The Austin Maxi is a medium-sized, 5-door
hatchback
A hatchback is a car body style, car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to the main interior of the car as a cargo area rather than just to a separated trunk. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second-row sea ...
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 ...
that was produced by
Austin
Austin refers to:
Common meanings
* Austin, Texas, United States, a city
* Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters
* Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...
and later
British Leyland
British Leyland was a British automotive engineering and manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formed in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It wa ...
between 1969 and 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 that was marketed by Ford from 1976 to 2023 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and had been positioned below the ...
), the Maxi never came close to reaching its projected sales targets. Just under half a million were built over a 12 year period. 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 style, car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to the main interior of the car as a cargo area rather than just to a separated trunk. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second-row sea ...
. This stance prevented the
Austin Allegro
The Austin Allegro is a small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland (BL) from 1973 until 1982. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent ...
and Princess models gaining hatchbacks despite those designs being capable of receiving them.
History

The Maxi (code name ADO14) was the last car designed under the
British Motor Corporation
The British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC) was a United Kingdom, UK-based vehicle manufacturer formed in early 1952 to give effect to an agreed merger of the Morris Motors, Morris and Austin Motor Company, Austin businesses.Morris-Austin Merge ...
(BMC) before it was incorporated into the new
British Leyland
British Leyland was a British automotive engineering and manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formed in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It wa ...
group, and the last production car designed by famed designer
Alec Issigonis
Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Άρνολντ Κωνσταντίνος Ισηγόνης) (18 November 1906 – 2 October 1988) was a British-Greek automotive designer. He designed the Mini, launched by ...
. 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 car design with the rear section 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 have "a trunk w ...
and developed the
Morris Marina
The Morris Marina is a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive C-segment, small family car that was manufactured by the Morris Motors, Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1971 until 1980. It served to replace the Morris Minor in the Mo ...
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 status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
, 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), Bromsgrove District of Worcestershire, north east Worcestershire, England. It is southwest of the city centre of Birmingham and northeast of Worcester, England, Worcest ...
neighbouring
Longbridge
Longbridge is an area in the south-west of Birmingham, England, located near the border with Worcestershire, historically being within this place.
Public transport
Longbridge is described as a hub for public transport with a number of bus ...
.
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''.
Underneath the Maxi's practical and spacious bodyshell lay an all-new
front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of internal combustion engine, engine and transmission (mechanics), transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles feature ...
chassis, which was interlinked with an innovative five-speed
manual transmission
A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canadian English, Canada, British English, the United Kingdom and American English, the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed ...
; 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:
Transportation
* BMC E-series engine, a series of automobile engines
* Entwicklung series, a late World War II German standardised tank series
* Ford E-Series (Econoline/Club Wagon), a series of vans
* Honda E engine, a serie ...
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 (BL) from 1973 until 1982. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent ...
. 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
The Austin 3-Litre is a British saloon car that was introduced by Austin at the London Motor Show in 1967. Codenamed ADO61, the car was intended to be BMC's offering in the 3-litre executive class and was originally designed in the early 1960s, ...
, which also used the same doors). This design was by then five years old, at a time when curvaceous American-inspired "
coke bottle
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
" styling (typified by contemporaries such as the
Ford Cortina Mk III and
Hillman Avenger
The Hillman Avenger is a five-passenger, front-engine, rear-drive B-segment/Subcompact car, subcompact car, originally engineered and manufactured by the Rootes Group in the UK and marketed globally from 1970–1978 in two- or four-door sedan a ...
) 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 manufactured in various body styles from 1962 to 1982. It was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s.
The Cortina was produced in five generations (Mark I through to Mark V, although of ...
. 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, 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 (BL) from 1973 until 1982. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent ...
and
Morris Marina
The Morris Marina is a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive C-segment, small family car that was manufactured by the Morris Motors, Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1971 until 1980. It served to replace the Morris Minor in the Mo ...
were during the 1970s.
The Maxi had several rivals during the 1970s, including the
Volkswagen Passat
The Volkswagen Passat is a nameplate of D-segment, large family cars (D-segment) manufactured and marketed by the German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen since 1973 and also marketed variously as the Dasher, Santana, Quantum, Magotan, Corsar ...
(1973) and
Chrysler Alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine Nationa ...
(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 from 1980 to 1998, first by British Leyland (BL) and later by the Rover Group. It was launched in 1980 as the Austin Mini Metro (styled AUSTIN miniMETRO).
