May/ June 2008

Paul Jewitt of Skipton, Yorkshire, sent me this photo of his recent acquisition (GOM 466W). Paul tells me that he is also the proud owner of VHN 653M and has now joined the club.

May/ June 2008

How do you sell a vehicle that's been out of production for nearly 30 years ? How do you ensure that it goes to a good home? Well these questions were put to me during a recent telephone conversation, with someone who wants to sell their pride and joy, Judy Dickson of Banstead in Surrey. This was my reply:

There are a number of places that you can advertise your car:
Shop windows (eg Newsagents, Supermarket billboards).
Specialist magazines such as Practical Classics and Classic Car.
Local newspapers.
The Austin Maxi Clubs magazine and website (there is no charge for either service).
Internet websites such as ebay (if you want to be really adventurous).

Unfortunately there is no way of ensuring that your car will be sold to an enthusiast (someone who will love and cherish it, as you have done). Maxi owners are not normally in the fortunate position of being able to choose their buyer. You may well not be able to sell your car, if you start stipulating conditions. Even if you do find a buyer who assures you that he will look after the car, what's to stop him from selling the vehicle on at a later date, to someone whose sole intention is to race it at banger meetings.

Perhaps the best way forward for you, is to advertise your car on the Club Noticeboard in the Members Only part of this website. This password controlled page will ensure that only club members will see the advert. If after a reasonable period of time you get no offers, then perhaps you should consider transferring it to the websites For Sale page (and possibly in one or more of the outlets described above). This is by no means foolproof, but your car is more likely to attract the kind of audience you seek.

May/ June 2008

Here's some correspondence between Club Chairman, Mark Pacey and member Adam Ransom:

Hello there, I am Adam Ransom, a member of the Maxi Owners Club and I thought I would drop you a line with regard to the trip a friend and I are planning this summer. Some time last year, a couple of our friends took the plunge and moved to Chamonix and Munich, both leaving an open invitation to go and visit them if we could. I decided that it could be fun and thought about restoring my rather sad looking Maxi for a quick trip to Chamonix and back. I mentioned this to my friend Dominic and wondered if he would like to join me. Suffice to say this has now snowballed...

We have now set ourselves a target of a trip of just under 3000 miles around Europe in two weeks aboard a Maxi (my choice) and a Dolomite (well there's always one,) visiting Chamonix, Genoa, Munich, the Nurburgring and Bruges. We will be doing this for the Marie Curie and CLIC Sargent charities and all donations will be welcome. We are presently in talks with both a car magazine and a couple of national companies regarding sponsorship and publicity.

Currently I am looking for another Maxi in which to complete the trip, having decided against using mine at the moment, so anybody who would like to sell one, within our budget of £450, are more than welcome to contact me! We now have have a website called www.BLChallenge.org.uk where all are welcome to visit.

I hope to start sending you pictures, both of preparations for the trip and of it, as soon as I can for publication in the club magazine and website.

Club Chairman: I reported to the Austin Maxi Club committee meeting on your plans and the committee were keen to support you. We're open to suggestions on how we can do this, but immediate offers that were made were:
1.  Help in locating a car. A couple of possible's were mentioned and enquiries are going to be made to see if those cars are still for sale.
2.  Publicity. I can publish magazine articles for you and the webmaster would be grateful for anything you could send him for the website. There would also be opportunities to display the car and publicise the run to the public at club events through the year, possibly including the NEC.
3.  Spares.  Ernie Jackson (who runs AGM spares) is offering a spares kit for you to take on a sale or return basis.  He did a similar thing for me on the Timbo run and put a decent kit together (filters, fanbelt, points, distributor cap, plugs, those kinds of things.)

May/ June 2008

Ed Purkiss writes :

Hi, In 1978 after living in Canada for ten years, I returned to the UK and purchased a used Austin Maxi. The color of it was a shade of purple. I don't think it was a respray, as the interior was also a purple velour. I now own an Austin Mini and would like to paint it in the same color, unfortunately, I can't seem to find it anywhere. Your site does not show it either, so can a member help me with this? Thanks a lot.

Phil Marrison (Club Archivist): Here are some possible's:- Black Tulip – paint code BLVC23, Aconite – paint code BLVC95, Blackberry – BLVC3. A good paint supplier may have paint chips for you to compare, alternatively BL colour charts turn up regularly on eBay (UK), quite cheaply. Hope all that helps, and good luck with ‘Min’.

May/ June 2008

Flemming Thisted of Denmark writes:

Your feature entitled "Where are they now", asks for information about numbers of Maxis in countries outside the UK. Well I've just read that only 7 Maxi's are plated in Denmark (and 6 Monacos). I had Maxi's for 15 years and miss them.

webmaster: I hadn't realised there were so many Maxi's in Denmark. Its difficult to know how many Maxi's there are in the UK, the Vehicle licensing Authority in Britain can only tell you how many are licensed for road use at any one time. Many more of course are off the road, for one reason or another. Anyway, thanks very much for the information, it was very helpful.

