British Leyland

[Daffyd]

Maxi: the 5 car!

5-speed
5-door
5-passenger

I had a '75 one. Another five... I had five kids to put in it!

[Motu]

Practically the first car we saw with 5 gears ( of course Jap bikes had had them for a few years by then) and there were a few mistakes - selecting reverse at speed. Graham Gordon had a few kicking around his floor in Titirangi - one (out of a Tasman,same box) had ripped reverse idler out of the floor of the box and a conrod had smacked it for a six out of the side of the block.

I spent some time once trying to fix a clutch judder in a Maxi....did all the usual things - then found the crownwheel loose on the carrier. I was able to pull the diff cover off and do it in situ. Never a fan of the Maxi, give me a Landcrab anyday.

[awa355]

Walked past a 3L Austin/Morris parked up town. They looked like a stretched out 1800, with a boot added. I'd forgotten how much room they had inside.

[Motu]

Pity they destroyed the 1800 V8 - they built it just so they could say it wouldn't work, but apparently went very well.

[Indiana_Jones]

Now a V8 crab would be sweet lol

I have always thought getting a crab and sticking a modern V6 or 8 in it. Would make a sweet Q-car....

-Indy

[dangerous]

Pity they destroyed the 1800 V8 - they built it just so they could say it wouldn't work, but apparently went very well.

aye real? info then please

[Indiana_Jones]

Did they use the Rover 3.5 engine?

-Indy

[Daffyd]

That would have been a good combo... 3L Austin with a Rover V8! I believe the motor was swung 90 degrees to go north/south in the standard 3L. Nearly bought one once. Was a bit rough though. Bought an XY Falcon instead- what a shitheap!

[dangerous]

Did they use the Rover 3.5 engine?

-Indy

duh I thought he ment a 1800cc v8

[Daffyd]

duh I thought he ment a 1800cc v8

So did I for a srart.

[Motu]

aye real? info then please

From wiki....

As a one-off prototype, an Australian 1800 Mark II body was fitted with the 4.4 litre V8 and modified three-speed automatic transmission of the P76 in the BLMC (Australia) Victoria Park works at Zetland, New South Wales.

BMC were front drive biased, so in the early design stages of the P76 they built the 1800 V8 to try out the front drive layout. It was wider than the standard body shell, but didn't look it. To go against the Big 3 BMC Aust wanted a rear wheel drive car, so they built this thing to show it was a bad idea....but it wasn't as bad as they thought. BMC became the horrible BLMC in later stages of the P76 development.

[unstuck]

Check out this cool little elf, its on Maguires top 5 shine list on Love my car NZ fuckbook page.

[Bender]

A Relf. Done lots of miles in one of them, an excellent little car.

[Indiana_Jones]

Just saw an Elf on the way home today.

Also a Beetle (not a fan really), Marina & a Triumph 2000/2500

-Indy

[YellowDog]

I drove the vvc version of the MGF today. I was a little suprised how a car that I have not ever rated as anything other than a "Girlie Mobile" could drive so well. The suspension was OK ish, but the gears were easily filled by the 1.8 litre lump and I found the performance very reasonable indeed.

Is this car OK for straight guys to drive, or do I need to first come out of the closet?