A presenter that is more interested in showing off the car than himself. Carefully researched, accurate, unbiased and interesting. Makes you realise how over-paid and gormless some of the mainstream presenters are. This guy has a real talent.

I drove my Dads Dark Blue Austin Maxi (1996 - 1998) during my Uni years, my Dad had a company car and the Maxi just sat in the garage for years with very little use. I was a bit embarrassed at first, thinking I would get the royal mick taken out of me but the amount of people that loved it both young and old really made me appreciate it. I saw one parked in town a month ago and the smile was so big it hurt my face. Wish I still had it.

I ran a Maxi for 3 years, never let me down once, acres of space, very comfortable & nice to drive. It certainly was a far better car all round than the awful Marina I had later.

Excellently produced doco. It is a pity more writers don't adopt this format without loud obtrusive music and unnecessary overdone sound FX. Take note young film makers of this man's style.

ive been watching this channel from day one , its so nice to see a young lad not just doing super cars but classic english motors , one day this lad will have his own show on tele fingers crossed, mum and dad must be so proud, keep up the good work mate.

Don't care what people say, I have always liked the Maxi. Just sooooo different.

It was 30 years ahead of its time: inner space, practicality and light as a substitute for aesthetics. Excellent video, well presented.

Growing up, Maxi was and still is my fav car. A wheel in each corner, stable, bench seats and easy to work on. I had it for so long that it fell apart through rust. Headlights fell out, seats fell through the floor and the door hinges held on by weld after weld. But the dear old thing still drove itself to the scrapper...lol

In the 70's my dad worked as a travelling sales rep. He had 3 maxis in succesion, a mustard, a green and a brown one, all 1750's. They did everything, to this day he says the maxi was way ahead of its time. After the maxis he got a Princess which just didn't cut the mustard... Maxi.

The Austin Maxi always brings back good memories for me. In our family, we had a blue 1978 MKII 'base model, a 1980 MKII HL, and a 1982 Maxi 2 two-tone (not original paint job, but very convincing). Lovely, underrated cars

The Maxi was a great car, super smooth in its day and really big and comfortable inside.

Mad to think that these days that styling - with the wheels to the edges - is downright desirable and that overall the design has aged rather well. Also, can add my parents to the list of people that actually slept in a Maxi. They were just talking about how useful it was last night!

Interestingly I attended a seminar years ago held by BL for the industry. An interesting fact came up in a question that was posed which car of the range cost the least in warranty claims. Quite a few people thought it would be the Triumph Acclaim including myself as a workshop forman in a large Austin rover dealership. It turned out it was Austin Maxi.

It's a real joy to listen to this chap's enthusiasm and knowledge about the cars he so obviously admires!

I remember sitting in the cinema many years ago and seeing adverts for the Maxi ! They pushed the five doors and five gears and being roomy. I seem to remember them being used in car rallies and doing quite well. I had one much later but it rusted out . I had a Maestro much later and they were very similar, including rust !

Highly under rated car. I had three of these, the last one the same colour and model as the one in your video. Versatile, smooth, and powerful engine especially in HL form. All cars in this era had their problems and rust. Great job on the review!

I’ve come to appreciate the Maxi more and more - it really was a cleverly designed and packaged car. Aimed as a practical car for the family motorist. It was never going to compete on the fleet market, but as an inexpensive, rugged and practical family car, once the early quality nibbles were ironed out, this became a much loved family car. I liked the car in this video - my next door neighbour (who worked for BL) had an identical one.

Great video! Ive always quite liked the Maxi, unlike most people I've never found the styling ugly or offensive and always found the space inside very impressive!👍

I bought a second hand Maxi when I moved into a new house, I used and abused that car and it still did not give up, I had 250 house bricks in it once and four loads of concrete building blocks (9x4x15),One night I had twelve 4"x6"x10ft wooden joists for my new floor hanging out of the back. I used the car for two and a half tears to and from work, a fifty mile round trip and finally blew the engine up because I was using waste hydraulic from a machining centre in the engine. I paid £350 for it and got £750 for against another car, the deal was it had to be driven onto the dealers for court which I managed to do with a very very loud knocking from under the bonnet.

