Morris Marina - was it really that bad?
Discussion
bristolracer said:
... I wonder where Hyundai would be now if they had chosen a Cortina?
NotSureIfSerious.gifhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Stellar
WestyCarl said:
My first car (mum's cast off) was a Marina 1.8l Coupe.
Loaded with some mates it could outrun fiesta 1.1's (which were the other affordable 1st car of choice)
However with knackered shocks and crappy tyres it was lethal, at least in the hands of an 18yr old thinking he's a racing driver.
On the plus side it was quite strong, never once, when pulled out of a ditch by a lcoal famer did it not get me home
A few years ago I contacted the Morris Marina Owners club to see if I could rent one for a weekend reunion with my old mates, nobody was interested which is probably for the best.
Carl, your Westfield probably has an Allegro steering column - my SEiW certainly has!Loaded with some mates it could outrun fiesta 1.1's (which were the other affordable 1st car of choice)
However with knackered shocks and crappy tyres it was lethal, at least in the hands of an 18yr old thinking he's a racing driver.On the plus side it was quite strong, never once, when pulled out of a ditch by a lcoal famer did it not get me home
A few years ago I contacted the Morris Marina Owners club to see if I could rent one for a weekend reunion with my old mates, nobody was interested which is probably for the best.
I had one. 1300 Fastback (arf!) coupe in British(ish) Racing Green(ish). Where it wasn't rusty
It was ....and literally no-one else in the history of human achievement has ever typed this sentence before.... far and away the most reliable and economical car I've ever owned
I bought it when I needed to perform a 40 mile a day commute into the middle of nowhere for agricultural college and because it was the cheapest car in the Friday Ad that week. One owner from new, who'd kept receipts for everything from wiper blades to full service history. Poor thing didn't know what was about to hit it in the indifferent ownership of a mechanically unsympathetic hippy. Over the next few years it uncomplainingly did the daily grind in rain, sleet and snow, crossed muccy farmland and rutted tracks with aplomb, did doughnuts in the gravel carparks, conveyed anywhere up to six humans and several dogs at a time and generally was shamefully neglected and abused. In all that time it never let me down once. Except maybe when it caught fire, but that was really my fault for dropping a lit fag down the gaping panel gap around the steering column shroud
Anyway, it cost me £320 and other than fuel and oil, all it cost me in three years was an exhaust (which was about £50 including manifold!). Nothing EVER went wrong! I sold it for £300 to my sisters then-boyfriend, who within a couple of months had totally caned it into the ground with rumbling mains and oil leaking everywhere. How he brutalised it so badly when all my best efforts had failed I've no idea, it certainly wasn't through want of trying. At the same time my wife shared an estate with her friend at Uni. It was bright red/orange and huge, and was thus nicknamed the Red Dwarf and was as seemingly unkillable via neglect as my coupe, taking a fairly hefty shunt to finally make it die
TL:DR I'd buy another like a shot... if they weren't all daft money now. Just cos something's defied the odds to last for a long time doesn't actually make it a classic
me-and-marianne by Nick Liassides, on Flickr
The same could arguably be said of that hairdo! In my defence, it was in another life
marianne by Nick Liassides, on Flickr
It was ....and literally no-one else in the history of human achievement has ever typed this sentence before.... far and away the most reliable and economical car I've ever owned
I bought it when I needed to perform a 40 mile a day commute into the middle of nowhere for agricultural college and because it was the cheapest car in the Friday Ad that week. One owner from new, who'd kept receipts for everything from wiper blades to full service history. Poor thing didn't know what was about to hit it in the indifferent ownership of a mechanically unsympathetic hippy. Over the next few years it uncomplainingly did the daily grind in rain, sleet and snow, crossed muccy farmland and rutted tracks with aplomb, did doughnuts in the gravel carparks, conveyed anywhere up to six humans and several dogs at a time and generally was shamefully neglected and abused. In all that time it never let me down once. Except maybe when it caught fire, but that was really my fault for dropping a lit fag down the gaping panel gap around the steering column shroud
Anyway, it cost me £320 and other than fuel and oil, all it cost me in three years was an exhaust (which was about £50 including manifold!). Nothing EVER went wrong! I sold it for £300 to my sisters then-boyfriend, who within a couple of months had totally caned it into the ground with rumbling mains and oil leaking everywhere. How he brutalised it so badly when all my best efforts had failed I've no idea, it certainly wasn't through want of trying. At the same time my wife shared an estate with her friend at Uni. It was bright red/orange and huge, and was thus nicknamed the Red Dwarf and was as seemingly unkillable via neglect as my coupe, taking a fairly hefty shunt to finally make it die
TL:DR I'd buy another like a shot... if they weren't all daft money now. Just cos something's defied the odds to last for a long time doesn't actually make it a classic
me-and-marianne by Nick Liassides, on Flickr
The same could arguably be said of that hairdo! In my defence, it was in another life
marianne by Nick Liassides, on Flickr
baconsarney said:
Anyone here fess up to having owned one 
Yep, I did.I bought a Marina 1.8TC Coupe as a cheap shed runabout in 1985 after my RS2000 was nicked.