May/ June 2008

Here are a couple of enquiries concerning membership:

The first comes from Alan Lines:
Hi. I posted off my membership application two weeks ago and have not received any reply yet.
webmaster: Sorry about the delay. I understand from the Club Secretary, Christine Jackson, that membership applications can take up to 4 weeks to process. If you don't receive your welcome pack in 2 weeks time, let me know and I'll progress the matter for you.

Mike Neal writes from New Zealand.: Hello, I own a Maxi in new Zealand. Do you have any info regarding a club in New Zealand or do you have an overseas membership?.
- 1948 Jaguar 3.5 litre Saloon
- 1987 Jaguar Sovereign V12
- 1974 Austin Maxi (on LPG).
webmaster: Whilst I have no knowledge of any specialist club operating in New Zealand, we do have members living outside the UK, including one in NZ. If you'd like to join the club then go to our website (austinmaxiclub.org), click "Join our club" at the top of the page and follow the on-line instructions. Annual membership costs GB £20. If you do join, there is no reason why you can't start your own branch of the club. Whilst I appreciate there would only be two of you at the moment, there's almost certainly other Maxi's in NZ, its a question of finding out who the owners are and getting them to join.

May/ June 2008

David Francey is on the lookout for a couple of front sidelights. He writes:

I'd like to place an advert for two Mark 1 front indicator/ sidelight assemblies. I have the lenses, but the lamp holders have corroded away. Please contact me if you can help.

webmaster: I'm afraid the part that you require is in very short supply. They are sometimes advertised on www.ebay.co.uk, unfortunately there is no guarantee that your bid will be the winning one. Other sources include autojumbles (see the links page on our website) and classic car part suppliers like Earlspart (www.earlpart.co.uk). In the meantime I've placed a wanted advert on the site for you, hopefully somebody will contact you. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

May/ June 2008

Details of this years show have been forwarded to the club, by organiser Tony Palmer:

The British Car Enthusiasts Rally 2008 will be at Wicksteed Park, Kettering, on Sunday 7th September and will again be supporting Make-A-Wish Foundation (UK). Since 1980, Make-A-Wish Foundation (UK) has enriched the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions through its wish-granting work. In 2007, we raised over £1200 for this worthwhile cause, while bringing some happiness to two terminally ill children in a direct way, by having them at the event as our guests for the day. In 2008 we hope to beat the amount raised, but will need all the help we can get to do so. The event is open to all marques with a British Heritage including Aston Martin, Caterham, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lotus, Mini, MG, Morgan, Morris, Noble, Riley, Rover, Triumph, TVR, Wolseley or any other. All are welcome either as clubs or individuals. Club and trade stands can be arranged on request. Further details will be announced on the brit-cars.com forum as they become available. I can be contacted with any enquiries by email at tony@brit-cars.com. Kindest Regards,Tony Palmer.

Attached
2008 event flyer and 2007 event report.
Links
www.brit-cars.com
www.wicksteedpark.co.uk
www.make-a-wish.org.uk

May/ June 2008

Martin Dearmer writes:

Hi there, I recently bought a Maxi 1500 (WCM 330M), which has been running extremely well, accept when taken on motorways. If I take the car over 50 mph or so, it'll lose water from the expansion tank, the heater will not function as it should and the engine will eventually overheat. Sadly, I have little if any mechanical expertise, but my mechanic (a trustworthy individual), felt that the likely cause was a blocked radiator or faulty water pump (worn bearings). 

In order to give myself time to save for the necessary repairs, I decide to avoid motorways for the time being. However yesterday, whilst on my usual drive, I noticed a great deal of steam coming from under the bonnet. The car was not overheating, though there was no warm air available from the cars heater. I filled the radiator and continued on my journey The car began to feel a little lumpy in its running, but was not overheating (the Thermostat gauge does work). Needless to say the car eventually broke down. When I looked, there was a lot of oil on the underside of the car. It was at this point that I noticed a broken fanbelt. Its likely that the problem is a head gasket.

Prior to repair, I'd like to ask the following 4 questions (if I may):
Firstly, is it possible for the gasket to go because of a broken fan belt, despite the engine not overheating? .
Secondly, have other owners had the same problem with pressure and water loss on motorway journeys and if so is my mechanic's diagnosis a probable cause?
Thirdly should the engine be 'kaput' what possibility is there and where should I source another?
Lastly should I go down this route, is it feasible to upgrade to a 1750?

I apologise for the long winded nature of this communication and would be incredibly grateful for any advise given.

webmaster: If you can help Martin, email me and I'll forward it onto him.