Took my HLS Maxi to Europe several times on winter sports holidays - absolutely fabulous in the snow leaving Mercs, Beemers and Volvos in its wake . Locals could not believe that it was not 4 wheel drive. When passing stranded Beemer once in about 15 cm of snow my wife asked why we were still progressing regally and I just replied " Because we are British"

Loved the Maxi. A few friends' families had them, and a trip in one was always a pleasure. Nice to see you found one, as it makes a great follow-up to the brochure video.

We owned 2 Maxis back in the day, both 1750s (K-reg and V-reg) with the later gear change and they coped well with everything asked of them, a severely underrated car. Not often I find myself agreeing 100% with a car review video but you've called this one spot on! I believe today's BMW Mini is bigger than the Maxi in all 3 dimensions (Height/Width/Length) so just goes to show how bloated today's cars are.

I'm cleaning my recording studio and I have youtube streaming. This video came on about ten minutes ago. I didn't pick the video, it just came on. I live in the USA, I have no interest in the topic, subject matter...none of it has any application to my life. This video is so well executed, thought out, put together, that I watched and enjoyed every minute of it. Although you put this presentation out for people that have an interest in the topic, it is so good that I found it interesting, educational and enlightening. Thank you.

I remember driving a Maxi in 1974. It was a desirable car back then. Drove quite well and nice suspension. I drove the Austin 1800 also. Hindsight a fabulous thing. Today they are museum pieces

My friend's dad had one and let him borrow it one weekend when they were away. I spent an afternoon with him touring the Yorkshire dales. I have to say it really was a good car, much to my surprise. It wasn't pretty but it was well made and well thought out, capable and adaptable. It was ahead of its time but it was too late for BL.

I had a maxi in the early 1980s. Loved it. The boot was amazing - wide and huge. Also, when you closed the doors there was a really satisfying ‘clunk’ - it felt like it was built as a tank.

I had a 1750 Maxi from new in 1974. One of the best family cars I ever owned.

A very enjoyable and informative presentation without stupid music, silly graphics and unnecessary verbage. Well Done. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

You've relaxed so much into producing videos over the last while. Really enjoyable to watch & professional 👍

Your informed take and your rational assessment of everything is just so damn refreshing, and your presentation is top-rate (editing is flakey in places but that can be easily outsourced; no one's good at everything) - you're basically the Brian Cox of motoring documentaries, and that's an extremely good thing. And you changed my mind about a BL product, so job done.

That packaging is amazing for such a small car. And I really miss those clear all round views you used to get from all cars back then. Some things about modern car design seem to have gone backwards.

Absolutely superb balanced and fair presentation of the Maxi.

I loved the Maxi! practical, comfortable and in my experience pretty reliable.

BL I would describe as misguides genius! The Maxi was years ahead of its time and a for runner of the Ford Sierra. Very solidly built too. This Maxi is Beautiful ! Great appraisal as always. (:

I had a Maxi and loved it. Spacious and comfortable. Quite easy to work on and you could change the clutch in an hour. My only gripe was the build quality causing behind panel rusting.

That young man will go much, much further on UTUBE , his speech and knowledge of his subject is excellent.

Humans always appreciate things in hindsight. These cars like the Maxi and all, are immensely practical and useful. Sadly, people always value form and gizmos over functionality. And then crib about the lack of functionality in the cars they choose to buy. Your work as always is first class, well researched and well presented. Though there are a couple of places I noticed in this video where a couple of disjointed ghosts appear on account of slightly non synchronised editing.

Thanks for another great video. An under-appreciated vehicle. We had one (early1500 model, with the soggy cable gear change) as our family car when I was in my mid to late teens. Carried the family, two dogs and piles of luggage faithfully all over the country for years. I passed my test in it. Some years later, I had a 1750, with the better rod operated gear change. Tough, spacious, reliable and easy to work on. Reg. was SAM 207S, so no prizes for guessing its name. I was one of those who did use it as a bed on wheels on fishing trips.

Memories of the Maxi. When I was a spotty apprentice, one of our sales reps was given an early model as his company car. When asked about the five speed gearbox, he remarked; 'If you throw the gearlever hard enough in any direction, you may find one of them!' Several years later, a chap who did most of our site work had one as his daily transport, plus he used it to fill with tools and equipment to carry all over the UK. His verdict was it had been the best car he had ever owned!

One of the few cars at the time having 5 gears.A very underrated car with bags of room and a smooth ride.

