invested in the Maxi from mid 70s. Maxi 2 improvements were probably not a significant amount money in motor industry terms.

The Princess was always marketed as a higher end car than Maxi so not true competitors. Princess was aimed at managers. Again in company car tax brackets the 1.7 would have been in the same bracket as 2 litre.

Maybe adding a hatchback to Princess 2 would have been the time. Both Maxi and Princess were discontinued at a similar time, 1981 for Maxi and 1982 for Princess. Had Princess 2 been given a hatch and continued to 1984 as the Ambassador did there would have been an overlap from 1978 to 1981 when Princess 2 and Maxi both had hatchbacks.

They appealed to different tastes. My dad had a December 1978 (T reg) Princess 2, 2000HL in Sandglow from '81 to '85 he wouldn't have considered a Maxi, I think that was typical.

[Timewaster]

I remember going to a tile place miles from home (some sort of clearance warehouse) to look at tiles as dad was going to fix up the bathroom.

 

Not much to note on the journey there.

However, the prices were too good to resist so I spent the journey home in the boot with the seats flat surrounded by dusty hard edged boxes of tiles and grout, enough for a sizeable bathroom.

 

Mmm. Safe and comfy.

[Walter White]

I remember going to a tile place miles from home (some sort of clearance warehouse) to look at tiles as dad was going to fix up the bathroom.

Not much to note on the journey there.

However, the prices were too good to resist so I spent the journey home in the boot with the seats flat surrounded by dusty hard edged boxes of tiles and grout, enough for a sizeable bathroom.

Mmm. Safe and comfy.

Excellent.

A period piece.

I think a good number of us travelled in Maxis, "riding dog" (in the boot).

I used to get a lift to and from school on alternate days in a Maxi, I didn't get a seat either. That family had a tv shop so the back seats were permanently folded flat and I sat alongside toolbox and boxes of fuses and other tv repair materials.

The other days my dad drove so I got a seat then.

Another friend of mine was loaded into a Maxi boot with an enormous pile of wood. He says his face was pressed up to the rear window.

[Timewaster]

The other thing I remember was the "schlouip" noise the boot struts made.

 

Did they all do that?

[Walter White]

The other thing I remember was the "schlouip" noise the boot struts made.

 

Did they all do that?

I remember that sound, the struts on my dad's Ambassador sounded just like that.

Maybe a BL strut characteristic. It was loud enough to be noticed.

Brilliant, only BL could manage to find comedy struts.

[Timewaster]

As it was BL, they probably designed the whole tailgate conversion from Princess to Ambassador around the Maxi tailgate struts.

[adw1977]

I wonder why it had such a long production run?

 

Because they were determined to get their money's worth from the tooling for those wretched doors? 

Having used them in three underperforming models, it took them 17 years!

[Roobarb]

My parents had two.

To me it was quite the step up.

 

We had a Vauxhall Shoveit (small hatch one) and then as my Mum started a business, two mini vans.

 

Moving from those into a Maxi was like going to heaven.

Compare sitting on a cushion sliding around in the back of a mini van, to the sumptuous comforts of a Maxi 2. Even when I had to sit with the dog in the back!

 

We had a 1750 HLS version in metalic blue - JNR791V bought new.

That was followed five or more years later by a second white one, that was bought for spares, but too good to break. Until the rear uspension collapsed!

 

I only ever drove the blue one on the beach.

 

They were a great towing vehicle too. We had an old caravan and would stay in a field on my uncles farm. Driving from the Midlands to the South West with the caravan tied up behind was always a treat, knowing I’d be on the farm for a week. Never got used to warm milk though!

[I_am_Diesel]

I find the comparisons to VW & VAG previously mentioned quite interesting.

Had BL got it right would they have followed the VAG business model of today?

Cheap range: BL could have used Morris as VAG use Skoda.

Mid range and mainstay: Austin as VAG use VW.

Luxury range: Rover as VAG use Audi.

Sports range: Triumph as VAG use Seat.

 

I know holes can be picked in this and it's just a thought I had.

 

With regards to the Maxi, I'm surprised no-one has mentioned John Lennon and his prang in Scotland.

