Maxi model review

Oxford Diecast 76MX001 - 1/76 scale Austin Maxi in Tara Green

Regular readers may remember that almost a year ago I expressed my delight that Oxford Diecast had announced a model of the Austin Maxi. It was due for release in the fourth quarter of 2018 so I predicted I would have one in my collection by the end of the year, but Christmas came and went and nothing further was heard about it.

There's a good reason for that: the model has suffered a long delay and has only just been released last week, shortly after the real Maxi's 50th birthday. I was hoping to do this review sooner as I placed my order last Wednesday but a system glitch at the supplier meant I had to wait another week for it to arrive, so at long last and much later than expected I finally have an Oxford Diecast Maxi in my hands for a review. Was it worth the wait?

Not a bad representation of the Maxi

You may be amazed to learn that this is the first-ever mass-produced diecast model of a Maxi as it was ignored by the toy manufacturers of the time. All that was available until now were the long-obsolete and sought-after Airfix 1/32 plastic kit and some hand-built 1/43 white metal or resin models, all of which command premium prices. At just £5 the Oxford version is a bargain and being a 1/76 scale representation of a common family car is sure to be popular with OO gauge railway modellers, especially those with layouts set in the seventies and eighties when Maxis could be seen everywhere.

This ubiquitous car has finally been modelled, a mere 50 years after it appeared

This first release (76MX001) comes in the particularly attractive Tara Green metallic, with a Damask Red example hopefully following shortly. Someone at Oxford clearly has a liking for British Leyland cars, as the 1/76 range already includes the Marina, Princess, Allegro, Rover P6 and various Land Rovers and Triumphs among others. The Maxi complements these perfectly and helps modellers to create a typical 1970s street scene, a well-stocked representation of a BL showroom or one of the many events for classic BL cars. Is it any good though? Well, as I have a 1:1 scale Maxi in my garage to compare it with I feel I'm qualified to pass comment.

A fine collection of British Leyland family cars

Personally I'm a little disappointed that the model represents the top of the range HLS trim rather than the much more common standard 1750. Although described by Oxford simply as an 'Austin Maxi', the three-spoke steering wheel, ringed hubcaps and bumper underriders are all features of the HLS spec not found on lesser models. Oxford like to base their models on real cars and DVLA records confirm NUY 209T was a green Maxi, but I haven't found any photos of it and it hasn't been taxed since 2008. It seems odd that it survived long enough to reach classic status yet no longer appears to exist, so I have to wonder what happened to it.

Spot what's missing on the right

Printed detail is neat where it has been applied, but quality control is not up to scratch: I bought two and one of them is completely missing all of the chrome trim from the nearside, so this one is likely destined for a repaint. An attempt has been made to replicate the HLS grille but not entirely successfully as it just has black rectangles printed over a silver base where the real HLS has a mix of black and chrome slats. The red shield badge is there though, as is the Maxi 1750 lettering on the tailgate that is just about legible despite its tiny size.

Decent detail on the back, even down to a readable badge

Although it generally captures the overall shape and is instantly recognisable as a Maxi, something isn't quite right about the body casting. There are inevitable compromises to produce a small scale model, such as the thick sides and over-wide window pillars that give all of Oxford's 1/76 cars a chunky appearance. The waistline appears too straight as on the model it is horizontal whereas the real thing has a slight but noticeable droop towards the rear, and I suspect the windows may be a bit on the small side. This is exaggerated by their standard practice of printing the chrome surrounds on the outside and leaving a body-coloured gap between the surround and the window that shouldn't be there.

Maybe the waistline isn't curved enough

The biggest problem though is the model's stance. The Maxi has a long and low appearance but this one looks like someone has pumped the suspension up way too far and then fitted balloon tyres in an attempt to create an off-roader. These oversized tyres are common to most of Oxford's classic cars in this scale and the model would benefit from their replacement with something smaller. Dismantling it to make improvements is easy though, as the rear numberplate is a tab on the base fitted into a slot in the body and there is a single screw at the front. In typical Oxford fashion there are only four parts (body, base, interior and glazing), which will virtually fall apart when this screw is undone.

Dead easy to get apart and there's not much to it

Overall I'm quite satisfied with this model and would rate it a 7 out of 10. My review may seem a bit harsh but many of these criticisms are fairly minor points I only picked up because of my familiarity with the real Maxi and ability to closely compare the two. It could be better but to be fair many of the faults are common to other Oxford Diecast cars and seem to be a consequence of the way they're made. It's certainly far better than anything I could make myself and is good value for money, so I'm very happy to finally have a model Maxi in my collection and intend to continue collecting the other variants as and when they get released.

Hopefully the first of many Maxi models