During its lifetime the Maxi was involved in quite a few rallies …… perhaps the most famous was the World Cup Rally of 1970, whose destination - Mexico City - was hosting the World Cup finals that year.

The Rally was a 16,000 mile hike from London to Lisbon (via Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Sofia and San Remo). From there the cars were shipped to Buenos Aires aboard the Royal Mail Lines ship, Derwent. Once in Beunos Aires the cars travelled to Santiago (Chile) via Uruguay and then onto La Paz (Bolivia), Lima (Peru) and Buenaventura (Columbia). From Buenaventura the cars were shipped to Cristobal in Panama before finally making their way north to Mexico City.

The event began at Wembley Stadium, London ……. where England won the World Cup in 1966. All 96 starters were seen off by England football manager Alf Ramsey and team captain Bobby Moore.

There were quite a few entrants of note including footballer turned pundit Jimmy Greaves (driving an Escort) and Prince Michael of Kent (Maxi). Several works teams took part, notably Ford (the eventual winners) and British Leyland. In addition there were an assortment of oddballs including a works Moskvitch 1500, a VW Beetle and a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow driven by Bill Bengry. British Leyland's contingent consisted of 4 Triumph 2.5 PI's and 3 Maxi's. Originally Leyland had planned to use the new Range Rover, but production facilities prevented this. Leyland's 3 Maxi's were all 1500's. It seems that BL's Competitions Dept at Abingdon did quite a lot of work on them including installing twin carbs and lightweight doors. Favourite to win the race was Paddy Hopkirk (Ladbrokes were quoting 10:1 on him to win the race).

It seems that most teams plumped for a crew of 2. Rosemary Smith driving a Maxi, seems to have been one of the exceptions. Rosemary's crew of 3 were sponsored by the London Evening Standard.

In order to win a Rally of this magnitude, planning is essential. Most of the rally stages were grueling six to seven hundred mile long drives, some involving driving along roads 15,000 feet plus above sea level. Fortunately for Leyland they had a number of local agents/ companies in South America and so were well placed to carry out the necessary research and planning.

Only 23 of the 96 vehicles starting the rally, finished. When the cars did reach Mexico City ,they were escorted into the Aztec Stadium (venue for the World Cup Final) to a tumultuous welcome. The full results are posted opposite.

Of the Maxi's, Rosemary Smith came a credible 10th with another Maxi driven by Terry Kingsley coming in 22nd. Prince Michael of Kent and his co-drivers Gavin Thompson and Nigel Clarkson had to retire early on.

The Ladies Award went to Rosemary Smith, Jean Denton and Ginette Deroland in their Austin Maxi 1500.

The Class Awards went to D Harris's Ford Escort (under 1300 cc class), Rosemary Smith in her Austin Maxi (1300-1600 cc class), Hannu Mikkola in his Ford Escort (1600-2000 cc class) and Brian Culcheth in his Triumph 2.5PI (over 2000 cc class).

An excellent account of what it was like from a Rally Drivers perspective is contained in "The Paddy Hopkirk Story" by Bill Price (for details check out the Links on this page).

Some of the Maxi's survived the World Cup Rally. Prince Michael's Maxi for example is now an exhibit in the British Motor Heritage Museum at Gaydon in Warwickshire.

Rosemary Smith's vehicle however was not so lucky having disappeared in the late 1970's. As for Tish Osborne's … well I'll let Club Chairman Ernie Jackson explain :

"Longstanding Club members may recall that some time ago there was a short article in Maximise, about a Maxi that was prepared for the 1970 World Cup Rally by Marshall's of Cambridge, for Tish Ozanne and her team. The car didn't finish the event due to losing too much time in a mud hole, but the car returned to the UK and was used for competitive events for a few years then it disappeared. About four years ago it surfaced again in a deep litter house in Huntingdonshire and it was for sale. I viewed it at that time but it was sold for a higher bid than mine to a dealer in Classic Rally Cars. Recently the car has been advertised for sale again, so I rang the vendor, who was a club member for a while, and arranged to go and look at the car and take a few photos. The car has been refurbished to the condition and specification when purchased four years ago - 1750 rod change with most of the 1970 tweaks, dashboard, plastic doors, suspension mods, Janspeed manifold. The vendor kindly allowed me to drive the car round the block, an opportunity not to be missed. It drives like most Maxis', the suspension mods probably helping grip. The asking price for this piece of Maxi and BL History is £9,995.00 in as rallied condition!" (Ernie Jackson).