[Parky]

And the Joanna Lumley brochure

[quicksilver]

I find the comparisons to VW & VAG previously mentioned quite interesting.

Had BL got it right would they have followed the VAG business model of today?

Cheap range: BL could have used Morris as VAG use Skoda.

Mid range and mainstay: Austin as VAG use VW.

Luxury range: Rover as VAG use Audi.

Sports range: Triumph as VAG use Seat.

 

I know holes can be picked in this and it's just a thought I had.

 

With regards to the Maxi, I'm surprised no-one has mentioned John Lennon and his prang in Scotland.

That's pretty much the conclusion I reached in my alternative reality BL story where the Maxi was the best-selling mainstay of the range. Morris Marina as a budget model, Austin Maxi and Allegro as the mid range with Triumph versions of these as the sports range, with the SD1 at the top.

[Squire_Dawson]

You stupid British morons. As if your pathetic cretin ancestors won two world wars when you can't engineer even a can opener.

 

What a load of tripe.

[dozeydustman]

That's pretty much the conclusion I reached in my alternative reality BL story where the Maxi was the best-selling mainstay of the range. Morris Marina as a budget model, Austin Maxi and Allegro as the mid range with Triumph versions of these as the sports range, with the SD1 at the top.

 

 

Your BL alternative reality is a really interesting read. Often had similar thoughts myself, though I'd not necessarily have picked the Maxi and the E-series as the platform and engine - Rover P5, P6 and Triumph's Ajax & 2000 & the Allegro chassis would have been my choice for underpinnings, and (initially) the A & B-series along with the Triumph 6 and Rover V8 being my selection of the engines. I'd have also just picked one name from the existing 3 million BL owned (or even just Leyland) and stayed with it.

 

Again I'd have kept the Mini with the 850 & 1.0 engines only, with a hot 1.3 Cooper. Base/fleet, Luxury, Clubman would be the trim levels, all with original front end.

 

The Allegro chassis for the economy models in 1.0 or 1.3 FWD form as saloon, estate or hatch. Maybe a smaller (1.5 or 1.6) form of the B. Bung the maxi gearbox with rod change as an optional extra. Again Base, Luxury and Clubman trim levels

 

Triumph Ajax RWD chassis would have given a great little range of sporting saloons and early hot hatches, with a choice of engines from the A & B series range. 4spd with optional O/D (standard on bigger engines), one well specced trim level, but offer tuning packages as the options instead.

 

The Triumph 2000 Chassis could have been the large family car of the time, a 1.6 & 1.8 B-series, and 2.0 & 2.5 litre 6's. Again RWD with a tough 4+O/D box. Optional auto. Luxury, clubman and Plahhh as the trim levels.

 

P6 as the executive with the triumph sixes, and V8, and the P5 in various forms including a LWB limousine version fitted only with the V8. Borg Warner slushmatics only. Plahhh as top spec.

 

It's easy in hindsight how to have rationalised BL. The same would have worked well for Rootes.

[forddeliveryboy]

My parents had two.

To me it was quite the step up.

We had a Vauxhall Shoveit (small hatch one) and then as my Mum started a business, two mini vans.

Moving from those into a Maxi was like going to heaven.

Aye, but for most English, cars are all about everything other than how useful they are as transportation devices.

 

I was driven to school through the late 70s and early 80s in a huge variety of cars, as well as family friends taking a car-mad lad out in various exotica from Gammas to ridiculous Ferrari and other daft rarities. It might sound crazy to millenials, but BMWs and Mercedes had something fairly subversive and scary about their demeanour.

 

SD1s felt cheap and were not that comfy, Fords were fascinating in that they felt like they shouldn't last yet did and were convincing packages, Japanese stuff was truly nasty but felt like it'd go forever, Renaults smelt horrid apart from a 30 which went like a well-damped Granada, the big Cit was incomprehensible to an eight year old (but felt amazing), it's wee sister with far too few cylinders a joke which got us into trouble for making the driver's offspring burst into tears (name rhymed with wibble-wobble), Vauxhalls perhaps felt most normal, Chevettes were not pleasant but Carltons felt more than ok.

