All The Fives - 1979 Austin Maxi 1750 HL

Twin carbs on HL was standard.on the normal 1750 it had just one.i learned to drive in one and you needed a map to find a gear but it was comfortable quiet and easy to drive.

Very articulate, knowledgable and a great speaker - loved the vid. Subbed!

Had 2 new 1 Hl and 1 HLS (twin carbs) After 10000 miles used more oil than a chip van.

Loved the video!! Enjoyed it!! Keep it coming!
These classic British engineering is highly underrated except Bentley ofcourse! Classic car world doesn't onyl matters about Mustangs, Camaro.. there is lot more it takes to be called classic gem!! In my book Austin, British Leyland, Triumph, MG are bigger names than any!! My fav cars are Rover P6, Triumph TR5, 1978 Austin Allegro...
Though it's very sad sight to see on internet that mostly Brit sites badnaming Brit cars. I saw Rowan Atkinson was in Goodwood racing, he was making fun of a same beautiful Jag with which he raced recently!!

The early Maxis used cables for the gearbox linkages but changed them to the rod operated linkage hence why the gear change didn't feel quite as bad as early reviews suggested and by 1979 I'm sure engineers had fettled that to an acceptable standard

Brilliant. As usual.

The thing I really remember about the Maxi was the possible bed in the back - oh and the 5th gear!

I had two Maxis, the first a 1500 and the second a 1750 HL with twin carbs and high-lift camshaft. Lovely cars, both of them!

Ah yes! the old Maxi.............should have come with a pipe and slippers for the old blokes that this car was aimed at. Not a bad car as I remember, but typical of the old, old styling cues of a staid BL that were shown up so badly by Ford and the very well appointed Japanese cars that were coming in at the time. Good review and nice to be nostalgic though.

My first cars were a succession of Maxis. Great, great cars for their time. Correct to mention the huge amount of space. With the back seat down I could get interior & exterior doors in. To say nothing of using it as a 'camper' to sleep in!
Beautiful HL example there! Thanks for letting us see it.
Gee

I once had a Maxi I loved it nippy great ride wooden dash leather seats.

They were a MUCH BETTER car than the Allegro, Princess, and Marina. And as a child of the 70's, I remember seeing loads of these around as a kid. My next door neighbour had one, and it was different to most other cars, as most cars on the road then were three box saloons. So the Maxi stood out amongst other British offerings.
It wasn't what most would describe as a "Cool Car" not at all. But it was supremely practical, and considered a 'sensible choice' by older drivers.
Nice to see one in such good condition. 👍

I can see the "family resemblence" to the Mini Cluman. The surviving Maxi cars are rapidly becoming sort after by collectors.

Great Car! Great for towing! dx

I had a brand new Maxi as a company car and couldn't wait to pass it onto one of my engineers. The gear change was awful, Henlys in WGC could never get it adjusted correctly. It had a radio that you could not hear at 70mph because of the road and cabin noise. The driving position was like driving a bus, no power steering, no column adjustment and very uncomfortable on long journeys. The clutch was heavy and tiring in traffic. The wipers lifted off the screen at 70 mph. It only saving grace was its traction in snow, you could just sail past others floundering on hard pack or loose snow. But how often do you get snow in southern England? The guy reviewing the car has never lived and used it in all weathers as a work horse.

Further to my review below of the 1750 Austin Maxi. I just remembered the heating and ventilation was very poor in winter so it steamed up quickly and could only cleared by opening a window, more noise!!
The clutch on my " friday afternoon car" failed twice in 20,000mls and I don't ride the clutch (IAM driver).
The Cortina of this era was a far superior drivers car, nice gearbox, light steering without torque steer and radio that could be heard at speed.

Early 1500 ones had cable gear linkages, later one were much improved by using rods ,which were much more precise , great video :-)

I had a dealership and sold the maxi from 1969, the first 18 months were more basic cable oil leaking gear change, crap dash board and 1485 cc. They quickly improved seating dash gear change 1750 engine at the end of 1970. I sold dozens of these cars, always running one as a demonstrator which with two small children was an ideal car. Nostalgic to see this feature done by a very young guy.

another well proportioned and attractive car

I learnt to drive in my dads 1750 maxi. That and the driving school Nissan micra. Loved the maxi, so much more practical and powerful 😉

The only thing missing from your videos is a test drive.

Interestingly British cars had a very bad image and reputation in Germany with very few exceptions, some very high priced luxury cars and the Mini. Most in between (especially BMC / BL cars were regarded as shoddily assembled, electrical and mechanical haunted with multiple problems, weirdly designed rust buckets. They were even regarded of lower quality than Italian and French cars. Main problem was their lack of reliability, electrical and mechanical break downs. Even Jaguar was regarded as a money pit, having unreliable 12 cylinder engines. One owner stated: my car has been under repair for 7 months, I only was able to use it for 5 months. Sales were very low, most dealers of British cars went broke or changed to Japanese or (later) Korean manufacturers. The only British car nowadays around Innsbruck recognizable numbers (without regarding the very few. exclusive luxury cars) is the (BMW) Mini. Of course there were the British built Ford Transits around. I always loved the original Mini, a great car. Everything built after that icon was (in numbers) hardly even recognizable over here. A shame, but it was something that BMC / BL had to blame no one else for but themselves.

