On this day in 1969
 

52 years ago today (24 April 1969) British Leyland unveiled its new 1500 Austin saloon, called the Maxi in a blaze of publicity in Oporto Portugal. It was the first British five-speed five-door hatchback and was one of the first cars to appear on the BBC's new car programme Wheelbase, a forerunner to Top Gear.


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Still one of the best BL cars I ever owned as good as the SD1 was bad.

https://i.imgur.com/HJJTk1F.jpg?1

Photo was taken at Snetterton circuit

My first ever car was a Maxi loved it , the hydrogas suspension was so smooth over bumps.

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Years ago a mate of mine had its predecessor, Austin 1100, estate version. He was here one day, the exhaust was blowing badly. As he drove off he stuck his head out of the window and shouted "sporty!", at that point the exhaust let go completely just below the header, dropped and the only thing that stopped it hitting the ground was the driveshaft :D Once I stopped laughing I gave him a hand to tie the exhaust up so that he could get home albeit rather loudly.

An underrated vehicle in other respects besides the one's you list.

A very good ohc 'S' series engine. One of the first hatchbacks (do I include the A40 Farina?).

Kev

A good friend of my father worked on the production for the Maxi in the 70s, when ever one came down the line that was being made for BL staff ( apparently the ticket would say something so they could tell) it would get extra coats of paint/ rustproofing and be put together a lot better than most with any spare extras fitted even though they were not on the sheet. He had one and it still looked good in the early 90 when he unfortunately died.

Same here, 1750hl for me.

Posh mine was a 1500 (1448 if i recall)

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Austin Maxi
 

I had an Austin Maxi, a 1750 HLS, in denim blue, the twin carb engine.... 95bhp!