 

Yet nothing came close to the general pleasantness of being in a Triumph 2000, Clubman estate, Metro, Ambassador or Maxi. (Princesses felt vaguely like they'd been visited by mean Fordishness, the odd Marina felt like a eunuch-Cortina crossed with a 120Y).

 

The Maxi was the benevolent uncle, who you always wanted to visit - no nasty smells, a good view out, roomy, comfortable and an engine which didn't turn an otherwise sensible human bean into someone transported in the Battle of Britain.

[John F]

As a small child in the 1970s I thought that the vast majority of BL cars looked & felt absolutely gash, they oozed misery and a general sense of failure at life. Even the Mini had lost its youthful vitality & was sagging where it had previously been pert.

 

Exceptions were Jaguar and Triumph. Although they were still yesterday's brands, they still offered a degree of aspiration that was lacking in most other BL products.

[Faker]

My grandfather (mums side) always drove shite cars... usually some clap trap he'd managed to bodge together from a couple of scrappers. When I was 4 years old he'd a black singer vogue, I remember the bench seats.... that's it.. Then he'd numerous old skodas with the engines in the back, the ones with the long slim tailights and round headlights up front.. loads of them! I remember he'd bought about 6 of the things, broke a few for bits and made a couple of decent (ish) cars, all brush painted! I remember sitting in the back of one, no back seat, holding the battery terminals in place on a test drive! Granda died when I was 9 (I'm 46 - 37 years ago), and he'd just bought a maroon maxi, black plastic bumpered car, and I can remember vividly his joy, at finally owning a decent car. For him it was a luxury, modern-day fresh and he was soooo very proud of it. For that reason alone I will always have a soft spot for the maxi.

 

Now on a different note... this beast presently lives in norn iron. Takes some set of testis to modify a maxi!

 

And yes... I like it

[Faker]

I know it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea... but I love it. Nice to see the maxi getting some love.

[John F]

I see they haven't added the graphic to the boot yet...

 

 

 

[Supernaut]

This thread makes me want a Maxi now.

 

I remember hearing a story from one of my dad's colleagues about how my dad burned a Maxi to the ground. He was welding a seat bracket in it, but didn't bother removing the seat first...

This was in the workshop of the agricultural college they were both lecturers at, the colleague mentioned how they pushed the starting-to-burn car outside so it didn't take the workshop with it!

[keef]

Nothing wrong with a Maxi!

 

Here's my latest find. 20 years in a dry South East London garage. The owner hadn't even opened the garage door in all that time!

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I don't think the Maxi escaped any flack.

They were clearly useful cars but I don't think they were aspirational.

Looking at brochure photographs the useful side of the car is emphasised but a photo of a washing machine being loaded into the boot is... well sums the car up.

In fairness there were brochure shots of a Maxi towing a dinghy up a slipway but more emphasis on going to the garden centre.

Clearly '70s dad or grandad could find a Maxi useful but probably no more.

As for the shot of the surveyor sitting in the boot of a brown Maxi 1750 studying the drawings whilst surrounded by mud, probably not a company car. Tax bands were 1.6 and 2.0 litres for years on end so BL producing 1.5, 1.7, and 1.75 litre engines must surely have impacted on sales to company car buyers.

I think opinion of Maxis when I was a boy in the late '70s was a useful old duffers car so I think the Maxi got plenty of flack.

I think the Maxi was out of production by the time company car tax was introduced. Before about 1983/4 only directors or people on high salaries with cars that were pure perks- ie not used for any business use , would have paid anything to the Taxman for the benefit.

But when the first 'Benefit In Kind " system was introduced the Maxi would have been ideally placed because the limit was 1800 not 2000cc ( this change was about 1990) hence the hurried introduction of 1.8 Pinto Sierras and 1.8 Cavaliers and Carltons. For the first 10 years or so there was a system whereby the more miles you did on business the less you paid in tax, leading to many office based managers swapping their Granadas for Escorts with junior salesmen for a few weeks each year...

[Tamworthbay]

As with lots of BL cars (due to Issigonis?) it was function over form. The reason Ford were so successful through the seventies was the look of the cars. Fords were all simple underneath but the styling and extras packs caught the imagination of the times. Whereas Issigonis believed wind up windows were an unneeded luxury.