My works manager had one of these when I was an apprentice engineer back in the early seventies. I got to drive it regularly as a delivery hack all round the south of England. We also ran a VW Transporter and the Maxi could easily carry the same amount with the seats down! Happy days 😊

This car might have sold better than all of those roadsters GBR was sending Stateside . The 70s were a great time for 1 and 2 liter engines .

Look at you . Rocking those Doc Martins

Great presentation - clear and concise. Well done😊

How the hell did Britain lose such a huge industry so completely & so quickly? Ahem, let's be honest Japanese cars were NOT the "wonder cars" that we think of, I should know, I had Datsuns as my first cars & never understood what the hype was about....if you listened carefully on a quiet day you could hear them rusting & electrical faults....well, with EVERY wire being Black or Black with a White Stripe good luck with trying to even find out what the problem was, let alone fix it! Then there were the brake calipers that seized on the motorway, handbrakes that seized in icy conditions, causing the car to drag its rear wheel around on the snow & ice....the list goes on. I drove Maxis, Minis & Marinas as hire cars & they were OK & I later drove Maestro, Montego, Princess & Range Rovers as company cars, the only bad experience I had was a Nissan Pathfinder that blew up its center diff at 30mph & later a Land Rover Discovery that dropped its prop shaft in the road one day.

The Brits just seemed to hate their own cars, yet the ugly, weird, god awful French cars were loved along with the crumbly commie-Skodas & the crazy DAFs. I think Twin Cam has it right, the problem was the badge, not the cars. Congratulations UK you helped destroy an industry with potential, just like you did with your aviation & computers.

"Little ashtrays in the back for the kids. " Literally had to stop the replay at this point because I was laughing so hard. Nice one.

Could it be any more orange? I love the boldness of 70's colours.

An OHC five speed family hatchback ten years too soon for the market with doors that dictated a rather old fashioned appearance. Very BL/BMC! Lovely example.

I owned one from 1977 when our first child arrived. A wonderful, spacious, practical, versatile car

My big brother had one but it had the problem of striping the splines off the driveshafts, never found out the reason probably trying to wheel spins. But they were lovely cars and they wouldn't look out of place with some of the cars today. 👌👍👍

My first car, great in snow.

Excellent informative video. Superb car.

At 95 bhp, OHC engine, twin carbs, reclining seats to lie on using ultra comfort foam, it should have continued forever. Adding more stylish aerodynamic body design and then injection would have made it a live classic.

i used to borrow my dads and first thing i did was take the air filter off. Great induction sound😄

I live in the USA and I desire one of these cars. 😄

I love it! I love it! I love it!🤩

My grandad had one so much room easy to drive was a work horse wish we had kept it

It looks just like a Morris Nomad, which were available in Australia from at least as early as 1969. I had 1969 and 1971 Nomads as a teenager. Albeit with 1500CC OHC.

My first car XOP315J was already an elderly maxi in 1979 in British Racing Green /wistful-sigh. It was horrifically rusty, got less than 30MPG smoked like a chimney when I pulled away at lights and it was so keen to jump out of fourth gear that I still drive with my left hand on the gear lever when cruising -to this very day. Also my habit of occasionally reaching towards the dashboard came from the need to check that the choke was in 5 minutes into any journey......Ahh, happy days. I would buy another tomorrow if it wouldn't rust away in minutes.
Oh yeah, and now I think about it - the handbrake cable must have been made out of elastic - it constantly needed tightening.

Leyland never mastered the 4 speed box, making a more complex 5 speed was unwise.

Ah the memories of the Maxi. We had an HLS that had some engine wizard give it electronic ignition, high lift cam, four branch manifold with wrapping, dual-double barrel Weber carbs, an air ram and drilled flywheel. It was amusingly quick the wheel spin and understeer was a learning curve 😝 my father reckons it was good for around 130HP we never had any problems with it, my mother drove it after Dad got a BMW. Thanks for the video, it brought back memories of the early 1980s - I do think the Maxi is under appreciated. It's a versatile, comfortable, usable car, even as a daily driver despite being over 40 years old. Not many cars from that era would be this good.

Nice video, thanks for that.

Wonderful video...Well done.

Agree 100%..

The 1st car I learned to drive in the early 80s. Regarding the gear box, I remember reversing & the gear box undoing itself. My father was not pleased. An expensive repair ensued😬. Well done on your professional video👍

My Mum had one .Great car with loads of space and also very reliable. After 10 years it was a rust bucket like most 70's cars.