Morris Marina - was it really that bad?

[Etypephil]

aeropilot said:

Etypephil said:

Shezbo said:

Marina...yep truly dreadful...

I cannot think of any redeeming feature?

Quicker (in TC guise) than a BMW 2002tii,

Only when pushed off the edge of a cliff maybe.

Also on the A12, Brentwood to Colchester, by more than two minutes (less than forty miles). The Marina was far from state of the art but, BMW = braindead man’s wheels.

[finlo]

Etypephil said:

Also on the A12, Brentwood to Colchester, by more than two minutes (less than forty miles). The Marina was far from state of the art but, BMW = braindead man’s wheels.

My 71 TC coupe would easily outdrag my mate's 1760 twin Webber equipped Mexico, and that ladies and gents is why I bought it!

[Escort3500]

finlo said:

Etypephil said:

Also on the A12, Brentwood to Colchester, by more than two minutes (less than forty miles). The Marina was far from state of the art but, BMW = braindead man’s wheels.

My 71 TC coupe would easily outdrag my mate's 1760 twin Webber equipped Mexico, and that ladies and gents is why I bought it!

My TC must have been really crap as my mate’s standard ‘75 Mk ll Mexico wiped the floor with me. Regularly

[Touring442]

The TC wasn't as fast as a standard Mexico, 0-80 was about 3-4 seconds behind.

[finlo]

Escort3500 said:

My TC must have been really crap as my mate’s standard ‘75 Mk ll Mexico wiped the floor with me. Regularly

Actually it would outdrag just about anything at the time, it did have a Goldseal engine and as I never drove another I had nothing to benchmark it by.

I once lent it to a rally driver mate when his car was off the road and to this day he maintains to this day that it was the fastest thing he'd driven in a straight line for what it was.

That doesn't detract from the fact it didn't stop, steer or go around corners and I couldn't keep up with brake pads, leaf springs, gearboxes, propshafts etc!

[sideways man]

Two mates of mine; one with marina tc, the other a mgb. Same engine in same tune. The mg was always quicker, by a reasonable amount.

[aeropilot]

finlo said:

Escort3500 said:

My TC must have been really crap as my mate’s standard ‘75 Mk ll Mexico wiped the floor with me. Regularly

Actually it would outdrag just about anything at the time, it did have a Goldseal engine and as I never drove another I had nothing to benchmark it by.

I once lent it to a rally driver mate when his car was off the road and to this day he maintains to this day that it was the fastest thing he'd driven in a straight line for what it was.

That doesn't detract from the fact it didn't stop, steer or go around corners and I couldn't keep up with brake pads, leaf springs, gearboxes, propshafts etc!

This is the thing. The one and only redeeming feature of the TC that I can remember from my ownership is the old B-series lump was a lusty old hector........but as everything else in the drivetrain and chassis was so crap, it wasn't really a serious challenger.
I had my TC Coupe after my 2nd RS2000, and a Mex, (all 3 were standard) and the TC just wasn't in the same league - at all, by any measure.
It could have been.....but in usual BL fashion, they blew it.

[Escort3500]

finlo said:

Escort3500 said:

My TC must have been really crap as my mate’s standard ‘75 Mk ll Mexico wiped the floor with me. Regularly

Actually it would outdrag just about anything at the time, it did have a Goldseal engine and as I never drove another I had nothing to benchmark it by.

I once lent it to a rally driver mate when his car was off the road and to this day he maintains to this day that it was the fastest thing he'd driven in a straight line for what it was.

That doesn't detract from the fact it didn't stop, steer or go around corners and I couldn't keep up with brake pads, leaf springs, gearboxes, propshafts etc!

Familiar traits of mine too

[rockingron]

sold a mk1 escort mexico RS custom and bought a 1.8 tc marina saloon dayglow green needed more space as had one year old and another on way, at the time seemed like a good car never let us down drove to germany and back went allover in it. wish still still had mexico sold it for 9 hundred pounds and it was immaculate remmember drilling hole in back shelf of both cars and under seats to fit child seats and harness for pram base how times have changed now its all isofix.

[aeropilot]

Brian Culcheth in a works TC on the '71 RAC




and....good old CCC, those were the days.

[finlo]

aeropilot said:

Brian Culcheth in a works TC on the '71 RAC




and....good old CCC, those were the days.

Non TC grill's, which one has the indicators the wrong way around;)

[lowdrag]

A sudden thought. Does anyone remember a Marina being stolen? I for one have never heard of one. I suppose even thieves have standards.

[soxboy]

finlo said:

aeropilot said:

Brian Culcheth in a works TC on the '71 RAC




and....good old CCC, those were the days.

Non TC grill's, which one has the indicators the wrong way around;)

Wipers swapped over on the top two one too. Has anyone every satisfactorily explained why RHD Marinas have a LHD wiper pattern (and vice-versa)?

[awg454]

The very first ones like mine had the wipers the correct way,but I understand they had problems with them lifting at speed,and the solution was to swap them round pic attached of mine again !

[Touring442]

finlo said:

aeropilot said:

Brian Culcheth in a works TC on the '71 RAC




and....good old CCC, those were the days.

Non TC grill's, which one has the indicators the wrong way around;)

It's a 1.3...

[finlo]

Touring442 said:

It's a 1.3...

That may be so but the caption says it's a TC.

[anonymous-user]

Escort3500 said:

Raygun said:

cardigankid said:

When I think of the TR7 I think gutless, phoney styling, poser's car for the ignorant.

That's a rather sweeping statement.
You've got form on being a tt.

Phoney styling. Bizarre comment.

To you they might of been phoney styling but at the time a lot of people liked it hence they sold over 100,000 of them and a lot more like myself would've loved to buy one but couldn't afford one. Lots of people now of course think they're being 'too cool for school' by calling them crap and not admitting they actually liked them when they first came on the market.
As for that Cardigan Kid I seem to remember he's a nazi fan boy and as he said anybody who had a TR7 was ignorant I stand by my comments that the bloke is a tt.

[hilly10]

sideways man said:

Two mates of mine; one with marina tc, the other a mgb. Same engine in same tune. The mg was always quicker, by a reasonable amount.

That would be due to the aerodynamics of the MGB

[hilly10]

Brian Culcheth still writes in the Triumph monthly mag, I do look forward to his column.

[coppice]

I am still frowning over the bizzare claim that a TC was faster than a BMW 2002 tii - it really wasn't, by any measure I ever encountered . Which included watching the excellent Roger Bell win the British Production Saloon Car championship in a 2002 . I don't recall if any Marinas were on track ( I only recall them on rally stages) and I suspect their only presence was in the car park ...

Some silly comments about the TR7 too - the turret top of the fhc was poorly resolved but the convertible looked great. Both had a decent interior , good grip and were decent successors to the tired MGB . The V8 rally version was bloody wonderful to watch -and hear !