Smaller than a Mini.

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
View Threaded
Sun 13 Oct 2013 10:26
Smaller than a Mini. - Trilogy

How about a classic Maxi?

www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C414498

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 13 Oct 2013 11:38
Smaller than a Mini. - Ordovices

Looks like the ideal car for those who find modern cars have too many unwanted features, although that retrofit ammeter might be costly if it went wrong.

I'd have it just for the stylish seat covers

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 13 Oct 2013 17:27
Smaller than a Mini. - alastairq

AAAh, yes, the Maxi....back in the day when I might have viewed one as a new car, I felt the need to steer away from them.

5-speed gearbox....albeit where the gearchange resembled a treasure hunt?

Noted [in sales pitch] for having completely folding [rear] seats...to make ''a double bed''......!!!

Not that I'm overly sure folk bought them to sleep in?

Pity it was beaten to the post by the Renault 16?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 13 Oct 2013 18:02
Smaller than a Mini. - Trilogy

The Renault 16 had the most idiotic 'seat folding' system.

It was a better car than a Maxi. The 16 was on a shortlist to replace a Maxi for my parents, as were the Lancia Beta and Saab 99. The Lancia won the day only to be followed by two more Maxis! The latter with twin carbs. Then they had two real Saab 900s, a Volvo 360GLS and a Saab 9-3 hatch. Still got the latter.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 13 Oct 2013 18:10
Smaller than a Mini. - brum

IIRC the biggest problem to afflict the maxi was the poorly executed and poor quality gearchange mech which consisted of several bowden type cables. I remember trying to fix one and giving up after a couple of days.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 14 Oct 2013 00:16
Smaller than a Mini. - bathtub tom

IIRC the biggest problem to afflict the maxi was the poorly executed and poor quality gearchange mech which consisted of several bowden type cables. I remember trying to fix one and giving up after a couple of days.

Only on the 1500, the 1750 had a rod change, although you still tended to coast round corners, finding second later!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 13 Oct 2013 20:13
Smaller than a Mini. - Avant

I had two Maxis in the 1970s, both of which did over 60,000 miles from new and were reliable (quite something for 1970s BL). There were quite a few design faults, notably the awful gearchange, and their continuing presence put me off buying a third.

The Renault 16 was generally a better car, I agree (and the 20TS I had in 1980 was way ahead). But the seat folding arrangement, as Trilogy says, was ridiculous and you could have a five-speed gearbox only with the expensive TX version.

The Maxi was a more practical family car, but when lots of customers wanted five doors and five gears, a better-managed company would have had the sense not to follow the Maxi with the Princess. (Or the 1100/1300 with the Allegro, come to that, when the Golf was the shape of things to come.)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 13 Oct 2013 21:03
Smaller than a Mini. - alastairq

when the Golf was the shape of things to come.

But...who knew it , back then?

Remember what preceded the Golf?

the K-something or other?

Type 3 or 4 aircooled cars?

The Golf, I remember at the time, gave me the same feeling as a panzer tank....the same austerity. [as could be found in the type 3 and 4 VW?]

Didn't realise it would become 'the shape of things to come'........

In the same way we didn't realise the MG Midget should have morphed into the MAzda MX3..or the Honda S800?

Or, the minivan should have become the Suzuki Supercarry?

Still not many today would say the Dacia Sandero really is the 'way forward?'

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 13 Oct 2013 21:10
Smaller than a Mini. - Avant

My main thought about the Golf was that it was a hatchback, which is what the Allegro should have been (and could, given that the Maxi was already in production), and BL also had the Marina for those who preferred a saloon.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 13 Oct 2013 21:38
Smaller than a Mini. - Trilogy

The Allegover was designed by Harris Mann. It was a good looking car until BL management intervened and ruined it.

The estate was hideous. As for the Marina estate, who would design a car with a tailgate that looked as though it wasn't closed properly?

BL had so much. It beggars belief how a company with such a huge market share could kill itself.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 14 Oct 2013 09:34
Smaller than a Mini. - bazza

Interesting to look back at those times. The Japanese were beginning to establish a real presence with the Datsun Sunny and Cherry, the Corolla etc. How we laughed at the names and strange colours of these new kids on the block. At the time we didn't know what reliability really was, BL were just awful, Ford were better but made camshafts out of cheese that needed regular replacement! Fiats and Alfas literally fell apart in a couple of years, Vauxhall were't much better. French cars were comfortable but complicated and unreliable. VW made strange air cooled stuff that had an acquired taste. BMWs were too expensive and sports focused for the average punter. Gradually through the 70s we realised that these strange Japanese cars didn't break down, and they came with things like radial tyres, radio and heated rear window as standard! And the rest is history.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 14 Oct 2013 10:45
Smaller than a Mini. - gordonbennet

''At the time we didn't know what reliability really was'''

Was in my kerbside cowboy days then, very quickly became apparent that all you did to Corolla and Bluebirds was service them and replace friction parts when needed, which was simplicity itself as they were (and still are in some cases) made to be maintained easily.

Rust was a bugbear for the early stuff, but no different to the carp our own makers stamped out.

Electrics and good durable proven design were the strong points.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link