Amongst all the celebrations of the classic Mini’s 60th anniversary, it’s easy to forget its bigger brother, the Austin Maxi. It is hard to believe that the Maxi was very advanced back in 1969 - five gears, five doors, and five folding seats; and now fifty years old.

Practical Classics magazine marked the Mini’s 60th and the Maxi’s 50th birthdays with a road trip taking “two British engineering masterpieces back to the places that put them on the map.” Practical Classics’ James Walshe and Matt Tomkins drove the two cars from the King’s Road in Chelsea down to The Hall in September and, after a tour round, a quick lesson in Moulton’s suspension systems and a visit to our Mini exhibition, they were on their way back home via Cowley where both cars were built.

Both cars hold a special place in Moulton’s suspension developments. The Mini was the first mass-produced car to be fitted with Moulton rubber suspension (it later received Moulton Hydrolastic from 1964-69, reverting to the rubber cones afterwards) and went on to become the most popular British car of all time. The Maxi was the last model to be fitted with Moulton Hydrolastic, and in its later years was switched over to Moulton Hydragas - the only car to be fitted with both systems.

Read the full article in Practical Classics November issue - it’s in the shops now. For more details click here.

You can read more about Moulton Automotive Suspension here; and more about Alex Moulton and the Mini here.