First car I owned was a second, well actually fifth, hand Maxi, as you say load carrying was exceptional and I found it a good performer even in snow. Rust got her in the end!

I always wondered why the Maxi looked so similar to the Landcrab.... Now I know. What a Brilliant video, cheers!

Absolutely brilliant work Ed, that was a truly immersive experience, and whilst I have absolutely no idea if a single word of it was true, I was hooked till the very end.

When I was a child my mum and dad used to fold the seats rear seats down and we would go home sleeping as kids on the back seats fully folded flat😃. It was a treat and normally showing off to whoever would be interested to listen to it🤣

One of my best cars. I had two of the 1750 Maxis and loved every moment of them, even when I had to change the clutch so easy as unlike my earlier minis the flywheel was on straight splines not tapered.

That was the best, most enthousiastic well researched video on anything that I have ever seen in my 74 years on the planet. I rode in a Maxi once, and always fancied one, but was put off by naysayers. Now too late I see I should have had one. Great video thank you.

As a teenager we had a Maxi and it was a lovely car to travel in. The only problem I found was trying to get it into first gear. So nice to see your program and bring all those lovely memories back.

My dad's friend Roy had a maxi, and as a teenager he loved it. Back then seemed a great motor. If honest I remember it being quiet and smooth. RIP Roy giving me fantastic memories.

Your videos keep getting better and better. You are really engaging in front of the camera, keep it up!

Owned two Maxis. Almost a great car. Great mile eaters, comfortable and spacious with the lowest boot sill I’ve ever seen, and superb handling And you can Kip in it. Shame about the rust and engine reliability

One of my fave old cars, the Maxi. I had one like the above- a MKII HL... The gear selector never bothered me, the HL went like a bomb, was crazy comfy, super roomy and pretty fuel efficient. The engine was a peach also... Fabulous car...

Stumbled upon this Video, I completed in 79 a 5 day course on the Maxi Engine and its 5 speed Gearbox at the Allesley site, shimming the tappetts a pain I remember.

Another cracking video Ed, well done! I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the Maxi. If never have believed it was smaller than the current Fiesta though!

I've owned a couple of Maxis, the first was an early model, and I suppose it was on it's way out when I bought it. The second was the model in your video, I seem to remember it was a 'T' reg. It really was one of the most practical cars I've owned. It had a reasonable amount of power, impressive handling, gave a good ride over most roads, and was big enough for my growing family. Unfortunately I fall in line with the majority of owners and admit that I never actually slept in it. I did fold the seats down to see what it looked like, but never tried it out.

I note that you reviewed this same car a couple of years ago. I've just watched the older one back-to-back with this, and it's really highlighted the quality of your presentations now - very professional. Very informative and entertaining. Thank you.

Just watched a couple of your videos and they were great. Your unique approach is giving so much history behind the company and the creation of the car - don't lose that!

Smashed it again Ed, another excellent video learning about the history of the Maxi.

I drove a landcrab company car and I was thrilled with it, but a friend had a Maxi and she used it to travel around the UK giving recitals on her harpsichord. she could remove the legs and pedal plinth and the whole instrument would fit into the back of her Maxi. I didn't believe her until I actually saw it!!

My dad had three maxis when I was growing up, absolutely brilliant cars and as you pointed out, extremely practical. I wouldn't mind having one now except for the notorious problem of rotting sills and getting the hydrolytic system pumped up! Good video, thanks for making it!

Many thanks for this trip. We had three of them (we had a BL garage in the village) alongside our Ford Granada 3.0 V6. It was my first ever car aged 17 - it was a Gold HL and the innovation of velour seats over the previous vinyl impressed us! I loved them, and they did everything, and would really have blossomed with some proper development. Never used the double bed unfortunately...

What a beautiful example of the Maxi! Credit to the owner.

Brilliantly researched, professionally presented, superbly edited, informative and 100% enjoyable! It was a tour de force that sets you among one of the top up-and-coming motoring stars! Well done! Rob B

Lovely underrated car , my Dad had one and when we used to travel to Scotland , it came into its own for space and comfort over the long journey.

Great video Ed as always! I never realised how innovative the Maxi was! Glad I do now, I’ve a new found appreciation!

Great video Ed, production, script and content surpass broadcast standards. Oh, and you're not bad either📽️👌Thank you for all the research you put into this for your viewers benefit. Job well done bruv.