Yes, it was really that bad, but in a perverse way, it was quite fun, and a good driver trainer, with understeer, oversteer and any combination of both available at safe low speeds (20mph or less)
Went through 2 gearboxes in 6 months though...........
t 60's American muscle cars were but I had one back in 1990 when I was about 26.I had a maroon 1974 1.3 which I bought for £495, ran it for over 5 years as a daily covering about 50k miles so I could have a TR6 as a toy.
Never serviced it, very rarely washed it, just kept the oil topped up as and when I remembered, used it for tip runs, only ever needed to replace one leaf spring on the back as a result of filling the back seats and boot with turf, christ that stuff is heavy.
Never let me down until finally rust took hold and it was scrapped before the boot departed company with the rest of the car. I was fortunate enough to get a company car just before it expired.
Loved it.
Edited to 1974 not 1994.
Never serviced it, very rarely washed it, just kept the oil topped up as and when I remembered, used it for tip runs, only ever needed to replace one leaf spring on the back as a result of filling the back seats and boot with turf, christ that stuff is heavy.
Never let me down until finally rust took hold and it was scrapped before the boot departed company with the rest of the car. I was fortunate enough to get a company car just before it expired.
Loved it.
Edited to 1974 not 1994.
Edited by Monkeylegend on Wednesday 13th November 16:44
soxboy said:
Probably doing as well as they are right now, given that Hyundai built Cortinas (and Granadas) under licence until the early 80s.
Truckosaurus said:
bristolracer said:
... I wonder where Hyundai would be now if they had chosen a Cortina?
NotSureIfSerious.gifhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Stellar
Monkeylegend said:
I had a maroon 1994 1.3 which I bought for £495, ran it for over 5 years as a daily covering about 50k miles so I could have a TR6 as a toy.
Never serviced it, very rarely washed it, just kept the oil topped up as and when I remembered, used it for tip runs, only ever needed to replace one leaf spring on the back as a result of filling the back seats and boot with turf, christ that stuff is heavy.
Never let me down until finally rust took hold and it was scrapped before the boot departed company with the rest of the car. I was fortunate enough to get a company car just before it expired.
Loved it.
The 94 models were probably pretty good compared to the earlier ones.Never serviced it, very rarely washed it, just kept the oil topped up as and when I remembered, used it for tip runs, only ever needed to replace one leaf spring on the back as a result of filling the back seats and boot with turf, christ that stuff is heavy.
Never let me down until finally rust took hold and it was scrapped before the boot departed company with the rest of the car. I was fortunate enough to get a company car just before it expired.
Loved it.
Mercky said:
Monkeylegend said:
I had a maroon 1994 1.3 which I bought for £495, ran it for over 5 years as a daily covering about 50k miles so I could have a TR6 as a toy.
Never serviced it, very rarely washed it, just kept the oil topped up as and when I remembered, used it for tip runs, only ever needed to replace one leaf spring on the back as a result of filling the back seats and boot with turf, christ that stuff is heavy.
Never let me down until finally rust took hold and it was scrapped before the boot departed company with the rest of the car. I was fortunate enough to get a company car just before it expired.
Loved it.
The 94 models were probably pretty good compared to the earlier ones.Never serviced it, very rarely washed it, just kept the oil topped up as and when I remembered, used it for tip runs, only ever needed to replace one leaf spring on the back as a result of filling the back seats and boot with turf, christ that stuff is heavy.
Never let me down until finally rust took hold and it was scrapped before the boot departed company with the rest of the car. I was fortunate enough to get a company car just before it expired.
Loved it.
Monkeylegend said:
I had a maroon 1994 1.3 which I bought for £495, ran it for over 5 years as a daily covering about 50k miles so I could have a TR6 as a toy.
