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The Austin Maxi was a hatchback automobile from British Leyland for the 1970s, designed by Alec Issigonis (later Sir) (1906-1988).

Launched in the summer of 1969, the Austin Maxi was BMC's last new car before the creation of British Leyland in 1970. It followed the five-door hatchback pattern of the French-produced Renault 16, which was European Car of the Year on its launch in 1965.

Underneath the Maxi's practical and spacious bodyshell lay an all-new front wheel drive chassis which was interlinked with an innovative five-speed manual transmission. Power came from 1.5 L and 1.75 L E-Series petrol engines which would later find their way into other British Leyland products like the Austin Allegro and Morris Marina.

Despite the new platform, the Maxi's styling suffered from carryover door panels from the Austin 1800 "Landcrab", which eventually dated the car.

The Austin Maxi featured a spacious interior, comfortable passenger accommodation, competitive prices and lowish running costs. But the Maxi was let down by a dull interior and poor build quality, although it was not quite as notorious as the Austin Allegro and Morris Marina.

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.

At the end of 1981, the Austin Maxi's 12-year production life came to an end. Its replacement, the Austin Maestro, which also replaced the smaller Allegro, was introduced in the spring of 1983.

External links

• The UNOFFICIAL AustinRover Web Resource: Austin Maxi index

• Austin vehicles
• British Leyland vehicles
• Front wheel drive vehicles