The Mini Metro was inte ...
, 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 November 1982 to 1986 by British Leyland, and from 1986 until December 1994 by Rover Group, as a replacement for the Austin Maxi a ...
, 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 title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for ...
and renaming it the
Austin Ambassador
The Austin Ambassador is a large family car that was introduced by the Austin Rover Group subsidiary of British Leyland in March 1982. The vehicle was a heavily updated version of the Princess (car), Princess, a saloon car that had lacked a hatc ...
, 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 dri ...
was launched. This completed BL's rationalisation, as it now had just one model competing in this market sector, whereas the Maxi had been one of three designs competing in a sector of the market which had been led by the
Ford Cortina
The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car manufactured in various body styles from 1962 to 1982. It was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s.
The Cortina was produced in five generations (Mark I through to Mark V, although of ...
.
The Maxi production lines at Cowley were taken over by production of the
Triumph Acclaim, which was launched in October 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 that was marketed by Ford from 1976 to 2023 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and had been positioned below 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 style, car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to the main interior of the car as a cargo area rather than just to a separated trunk. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second-row sea ...
. This stance prevented the
Austin Allegro
The Austin Allegro is a small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland (BL) from 1973 until 1982. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent ...
and Princess models gaining hatchbacks despite those designs 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), and finally the Austin Rover division of British Leyland from 1 ...
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 is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
.
Whilst driving along the narrow A838 road, Lennon panicked when he saw another car approaching him and sent the Maxi headlong into a ditch. While 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. The vehicle remained there for the next few years. During this time, Julian took the silver apple from the dash and kept it as a keepsake, though it was auctioned many years later. John Lennon also had the Maxi's steering wheel removed and hung up in the house's billiards room. 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, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...
who had the Maxi scrapped. In October 2016, James Walshe, the deputy editor of
Practical Classics 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 of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
at
Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the Western Bloc, Western Bloc's name for the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War (1947–1991), becoming a symbol of the Cold War, representin ...
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 British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', the Institute of British Coachbuilders and Motor Manufactures (later incorporated into the
Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) is the trade association for the United Kingdom motor industry. Its role is to "promote the interests of the UK automotive industry at home and abroad."
History
SMMT was founded by Frede ...
) 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
Lucas or LUCAS may refer to:
People
* Lucas (surname)
* Lucas (given name)
Arts and entertainment
* Luca Family Singers, or the Lucas, a 19th-century African-American singing group
* Lucas, a 1960s Swedish pop group formed by Janne Lucas Perss ...
,
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.
The Maxi, grumbled
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
singer
Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980 at the age of 32, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC.
Johnson was one of the founding members of th ...
, "was like a matchbox on
steroids
A steroid is an organic compound with four fused rings (designated A, B, C, and D) arranged in a specific molecular configuration.
Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter mem ...
. The only reason you knew it was a car was cos it had a steering wheel. It was the most basic form of frickin' transport! But it could have been worse. My next-door neighbour had a
Lada
LadaAccording to various sources, the name Lada is derived from a Russian word for Viking longships (). (, , marketed as LADAFrom 2004 onwards Lada is marketed worldwide, including in Russia, using the all-capitals brand name written in Latin sc ...
."
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
Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
also commenced in 1970.
*1971:
Alternator
An alternator (or synchronous generator) is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current. For reasons of cost and simplicity, most alternators use a rotating magnetic field wit ...
fitted to all UK models, revised direction indicator circuit, matt finish wood dash, plastic engine shield now 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 dropped
[History 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 fog-light 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 last Maxi, a champagne L model, is now owned by the
British Motor Museum
The British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire, England holds the world's largest collection of historic British cars, with over 300 cars on display from the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and the Jaguar Heritage Trust.
History
The cr ...
, Gaydon.
References
External links
The Austin Maxi Owners ClubThe unofficial AustinRover Web Resource: Austin Maxi index*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 Motor Company, Austin and later British Leyland between 1969 and 1981.
Despite its practical design and remarkable space efficiency (it is shorter, narrow ...
Austin Maxi
The Austin Maxi is a medium-sized, 5-door hatchback family car that was produced by Austin Motor Company, Austin and later British Leyland between 1969 and 1981.
Despite its practical design and remarkable space efficiency (it is shorter, narrow ...
Issigonis vehicles
Hatchbacks
Cars introduced in 1969
Cars discontinued in 1981
1960s cars
1970s cars
1980s cars