NIA 7474 was recently aquired by self confessed Maxi Nut Nigel Black from Northern Ireland. Nigel writes: "There are quite a few Maxis over here, most of them in better condition than mine, but I have sent a photo of Bertha for the gallery anyway, should you think it fit for inclusion. She is pictured slumbering quietly in the garage! Bertha was registered on 5th Jan 1979 and only has one previous owner from new. He drove her for several years and she saw plenty of service! She has around 150k on the clock, but a gearbox fault prompted a replacement engine at some point. She was put off the road around 15 years ago and stored in a barn with the intention of restoration. This never materialised and a couple of years ago she was put outside when space in the barn was needed. The photo does look quite drastic, but having been waxoyled before leaving the showroom, she is actually very sound indeed with sills, doors and floors being rot free. (well apart from surface rust which I believe was 'standard' on Russet Brown cars!) The front wings are virtually non existent but after some searching i have found a new pair. Just hope I have something to weld to! Some may ask why I didn't get a better Maxi. Well first, Bertha needed a home and my heart just went out to her. Secondly, I hunted high and low and found no maxis, yet when I got Bertha home, for the following few weeks they appeared left right and centre in the Auto Trader and local papers. Typical! Still, the gauntlet was thrown down and the job must go on! Should another nice maxi come along, I may be tempted! I hope some day soon I can get her on the road, as my girlfriend is a Maxi fan too! I am currently restoring a 72 mini but as soon as its done I think Mr Grinder will be interviewing the Maxi!
P.S. You will notice a section of the car is nicely polished while the rest is in 'barn-find' condition. This was purely just to see how she would come up! I tell you, I got some looks for polishing an immobile car!" |
