"Familiarity in this case brings endearment and one comes to accept the functional appearance better as time goes on. People who like extravagant and pretentious long noses ….. must look elsewhere. The car is generally very neat, except for those oddly shaped rear lamps. You get a number of things like a genuine overdrive top, servo brakes, automatic reversing lamp, 2 speed wipers, fully reclining seats, radial-ply tyres, all as standard. And remembering the very useful fifth door as well, the price may not be too high for what is really a very practical saloon-cum-estate car …… all it lacks is prestige and up-on-the-jones-manship."

Autocar 24th April 1969

"As a substitute for providing a pre-production road test car. British Leyland took us to Portugal to try the new Austin Maxi over a varied route to the south of Lisbon. Although the unfamiliar setting prevented full performance measurements and a regular test work-out, the conditions proved very suitable for rapidly assessing this versatile family car over all kinds of terrain."

The car is roomy, with plenty of headroom and comfortable seats (though perhaps not as comfortable as the 1300).
Luggage space is good.
Mechanism by which seats can be laid flat seems well planned.
The car is shorter than either the Ford Cortina, Hillman Minx and Vauxhall Victor making it easier to park and cheaper to take across the English Channel.
The engine's performance is adequate but under-powered for the size of car.
The gear change is generally precise but there is resistance at the start of each gear slot.
Steering, Brakes and Road-Holding are first class. There is very little roll when cornering allowing the driver to maintain higher average speeds than normal on country roads
The cars Hydralastic suspension gives a softer ride than in other cars using the same system (though it tends to hit the bumps).
Drivers view out of all the windows is above average, with no difficulty experienced in reaching the car's controls.
Fresh air ventilation is simple to operate though a more powerful blast of air would have been appreciated.
Noise levels in the car were higher than they should otherwise be.

"For sheer size and carrying capacity. the Cortina is clearly the winner. Nice controls—particularly the steering and gearchange - make it an easy, responsive car to handle though its roadholding is not as good as that of the other three cars. Nor is it quite as comfortable, particularly for people in the back. What it lacks most in comparison with the two French cars is refinement-notably in its ride (which is rather harsh) and in road and engine noise.

The same criticism must be levelled at the Maxi. In basic design, we thought this car was perhaps the best conceived of the group: its seats are comfortable and simple to arrange in several useful positions: its luggage platform is wide and low and uncluttered; its road holding is excellent and the five-speed gearbox unique among such cars. But in too many ways the detail execution doesn’t match the excellence of the concept: the cumulative effect of several ills—the poor gearchange, the harsh-sounding ride, the noisy engine (when extended, that is) and. in our car, the shaky steering made the Maxi feel and sound disappointingly unrefined. If these problems could be ironed out it would be an out-standing car.

Of the two French cars, the Renault is outwardly the larger and easily the more versatile as the seats can be juggled into practically any position-provided that you have the patience to sort it all out. It is a very comfortable car with armchair seats (that not all our drivers thought were as good as they looked) and a wonderfully resilient ride. The roadholding is excellent but pronounced body roll and spongy steering mar the handling. What we admired most was the smooth ness and quietness of this very refined car, rather than its much vaunted versatility. The high back sill and cluttered luggage deck actually make it much less suitable than the Cortina or Maxi as a goods vehicle.

The Simca, although a smaller car overall than the Renault, actually has a slightly bigger luggage deck (unless you remove the Renault’s rear seat altogether); it is less impeded by intrusions, too. But again, the high back sill is a handicap when loading or letting long loads poke from the back. Although our test car had a slightly poorer performance than the rest in the Group (remember. though, that the latest 1100 has more power) we thought it was the most attractive and rewarding to drive since it had an excellent ride and taut, responsive handling: It almost matched the Renault on road and engine noise isolation, too. We tried the most expensive GLS option but remember that the 3-door LS offers the same intrinsic virtues, though more basic appointments, for £160 less."

Motor 25th October 1969

Cortina 1600 Estate

Maxi 1500

Renault 16

Simca 1100 GLS