Morris Marina owners response to THAT burning.

[carjac]

My first car was a Morris Marina 2 Door Coupe, white with "back to black" tar covering the rust upto the waist line, then I had a 4 door in bright maroon red. If you drive these cars long enough the front suspension trunion breaks and then the front suspension collapses under the car. Loved them.

[King Herald]

308mate said:

Load of arse.

Im sentimental about Austin Maestros. Doesnt mean they were good cars and it doesnt mean theres a good reason why they cant be smashed for fun.

Sentiment DOESNT = good.

The Marina, albeit a well kept one, was not an example of good design OR execution. And is therefore open to being smashed.

I once saw, at a classic car show, a photo by photo, incredibly detailed record of a cracking restoration job, done on an Austin Allegro. Yes, it was stripped to the last nut and bolt, massaged, every panel changed out, engine rebuilt, hones and tuned mercilessly, better than new, over a two year period given a concours rebuild, and painted that timeless and beautiful hue of baby poo beige.

My only question is.....









.....WHY?????


Why would you spend years rebuilding an Allegro???? There are a thousand better cars to choose, why an Allegro?

[Ordinary Bloke]

It doesn't matter if they destroyed a £700 or £7000 car, £70,000 even if the BBC believe that's entertainment and are still allowed to force us to pay the licence fee.

But I loved my 1.3 saloon, Sandglow, I believe that's the same colour as last night's TG car, and my orange 1.8TC Coupe was great fun, it had 185/?? tyres and had enormous static front camber which seemed to help it get round corners... or so it seemed to me aged 18.

Fast forward quarter of a century and I'd love to drive one to see how bad it was...

[Fetchez la vache]

I'm no marina lover, but it would be a hell of a shame if the only cars people bothered to restore were 2 seater sports cars, and expensive ones at that.

I saw an Austin Maxi earlier on today / yesterday, and I recon the last time I saw one was a good 20 years ago. I'm glad someone could be arsed.

If everybody looked the same, we'd get tired of looking at each other...

[rocket377]

I thoroughly enjoyed that Top Gear, thought it was one of the best actually with Boris, the R500 and the communist cars article.

That Marina forum....what a bunch of success stories eh?

[SystemParanoia]

thunderbelmont said:

I was disappointed with the limo. I mean, only capable of 99mph, I mean, it must have weighed in at around 3 tonnes going on Russian build qualities of that era (using a T72 Tank gearbox, and the engine from a troop carrier no doubt). Liked the push-button gear selection - very modern for it's time I'm sure.

reminded me of this





http://www.ladaparts.ru/hotrods.php

[PeteG]

Theres something slightly odd about someone posting on a Marina forum about "sad car nuts would put up the fancy posters of the top gear mags and wk therself to sleep! "...

[AUDIHenry]

Lots of whining going on in that forum. Tell me not all Brits are as immature about apparently st things.

[Lil' Joe]

I have to say I love that V12 Lada!

[AUDIHenry]

Lil' Joe said:

I have to say I love that V12 Lada!

It's a GAZ 21, not a Lada.

[DBSV8]

AUDIHenry said:

Lil' Joe said:

I have to say I love that V12 Lada!

It's a GAZ 21, not a Lada.

anal mode

Gorkovskiy Avtomobil'niy Zavod manufacturer 21 still see a few about and they are built like tanks !!!

[MitchT]

Is that a GAZ 21 with an 850CSi engine and interior installed, or an 850CSi with a GAZ 21 shell cobbled on?

[heebeegeetee]

We had fun with my mate's...

[kambites]

MitchT said:

Is that a GAZ 21 with an 850CSi engine and interior installed, or an 850CSi with a GAZ 21 shell cobbled on?

I don't know, but the interior looks decidedly BMW to me. Still, it's a beautiful car.

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 9th December 07:46

[BB-Q]

If you want a rust free Marina go to Gibraltar- there's hundreds of them.

Only 700ish Marinas and Itals registered in the UK now, apparently.

I hate seeing any classic get smashed up, but if it was a basket case where's the problem?

[Busa_Rush]

I had a 1972 Mk1 Marina 1.8 coupe as my first car, very old but it taught me about rear wheel drive and what happens when you hoof it in a corner ! Good learning car. Shame about the plastic seats It was harvest gold too with a black roof. Nice

[King Herald]

Busa_Rush said:

I had a 1972 Mk1 Marina 1.8 coupe as my first car, very old but it taught me about rear wheel drive and what happens when you hoof it in a corner !

In a 1972 1.8 litre probably all that happened was the induction drone got a little louder, yes? And maybe a you felt a slightly different movement, almost like a surge of acceleration, but not quite?

[CommanderJameson]

kambites said:

MitchT said:

Is that a GAZ 21 with an 850CSi engine and interior installed, or an 850CSi with a GAZ 21 shell cobbled on?

I don't know, but the interior looks decidedly BMW to me. Still, it's a beautiful car.

My E39 5er has those interior door handles.

[190E Matt]

Some people are taking this way too seriously.

[aeropilot]

heebeegeetee said:

We had fun with my mate's...

Aah......now I'm getting all nostaglic for the good old days of road rallying.

Brave in a Marina.....and they look like real Minilites...?
If so they must have been worth more than the rest of the car.....

My old 1.8TC Coupe was a dark metallic bluey purple colour with a similar shade vinyl roof and naff blue-ish brushed nylon fabric seats.....very 1970's.