It's a Maxi adventure

As you'll probably know from previous posts, we've been looking to buy a classic car, preferably but not necessarily an Austin Maxi, and had narrowly missed out on a fine example a couple of weeks ago. Since then we've been keeping an eye on various car sales websites, but nothing available locally on eBay jumped out at us and the good stuff all seemed to be overpriced and/or hundreds of miles away. Thus disappointed, just on the off-chance we decided to check the Maxi Owners' Club website again in case anything new had been listed. The reward was a car advertised that very morning, which quickly became the latest addition to the Rusty Old Rubbish fleet and means the Maxi urges have been satisfied and we now have a British Leyland car in the garage again after selling the Triumph Dolomite several years ago.

Second time lucky. There's a BL car on the drive once more.

The car was located about 60 miles away near Stamford, towards the limit of what we considered an acceptable distance, and the advert was a bit brief but it sounded good and with nothing else planned for that day, after a phone conversation with the seller we decided to go and have a look at it there and then. The seller was a stereotypical Maxi owner, a slightly eccentric 85-year-old gentleman who has owned Maxis since this one was new and has had about a dozen through his hands. He doesn't have a modern car, the rest of his fleet comprising another Maxi (an early cable-change version), three Maestros (two of which are Ledbury cars he bought new) and, looking a bit out of place, a Citroen Traction Avant.

First sight of our new baby on a stormy Saturday afternoon. Note Ledbury Maestro and other Maxi.

So what have we got? YDU 590S is a 1750 model in red (we're not sure exactly what shade yet), supplied new in March 1978 to a chap from Warwick who kept it for the next thirty years before selling it to the gent we bought it from. The online MoT history only goes back to when the seller bought it in 2008 so I suspect it spent a bit of time laid up in the original owner's garage before changing hands. Current mileage is a mere 36,000 and it seems to have done little more than 200 miles between MoTs in the last couple of years, so it would benefit from a bit more use and is already running better after the 60-mile trip to its new home. Although I was a bit worried and we went well prepared in case of breakdowns, it didn't miss a beat doing more than a quarter of its annual mileage in one journey.

Obligatory Woollarding on the way home

The car is in all original condition and has never been welded, yet remarkably is totally rust-free: there is no visible rust whatsoever, just some minor flaking on the inside of the rear doors that should be easy to deal with. It appears to have been rustproofed when new and regularly polished (the nooks and crannies are full of dried-on polish), which would explain its survival in such good condition. The paintwork is not perfect: there are a few scrapes and poorly touched-up areas, and in some places (particularly on the tailgate) it has been polished through to the primer, but it has an honest patina of age and is nowhere near bad enough to justify a respray.

Home and dry without missing a beat

We think this is a Hydragas-suspended car rather than Hydrolastic (but can anyone confirm?) and it has plenty of pressure and a good ride height. It drives really well and the rod-operated gearchange is excellent, and a lot better than the blue one we wanted to buy: the seller said it is one of the best he has ever driven and I'm inclined to agree with him as I soon got the hang of it without crunching any changes. The E-series engine has so much torque that it can be put in fifth gear at 25mph and will still pull strongly all the way to 70, and I can see why Maxis are so well regarded as tow cars. The workers at Cowley must have been having a good day when they built this car as I have heard some horror stories about the lack of quality control there.

The heart of the beast - the wonderfully torquey 1750 E-series

It was very dirty though and there are some weird greasy marks on the tailgate that won't come off with water. It didn't seem too bad as bought but already looks a lot better after a few hours of washing and leathering, so with a T-cut and polish it will come up really well. It's just the type of car we were looking for really, mechanically and structurally sound but a bit scruffy, so it's in need of various small jobs but can be kept roadworthy while these are done and isn't a major project. It came with 11 months' MoT, having gained a clean pass at the beginning of August, and the only obvious fault is a dodgy reversing light switch that makes the light come on when changing gear going forwards, seemingly not an uncommon problem on Maxis.

Looks better for a wash. It seems almost compulsory for Maxis to have towbars.

The only significant non-original feature is the grille, which is from a Maxi 2 and was fitted by the seller to replace the damaged original, and with the chrome bumpers makes the car look oddly like an over-inflated Mini Clubman. My numberplate OCD is satisfied as it still has its original metal plates with riveted plastic digits at both ends. It had a hideous set of furry seat covers that were very faded but appeared to have originally been bright orange, and the seller said he had no idea what the seats were like as the covers were fitted when he bought it and he never removed them. They weren't hiding any nasty surprises though, just an immaculate (but dirty) set of beige vinyl seats that should look great once cleaned up.

Wrong grille but nice plates

This one ticks all the boxes on the wishlist except for the tax exemption, but that is a compromise we were prepared to make as the rest of the car is so good. It's not concours by any stretch (and we wouldn't want it to be), but is honest and useable and hasn't been tarted up to hide anything, so it's very good but without being too good to be true for its age, if you know what I mean. I admit I was very disappointed to lose out on the blue car, but in all honesty this one is even better as it is so original whereas the blue one had been extensively restored. It's a perfect example of what seem to be called 'survivor cars' and I honestly think we've done very well and bought ourselves a little gem.

Interior looks good now those hideous seat covers have been disposed of

It feels good to be back in the world of classic car ownership after several years of dull modern cars, and this Maxi looks set to be an enjoyable little project so stay tuned for further updates on its progress. There has already been an outpouring of love and approval on the Autoshite forum and much interest from friends and passers-by. Its show debut is likely to be at the Whittlebury Country Fair on Saturday 3rd September and it will almost certainly attend a selection of local events next year so look out for YDU 590S and come and say hello - we don't bite!

Wheels could do with a coat of paint. Tyres are okay but mismatched.

Jobs to do (nothing major):

• T-cut and polish exterior
• Clean interior
• Treat rust spots on inside of rear doors
• Paint wheels and replace tyres
• Source and fit correct grille
• Replace broken radio aerial (replacement provided)
• Fix dodgy reversing light switch
• Sort out messy wiring of aftermarket electric windscreen washer conversion