Bit of a long shot, but...! French Austin Maxi for sale!

Buy or sell parts etc. Please put 'Wanted' in the title if it is a request for parts.
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Jaba
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Posts: 1893
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 7:54 am
Location: Usually in the garage
My Cars: BX GTi, C3 Auto
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Post by Jaba »

I ran a Maxi for several years in the late 70s. It was a very well designed car. Performed well with its twin SUs and handled well, a bit like the BX too.
I did camping hols by the med with it. Good family motor. Badly designed gearbox though. The first motion shaft failed twice on me. However as I lived 8 miles from the factory I knew people who could obtain replacements at minimal cost.

I bought it because it had been Zeibart rust treated from new. Still rusted out the sills and door bottoms in 6 years though.

I then upgraded to a Lancia Beta. Another very well designed car. Big two litre twin cam engine. But it was built from new with metal that must have been very rusty already. At 3 years old there was serious structural rust everywhere. Lancia paid for some of the repairs but it was just first aid really. It fell apart a year or two llater and I sold it when it was just 5 years old for scrap to a guy who wantedthe still very good engine.

To this day Lancias are still not sold in the UK as far as I know.

Some claim that the one of the A40 models was the first hatchback. It was called the Countryman I think. Not a true hatch though. The rear window opened and the boot lid opened downwards to the hrizontal position.

It was definately the R16 that was the first modern hatch. And now the new C5 has changed form a hatch to a convential boot. Bad move methinks.
The Joy of BX with just one Citroën BX to my name now. Will I sing Bye Bye to my GTI or will it be Till death us do part.
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