Morris Marina - was it really that bad?

[2xChevrons]

A993LAD said:

It's all about Style apparently. Daily Telegraph magazine 1975.....

Edited by A993LAD on Thursday 12th May 14:01

I think the styling was one thing they generally got absolutely right on the Marina. It wasn't quite as good a marriage of American styling cues at a British scale as the Hillman Avenger, but (imo) it's a better-looker than the Hillman Hunter and better-proportioned than the Vauxhall Viva. The Cortina Mk3 looked better in its higher specs but looked decidedly plain and cheap in the lower ones, which the Marina didn't really suffer from. The estate particularly was a very neat job (BL always seemed to be particularly good at turning average-looking saloons into better-looking estates).

That brand new body just needed better running gear. As I've pondered previously, just opting to re-use the coils/struts suspension from the Triumph Toledo rather than the Minor's torsion bars/lever arms would have been a big help. Even fitting telescopic dampers to the front and mounting the rear dampers vertically in proper hard-points built into the rear arches would have improved things.

[A993LAD]

£1,400 for that car in 1975 according to the ad.

[coppice]

Sorry but I think Marinas looked just as awful as they drove . Generic, inoffensive pap , made worse by tiny wheels lost in the arches . Most stuff then was not great in this sector., either inoffensive (Hunter ) or tame US derivative (Avenger, Mk3 Cortina , Victor) . The best looking UK car of the era was the lovely Mk 2 Cortina , especially in 1600E form , with chunky Rostyle wheels I liked the Fiat 125 too , the twincam helping but like the 124 its legacy was tarnished by Eastern bloc knock offs years later.

[Mr lestat]

coppice said:

Sorry but I think Marinas looked just as awful as they drove . Generic, inoffensive pap , made worse by tiny wheels lost in the arches . Most stuff then was not great in this sector., either inoffensive (Hunter ) or tame US derivative (Avenger, Mk3 Cortina , Victor) . The best looking UK car of the era was the lovely Mk 2 Cortina , especially in 1600E form , with chunky Rostyle wheels I liked the Fiat 125 too , the twincam helping but like the 124 its legacy was tarnished by Eastern bloc knock offs years later.

You can’t say the mk2 Cortina is in the same era as the Mk3,Cortina, the marina, the avenger etc as they are 70’s. Mk2 is very much 60’s

[LuS1fer]

Mr lestat said:

coppice said:

Sorry but I think Marinas looked just as awful as they drove . Generic, inoffensive pap , made worse by tiny wheels lost in the arches . Most stuff then was not great in this sector., either inoffensive (Hunter ) or tame US derivative (Avenger, Mk3 Cortina , Victor) . The best looking UK car of the era was the lovely Mk 2 Cortina , especially in 1600E form , with chunky Rostyle wheels I liked the Fiat 125 too , the twincam helping but like the 124 its legacy was tarnished by Eastern bloc knock offs years later.

You can’t say the mk2 Cortina is in the same era as the Mk3,Cortina, the marina, the avenger etc as they are 70’s. Mk2 is very much 60’s

Yes and Vauxhall had an uphill battle trying to pitch the smaller Viva/Magnum against the Mk III Cortina while pitching the "Transcontinental" Victor/VX/Ventora against the Granada and Triumphs and Rovers as the BMC Land Crab was both ugly and past its sell-by date.

[coppice]

Mr lestat said:

You can’t say the mk2 Cortina is in the same era as the Mk3,Cortina, the marina, the avenger etc as they are 70’s. Mk2 is very much 60’s

I was making a general point, hence 'era' , not decade . Very little time separated the Mk 2 from the Marina and thousands shared the same roads at the same time . Re the Austin 1800 , BTW , I was a fan - brave , not anodyne looks , amazing space and ride and , ISTR , even self dipping headlights

[aeropilot]

coppice said:

Mr lestat said:

You can’t say the mk2 Cortina is in the same era as the Mk3,Cortina, the marina, the avenger etc as they are 70’s. Mk2 is very much 60’s

I was making a general point, hence 'era' , not decade . Very little time separated the Mk 2 from the Marina and thousands shared the same roads at the same time .

If anything, the fact that the Marina came out within a year of the last Mk.2 Cortina coming off the line, just highlighted the fact that the Marina was so bad, given that's it's underpinnings were in fact a decade older in tech than the Cortina, being not much more than a Moggy Minor wearing a flower power frock.......

When I had my Marina TC Coupe in the early 80's a mate of mine had a lovely condition 1600E in Aubergine, and it felt a much more modern car than my Marina TC in just about every regard.

[matchmaker]

coppice said:

Mr lestat said:

You can’t say the mk2 Cortina is in the same era as the Mk3,Cortina, the marina, the avenger etc as they are 70’s. Mk2 is very much 60’s

I was making a general point, hence 'era' , not decade . Very little time separated the Mk 2 from the Marina and thousands shared the same roads at the same time . Re the Austin 1800 , BTW , I was a fan - brave , not anodyne looks , amazing space and ride and , ISTR , even self dipping headlights

I don't recall the Land Crab having self dipping headlights. It did have a foot operated dipper switch.

[a8hex]

matchmaker said:

I don't recall the Land Crab having self dipping headlights. It did have a foot operated dipper switch.