That Maxi is absolutely gleaming , looks like it's just rolled off the production line

My Dad had one in grey,Mirage I think.It was huge to us kids back then.I remember it wasnt as unreliable as people made out,and my Dad still talks very fondly of it.

What a gem of a find! Great video, very interesting, clearly well researched and excellently delivered. Makes a change from the usual motoring journalism same old same old! I’m off to watch the triumph Dolomite one now!

I loved my Maxi. The inside was so big it was like being in a sitting room. The gear change was bloody awful but when I came to replace the clutch it was simply a matter of loosening a few bolts and the thing just dropped out. It was simplicity itself.

I love your enthusiasm for BL products, so many younger journalists dismiss them as rubbish because programmes like Top Gear say they were without bothering to find out for themselves. The truth is that they weren't bad products and as you so eloquently point out the Maxi was ahead of its time by about fifteen years. The problem was as with many BMC products and the Rover SD1 and Marina spring to mind they were brought to market underdeveloped and the early Maxi with that cable change was an awful thing to drive couple that with the terrible quality control and the fact that unlike today the dealer couldn't just fix problems found on PDI but had to get prior authority which involved filling out a form which was picked up by the BL internal mail van and then wait for written authority to come back that could take up to 48 hours which meant you had cars being released to the customers which weren't perfect you have a bit of a recipe for disaster. The car you have here is probably the best incarnation of the marque as the later car with the larger bumpers etc felt like they had just bolted bits on to freshen it up before the Maestro arrived and it is in probably one of the best colours, I do agree that the styling from some angles looks a bit awkward but really that's a subjective thing and it is far from a bad looking car. As was usual with BL they came to market too early with this car and in the two years it took to sort the problems out it gained such a poor reputation it never recovered which is a shame because by about 1973, quality control and industrial relations aside it had turned a really good car.

We had a Maxi when I was a child in the early eighties. I've read quite a bit about them over the years, but I learned more in this video than from everything else I've seen/heard. Great work and I look forward to more.

Great presentation! The Maxi wasn't only practical and comfortable, it was fun to drive. Keep on rolling!

A damn shame. So much on offer. Aside from everything mentioned in the video, the Maxi was a victim of the whims of fashion. Now, bend your mind and go to the early nineties - think of a mid-size five door hatchback, which could be specced with a 1.8 litre engine, five speed gearbox, non-metallic suspension - and looong doors. Yep, the Citroen Xantia was the first car I related the Maxi to, as incongruous as it seems. The Xantia appeared as sleek as the Maxi appeared frumpy. There was a flaw in the Xantia's body design however - a nasty blind spot in the rear quarters that the Maxi's design escaped. The Maxi was truly a triumph of function over form.

Excellent as ever.. The Maxi was one of those "Marmite cars", A far better car than most people ever gave it credit for BUT at the same time with looks that only its own mother could love.?

Hello Ed, I am very pleased you are producing regular content again. This was a well researched, excellently presented and balanced account of the Maxi story. Your presentation style has become relaxed, comfortable and your research well thought through. Your words and grammatical choice with your pleasant, clear diction gets straight to the point . Well done, more content like this is very desirable.

My boyfriend had one of these, the same colour and I drove it all the time. Bloody loved it, so reliable and comfy

That is one beautiful example Ed, stunning condition and I adore that colour. Well done

This is the second Twin Cam vid I've seen and both have been immensely enjoyable. I learned to drive in my dad's company car, an 1800 land crab, and some years later when I first went self-employed I needed cheap, comfortable and reliable transport. A succession of Maxi's followed (none of which cost more than £400) culminating in a 1750 HL in baby-poo brown with sundym windows and impossibly plush velour upholstery. Yes, they did have awful gearchanges but it was easy enough to work around it and I loved my Maxi's even though I had to suffer the derision of my Ford and Vauxhall-equipped mates. A lot of these BL cars are far better than people or history would have you believe, if only we'd had better management at the top of the UK car industry many of them would have seen their true potential unleashed onto the market. Keep making these vids Ed, they're absolutely outstanding.

My ever first car was a Austin Maxi. Bought used in 1980. Incredible car. Loved its space and style plus its 5 speed gearbox 😊❤️

Terrific piece of film. Fascinating to listen to someone so knowledgeable and passionate about his subject with nothing more that just a simple backdrop of the car itself. Well done.

