RE: PH Carpool: Marcos Mantaray 4.6

[ian_touring]

That looks awesome. A proper interesting British sports car oozing with character (at least in the pictures...)

[Dodgey_Rog]

That was the original factory demo if i recall. Went like stink! Thought it needed the larger Fox alloys though....

[marcosal]

Nice one Martin! Congratulations for the article, keeping up the profile of the marque and a very nice car.

[Barkychoc]

Very nice car.

Is it me or do the headlights make it look like its about to fall asleep in a cartoon kind of way?

[marcosgt]

I always liked the front of the Mantaray, except maybe the headlights, but the tail's too generic (and Chimera like) for my tastes.

Nice car though, I'd take one over a Chimera anyday, probably not a Griffith though

M.

[CABBYBROWN]

marcosgt said:

I always liked the front of the Mantaray, except maybe the headlights, but the tail's too generic (and Chimera like) for my tastes.

Nice car though, I'd take one over a Chimera anyday, probably not a Griffith though

M.

Considering the design of the Marcos harks back to the 60's, I'd say the Marcos was the original and if it has become a touch "generic" since then well, as they say, mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery...
I really like the looks and prefer relative exclusivity but it's all down to personal taste, especially for this kind of car

[Cool Mart]

G'afternoon guys and thanks for the comments.

Yep, she's supposedly putting out 250BHP but who knows for sure.

When ever I buy a new car I like to find any roadtests, and Autocar were the only people I could find who had tested the Mantaray. I bought an old copy online, had it delivered, and was halfway through reading it before I recognised it was actually my car they'd tested

The car that 300BHP/TON pictured at the bottom of page 1 belongs to a guy I was out with last Sunday, along with 3 other Marcos owners - I'm guessing the picture was taken at a Luton show last year ?

The worst thing about driving a car that no one recognises is the tendency of drivers to pull up as close to the back as possible so they can read what the model is on the bootlid !

Marcosfan - that's quite an acheivement owning 8 Marcos', which one are you after next ?

Martin

[300bhp/ton]

Cool Mart said:

The car that 300BHP/TON pictured at the bottom of page 1 belongs to a guy I was out with last Sunday, along with 3 other Marcos owners - I'm guessing the picture was taken at a Luton show last year ?

Correct!

Is it and/or yours likely to put in an appearance this year too?

[marcosgt]

CABBYBROWN said:

marcosgt said:

I always liked the front of the Mantaray, except maybe the headlights, but the tail's too generic (and Chimera like) for my tastes.

Nice car though, I'd take one over a Chimera anyday, probably not a Griffith though

M.

Considering the design of the Marcos harks back to the 60's, I'd say the Marcos was the original and if it has become a touch "generic" since then well, as they say, mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery...
I really like the looks and prefer relative exclusivity but it's all down to personal taste, especially for this kind of car

The tail, though, is very different to most Marcoses on the Mantaray partly to give more boot space and partly because some people didn't like the very distinctive tail that every Marcos (excluding the odd one) from the 1964 1800 on had had.

The Mantaray, as a result, ended up with a rather bland, Chimera like rear end, so although it's a much older design, the tail mimicks the TVR.

Small point though and some will see the extra boot space as a plus (and, as I said, not everyone likes the original tail, which to me is the best part of a Marcos ).

As I say, lovely car otherwise - I've got that Autocar road test somewhere too

M.

[minipower]

Great read. I probably wouldn't be on this site if it wasn't for Marcos. The yearly trip to the Doune car show in my Dads 1969 Marcos GT really cemented me as a petrol head.

Luckily enough I was put on the insurance last year as the car is still in the family and has been so since 1971. Although only a V4 I found it great to drive other than it broke down both times it was driven.
Hopefully I might get it to some shows in the south this year.

[NoelWatson]

I drove this one from CCC

http://www.classiccarclub.co.uk/carpages/marcos_ma...

Lovely noise and quite quick. Only slight downside was the slightly suspect torsional rigidity.

[soad]

Love the front pic - sooo much presence!!!
Almost like a shark

[marcosrater]

Hi Martin.

Nice write up on your newer Marcos it would seem that you are enjoying the car which was in fact the factory prototype Mantaray and driven by Vicky Butler Henderson on Top Gear.

Time to make a plug here for the readers of this article.

Check out the ex Marcos factory sales manager now only Marcos dealer/owner/enthusiast on www.redlinesportscars.com

[Dodgey_Rog]

Always wondered if we should opted for the 4.6 instead of the 4.0, you can see my point with the larger wheels though? But it has to be Red i'm afraid....

[cazzer]

As were all posting pictures of our marcos'

[Cool Mart]

marcosrater said:

Hi Martin.

Nice write up on your newer Marcos it would seem that you are enjoying the car which was in fact the factory prototype Mantaray and driven by Vicky Butler Henderson on Top Gear.

Time to make a plug here for the readers of this article.

Check out the ex Marcos factory sales manager now only Marcos dealer/owner/enthusiast on www.redlinesportscars.com

Hi Jeremy, much as I love the Mantaray I've still got one eye on that Mantis GT on your website .... 500BHP sounds right up my street.

[MPoxon]

Very nice car indeed.

I have always fancied the later Marcos Mantis with the ford cobra engine. One may agrue however that the Matatray has more charm sporting the legendary rover v8.

[Gizmo!]

This and the Ginetta G33 V8... trying to get a slice of the market TVR owned, and didn't quite make it.

Almost a shame that no-one seems to be having a go at it any more (Cobra reps notwithstanding), because there's always going to be people who want rough and ready V8 noise.

[MPoxon]

cazzer said:

As were all posting pictures of our marcos'

Very nice!

[harryowl]

Gizmo! said:

This and the Ginetta G33 V8... trying to get a slice of the market TVR owned, and didn't quite make it.

errr.... TVR went bust before Marcos did!