Never serviced it, very rarely washed it, just kept the oil topped up as and when I remembered, used it for tip runs, only ever needed to replace one leaf spring on the back as a result of filling the back seats and boot with turf, christ that stuff is heavy.
Never let me down until finally rust took hold and it was scrapped before the boot departed company with the rest of the car. I was fortunate enough to get a company car just before it expired.
Loved it.
Surely you mean 1984?Never serviced it, very rarely washed it, just kept the oil topped up as and when I remembered, used it for tip runs, only ever needed to replace one leaf spring on the back as a result of filling the back seats and boot with turf, christ that stuff is heavy.
Never let me down until finally rust took hold and it was scrapped before the boot departed company with the rest of the car. I was fortunate enough to get a company car just before it expired.
Loved it.
Monkeylegend said:
I had a maroon 1994 1.3 which I bought for £495, ran it for over 5 years as a daily covering about 50k miles so I could have a TR6 as a toy.
Never serviced it, very rarely washed it, just kept the oil topped up as and when I remembered, used it for tip runs, only ever needed to replace one leaf spring on the back as a result of filling the back seats and boot with turf, christ that stuff is heavy.
Never let me down until finally rust took hold and it was scrapped before the boot departed company with the rest of the car. I was fortunate enough to get a company car just before it expired.
Loved it.
Surely you mean 1984? That would have been an Ital anyway wouldn't it?Never serviced it, very rarely washed it, just kept the oil topped up as and when I remembered, used it for tip runs, only ever needed to replace one leaf spring on the back as a result of filling the back seats and boot with turf, christ that stuff is heavy.
Never let me down until finally rust took hold and it was scrapped before the boot departed company with the rest of the car. I was fortunate enough to get a company car just before it expired.
Loved it.
motco said:
Monkeylegend said:
I had a maroon 1994 1.3 which I bought for £495, ran it for over 5 years as a daily covering about 50k miles so I could have a TR6 as a toy.
Never serviced it, very rarely washed it, just kept the oil topped up as and when I remembered, used it for tip runs, only ever needed to replace one leaf spring on the back as a result of filling the back seats and boot with turf, christ that stuff is heavy.
Never let me down until finally rust took hold and it was scrapped before the boot departed company with the rest of the car. I was fortunate enough to get a company car just before it expired.
Loved it.
Surely you mean 1984?Never serviced it, very rarely washed it, just kept the oil topped up as and when I remembered, used it for tip runs, only ever needed to replace one leaf spring on the back as a result of filling the back seats and boot with turf, christ that stuff is heavy.
Never let me down until finally rust took hold and it was scrapped before the boot departed company with the rest of the car. I was fortunate enough to get a company car just before it expired.
Loved it.
It just didn't seem that long ago but it's nearly 40 years since I bought it
Edited by Monkeylegend on Wednesday 13th November 16:49
I had a completely knackered 1.8 estate as my second car, replacing a 1500 Maxi that rotted away.
The Marina was so bad I got another Maxi!
The Marina had more than enough power for the back to step out in the rain, and on a run it did 60 to the gallon... of 20/50
A mate had a 1.8 coupe that nearly caught fire on the A34 coming out of Manchester, that he wrote off aquaplaning into the back of a Cortina on the Mancunian Way.
Those were the days, I think
The Marina was so bad I got another Maxi!
The Marina had more than enough power for the back to step out in the rain, and on a run it did 60 to the gallon... of 20/50
A mate had a 1.8 coupe that nearly caught fire on the A34 coming out of Manchester, that he wrote off aquaplaning into the back of a Cortina on the Mancunian Way.
Those were the days, I think
Monkeylegend said:
motco said:
Monkeylegend said:
I had a maroon 1994 1.3 which I bought for £495, ran it for over 5 years as a daily covering about 50k miles so I could have a TR6 as a toy.
Never serviced it, very rarely washed it, just kept the oil topped up as and when I remembered, used it for tip runs, only ever needed to replace one leaf spring on the back as a result of filling the back seats and boot with turf, christ that stuff is heavy.
Never let me down until finally rust took hold and it was scrapped before the boot departed company with the rest of the car. I was fortunate enough to get a company car just before it expired.
Loved it.
Surely you mean 1984?Never serviced it, very rarely washed it, just kept the oil topped up as and when I remembered, used it for tip runs, only ever needed to replace one leaf spring on the back as a result of filling the back seats and boot with turf, christ that stuff is heavy.
Never let me down until finally rust took hold and it was scrapped before the boot departed company with the rest of the car. I was fortunate enough to get a company car just before it expired.
Loved it.
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