So good to have your regular Sunday videos again, and the last few have been top drawer in terms of both insight and presentation. Great work Ed! I can see why the Maxi was unloved in period, but as simple basic family transport it makes so much sense in hindsight.

Wonderful, Ed. Thank you so much. I always loved the Landcrabs and I also had a real affection for the Maxi. They were pretty quick off the mark for the day too. As I've said before, your research and presentation is spot on. Cheers Ed.

Great video. Well put together & presented. And what a really nice Maxi!

Most underrated car , I had one years ago but I do have an x reg 1.7 hl in dark brown only done 32000 on the clock . Great and interesting video. Regards mark

Another quality video Ed, many thanks for your enthusiasm. Oh and 'palaver' a word that should be used a lot more.

The Austin 1800 was quite popular in Australia, I had one within the last 10 years, a lovely car. Wish the Maxi had come here.

I knew an acquaintance whom had a Maxi in NZ, in an example in the same colour, not sure the official colour, but I will call it Burnt Orange, he had it for years and drove it for years. The first true five speed. Door fabrication and pillar development is the most expensive part of car production, if ignored, it would suggest a price saving measure. Getting back to my acquaintance, he was an electrician in the railways in Auckland in the early 80's. We lost contact, found out later he moved to L.A in the states and set up a successful business as an I.T developer and software engineer, I knew his wife, also a "kiwi", completely lost contact, however was in social media, sadly died suddenly aged 63, I think only several months ago. Thanks for the presentation. I got my car license over 40 years ago in an Issigonis car 🚗 ❤

Brilliantly produced and edited video Ed , well done lad. My first car was a Maxi in 1980.... I used to carry a mobile disco in it and woo the ladies !! I watch through your ad breaks so you get the revenue at least. Mike

One of the best cars I ever owned, agile, comfortable, capacious and solid. I have owned better cars since, but there was nothing on the market to touch it at the time. I commuted weekly between Shropshire and Devon for a year, and thoroughly enjoyed every mile.

My first car, a Maxi 1750HL. A really strange choice for a young lad, but when you live with mum and dad a car with seats that folded into a double bed was very handy. I loved the car and would love to get hold of another. Great review and factual history lesson.

Great video & I’m glad you appreciate this underrated car, which is just too easy to ridicule. As a young engineer I bought an old Maxi in the early 80’s and it carried 4 of us and our luggage on some great adventures. Unfortunately the high mileage E series smoked like an old boiler on the overrun and the gear cables eventually failed, resulting in it being scrapped. I still have great memories of it though.

Imagine the design brief. "Blank sheet of paper, think outside the box, blue sky project. Except for the doors. And the windscreen. And the wheelbase."

A great and informative video. Love the colour of that example, might it have been worth talking about the final Facelift (Maxi 2) which along with the Allegro 3 (my favourite incarnation) seemed to have quelled most of the issues that the cars had. Unfortunately they were too far gone by that point to make any difference, but they were competent cars

I had one of these in the same colour as the example shown here. Even today I rate it as one of the best cars I ever owned, lovely ride, roomy, quiet and easy to work on. i was gutted when it was stolen, it was many years before I owned anything comparable to it.

Great video, thanks for the upload. A neighbour had a Maxi back in the 70's and I just loved it. I thought it was a really good loooking car and here in 2021 I still do.

I just wanted to say how much I enjoy your videos. Thank you sir.

This was my second ever car, got it when I was 16, had it for 6 months before getting caught for underage driving. To say it was a revelation is an understatement! The rear bench folded into the boot and the front seats didn’t have headrests, so when pulled forward and fully reclined it was a bed on wheels….those were the days 😎😎😎😂😂😂🤪🤪🤪

Great video blog. I do own one myself and just completed a running restoration on it. And small vlogs. They are a great car. Owning ford's in the past I do think the maxi is a very comfy car. Back in the day cars wer built for Practicality uses. Not like today all they want is a 0 to 60 times. Many thanks for a great video blog well done 👍

My dad worked for British Leyland in Aucklsnd NZ back in the late 60s and drove at the time an Austin A70 in which I learnt to drive. I always wondered what happened to the Leyland brand, and this vid has made it pretty clear.

Bought one when money was tight in 1986. Log book showed one previous owner, a mother superior of a convent. Those front seats were so comfortable, just like sitting in an armchair.