These were common and their passing is a sad loss

[Sticks.]

a8hex said:

matchmaker said:

I don't recall the Land Crab having self dipping headlights. It did have a foot operated dipper switch.

These were common and their passing is a sad loss

Unless you went from one to a Mk1 Escort and found you'd applied screenwash.

[Touring442]

Yertis said:

If you were to drive that Marina along Portobello Road now many people would think your car ice cool.

A nice condition Coupe in blaze orange, black tulip or glacier white on a set of Cosmic alloys would be VERY down with the kids. They don't much care that someone 40 or 50 years older than them thought they were crap. With the roads awash with rubbish like Qashqais, PSA/VAG stuff as well as more and more electric junk, cars like Marinas, Allegros, 120Y Sunnys etc are now in high demand. Nobody cares whether they came last in a CAR group test in 1976.

They weren't great when new, but a few choice mods such as telescopic dampers and so on and it would be alright as old cars go. I would gladly smoke a seventies humdrum saloon as a daily around town. Modern scrap doesn't interest me at all.

[coppice]

matchmaker said:

I don't recall the Land Crab having self dipping headlights. It did have a foot operated dipper switch.

Oh yes , but most cars did . I have a distinct memory , though , of being driven by a friend's mum along Wensleydale at night and her pointing out, and my noticing , that her 1800 self dipped - erratically , because it reacted to road signs etc

[Daggsy]

.
If the Mk3 Cortina was so great, why did Ford revert back to the Mk2 styling with the Mk IV & Mk V Cortinas ?

[Touring442]

Daggsy said:

.
If the Mk3 Cortina was so great, why did Ford revert back to the Mk2 styling with the Mk IV & Mk V Cortinas ?

They didn't.

Uwe Bahnsen at Ford mildly restyled the 1970 Taunus to bring it up to date.

[coppice]

The Mark 4 was nothing really like the Mark 2 . But the Mark 4 was a good looking , handsome car - if Mercedes had a made a Cortina it would have looked like this.

[mickrick]

I owned a brown 4 door back in the day. I bought it when I was poor, up to my neck in my first mortgage, and it was cheap. It got me to work and back without incident, never let me down, and never cost me a penny. I just drove it. Couldn't fault it.

[Rob 131 Sport]

Touring442 said:

Yertis said:

If you were to drive that Marina along Portobello Road now many people would think your car ice cool.

A nice condition Coupe in blaze orange, black tulip or glacier white on a set of Cosmic alloys would be VERY down with the kids. They don't much care that someone 40 or 50 years older than them thought they were crap. With the roads awash with rubbish like Qashqais, PSA/VAG stuff as well as more and more electric junk, cars like Marinas, Allegros, 120Y Sunnys etc are now in high demand. Nobody cares whether they came last in a CAR group test in 1976.

A Great Post. MPV’s and Electric are just not for me. I’ve noticed for a number of years how male 30 somethings drive MPV’s very aggressively with an angry annoyed look on their face that life is cruel.
I’ve often wondered whether it’s the Wife that insisted on such a type of vehicle when what they really wanted was a saloon / hatch/ estate Alfa, Audi, BMW, Jaguar or Mercedes

Edited by Rob 131 Sport on Sunday 15th May 10:27

[AW111]

My runaround for a number of years around the turn of the century was a much modified Datsun 120Y.

The modifications were all to make it a more suitable country road hack rather than a sports sedan, but it served me well for many years and km before it rotted from the seaside air.

So I'd say that apart from crash worthiness, many 70's cars can be improved into a fun daily driver.

[a8hex]

Rob 131 Sport said:

A Great Post. MPV’s and Electric are just not for me. I’ve noticed for a number of years how male 30 somethings drive MPV’s very aggressively with an angry annoyed look on their face that life is cruel.
I’ve often wondered whether it’s the Wife that insisted on such a type of vehicle when what they really wanted was a saloon / hatch/ estate Alfa, Audi, BMW, Jaguar or Mercedes

Back in the 90s I had a few colleagues in this situation. I don't think hate quite covered their feelings for them.
Mind the first one I came across professed to love his, drove it like he stole it, liked the higher up driving position improving the view and would go on about how well it handled while it was lurching and bouncing around, the weight transitions in S bends were particularly worrying.

Rob 131 Sport said:

Modern scrap doesn't interest me at all.

But, But ... but...
in modern scrap you'll be able to change the colour of all the LED lights inside and program them to be different depending on which key is used to unlock the car.
You could never have none that even after the Marina was renamed the Ital.

[2xChevrons]

coppice said:

Oh yes , but most cars did . I have a distinct memory , though , of being driven by a friend's mum along Wensleydale at night and her pointing out, and my noticing , that her 1800 self dipped - erratically , because it reacted to road signs etc

No Landcrab (or other BMC/BL product) had self-dipping headlamps. The technology did exist at the time, and was a widely available option on cars in America and certain Japanese marques - widely available but rarely specified because it was expensive unreliable and erratic in operation.

The closest the 1800 got was an arrangement where the rear indicators and the brake lamps operated at reduced brightness when the head/tail lamps were on, to prevent dazzle at night. I'm not sure you could even buy auto-dipping systems as an aftermarket accessory in the 60s and 70s. I suspect your friend's mum was yanking your chain via judicious and subtle use of the foot-operated dipper switch. Or the electric system was (literally) on the blink!