Items that may interest or amuse you. Contact the webmaster if you want to include an item on this page.

Did you know that between 2000 and 2005 Longbridge produced 800,000 vehicles and that since 1905 when the plant became operational it has built almost 15 million .... everything from the Austin 7 and Mini to the Rover 75.

Here are some websites that you may find helpful or irritating:
DVLA's on-line vehicle enquiry service
britanniarescue.com
highways.gov.uk/trafficinfo/
saicgroup.com
smmt.co.uk

Interesting tools : This one presumably came free with every set of plugs you bought. As you can see the perpetrators of this crime are Champion. My thanks to work colleague Martin Conneally for that one.

Click here for larger photos that should enable you to understand the logic behind the tool.

Try nurturing "Maxi" Runner Beans this summer as an alternative to that other Maxi parked in the drive. Apparently they're quite tasty just like the real thing.

They cost about £1.79 per packet. The seed merchant is a company called Marshalls, though I've no doubt other seed merchants sell them as well.

Thanks to Pip Taylor for that one.

This little gem was posted on Teletext some years ago, prompting member Kevin Stephens to snap it for posterity.

Did you know that John Lennon once owned an Austin Maxi and that after trashing it, turned it into a piece of sculpture as a reminder of how he cheated death ........... to be precise a cube placed on a pedestal in his garden in Ascot, Berkshire. The only thing left to remind anyone of the car is an apple mascot which was fitted to the car at the time. Apparently his son Julian retreived it from an auction some years ago. For more information go to:
http://www.lennon.net/memorabilia/apple.shtml

Thanks to Member Gordon Conway for that one.

Nico Henkens (who lives in the Netherlands) has found the following website which features 1/32nd scale model replica cars. Amongst these is an Austin Maxi:
http://www.cty-net.ne.jp/~uncletom/page01.html

To access pictures of the Maxi click on Car Gallery (Top Left) and then Car 5 (Top Right). Scroll to the end of the page, click on the picture of the Maxi and you are there. To resize the smallish pictures click on the number to the left of each picture (eg501K). There are 10 images in all.

Believe it or not the Maxi is featured in several games on the Net. if you don't believe me go to the following sites and see for yourselves.
http://www.insaneheat.com
http://www.ozgate.com/avatars

The virtual reality cars (some complete with sound) were created by Allegro fan "AngleGrinder" (...... that's what he likes to call himself). Click here to see the Maxi in virtual reality.

Click here to view

Ian Bennett (top left) is crazy about static gas turbine engines. He recently sent us an email (Summer 2004) requesting help in searching for spare parts and information about the engine opposite which he recently aquired. Apparently its an extremely rare Austin 250 Stationary Industrial engine which according to Iain was used for power generation and water pumping. If you want to know more about Iain's collection of gas turbine engines go to gasturbineengine

Click picture to enlarge.
Picture courtesy of Iain Bennett.

Dateline November 2003:One members car has recently appeared on television and another may do so in the near future. Morry Cooks vehicle recently featured in a documentary about an ex-teacher who'd become a multi-millionaire by buying homes to let. Brian Winn's Maxi may be appearing on Granada TV's "Men and Motors".

BMC (the British Motor Corporation) was formed in 1952 as a result of a merger between the Austin and Morris Motor Companies. Its portfolio read like a whose who of the British Motor Industry: Riley, Wolseley, Austin, Morris, MG. In its first year it produced a quarter of a million cars (39% of all cars produced in the UK), making it the fourth largest car manufacturer in the world.

In 1966 BMC aquired Jaguar. But by then BMC was in terminal decline. By 1960 BMC was replaced by Volkswagen as the 4th largest car manufacturer in the world. In 1967 its market share had fallen to 29% of the home market.

In 1968 it merged with Leyland to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation.

Volkswagen have announced that their plant in Mexico is to stop producing Beetles in July 2003. More than 21 million Beetles have been produced since 1934.

Production ceased in Europe in the 1970's and in Brazil in the 1990's.

In June 2003 the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust at Gaydon sold off 80 of their vehicles in order to free up space at their Museum in Warwickshire. Sale was by auction. The auctioneers were a company called Bonhams, 101 New Bond St, London W1S 1SR. To check out their site go to Bonham's .... you never know you might find a Maxi on it.

Channel 4's Driven program recently featured a Maxi being driven first across the Sahara desert and then across Scandinavia a few weeks later.

For further details click on Channel 4's web site - www.channel4.com/4car/index.html - and type "Maxi" in the search field in the top right hand corner of the screen (just under the 4Car logo).

The days when MOT Certificates were hand written may soon be over. From May 2003 onwards the first of a thousand MOT stations will be linked directly to a DVLA computer in a pilot scheme designed to computerise the issuing of certificates. One of the objectives of the scheme is to stop the trade in fake ones.

News from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (April 2003):

From now on if you want to tax your vehicle at a Post Office and you don't have a "DVLA Reminder Form": You have to present your logbook (or tear-off slip) and Form V10 at the Post Office Counter.

Any car that has been written off and then subsequently repaired now has to undergo and pass a Vehicle Identity Check (VIC) before it can be used on the road again. Any car that has passed a VIC will have a note to that effect in the logbook.

If you want to buy Number Plates you now have to show your logbook (or vehicle license reminder) and proof of your identity to the supplier.

According to the DVLA these measures are necessary in order to stop thieves from disguising the identity of a stolen vehicle.

For more details click on their website www.dvla.gov.uk

Apparently there's a village in Cambridgeshire that has the same name as the Maxi (albeit that it's spelt differently .....Maxey).

The village has a population of 640 souls. Main points of interest are the Church (St Peters), the village Hall and the local pub (the Blue Bell).

The village even has its own web site www.maxey.co.uk

In a recent edition of Classics Car weekly there was an advert for a Maxi whose owner was no less a person than the late Sid James (he of the Carry On films).

Asking price £10,000. Any takers ?