AROnline » Morris

Concepts and prototypes : The Minor that got away

Keith Adams — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 23:42:43 +0000

Andrew Elphick dives into the archive and finds a forgotten ‘nearly’ entry into the World Sportscar Championship 36 years ago in 1977… Perhaps Porsche will never know how close it came to losing the 1977 world championship for makes. Unthinkable? Possibly, but one must remember that during the course of last season, most of the [...]

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Video : Morris Marina advert (1971)

Keith Adams — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 21:28:23 +0000

Beauty with brains behind it… The Morris Marina was to be the bright white Knight of the recently created British Leyland Motor Corporation when it hit the market in 1971 – this advert did a great job of making it seem sexy enough to entice Britain’s hard-working sales reps. Would you think any manufacturer would [...]

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Blog : Thirty years ago this month – Morris Motors RIP

Keith Adams — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 21:43:23 +0000

Keith Adams July 1982. It’s a long time ago now. In fact, more than a generation distant from where we are now. Back then, the talk was of recession, the Falklands War, and Bucks Fizz. And although hadn’t quite quite escaped the last vestiges of 1970s bleakness, the more visionary among us could see a [...]

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eBay Find of the Week : Morris Ital time-capsule for sale

Keith Adams — Sat, 19 May 2012 15:57:36 +0000

Keith Adams Never, ever underestimate the ability for our classic car market to turn up some amazing barn find cars. We recently told you about a Rover 200 with 12 miles on the clock which was up for sale and this Morris Ital will seem positively mileagey in comparison, having covered 300 miles – but, for those who [...]

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Not their finest hour : Morris Marina and Ital

Mike Humble — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:33:23 +0000

We take another lighthearted look at some of the cars which will be forever remembered for all the wrong reasons. Mike Humble takes another journey back in time and recalls the car which should have put him off BL related products for life, but instead, got him hooked…. The Morris Marina and Ital. Practical classic, [...]

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Blog : Bent-Eight Marinas

Keith Adams — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:40:35 +0000

Ian Elliott In the recent thread about 2-litre Itals/Marinas, the subject of V8-engined Marinas was brought up. If I have rambled about this in any previous AROnline submission, I apologise, but here goes: Stuffing V8s into small, unsuspecting family cars is a long-practiced amusement of the hot-rodding fraternity, and the more unlikely the starting point, [...]

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Police cars : Morris

Keith Adams — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 09:22:21 +0000

The Morris Minor was a very popular Panda car throughout the 1960s. Also shown here is what must be one of the rarest of police cars, the Morris 1800, which was sold for just seven months before being relauched as the Princess. Morris Minor A Metropolitan Police Force Morris Minor Panda car. A Morris Minor [...]

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Commericials : GPO/BT vans

Keith Adams — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 08:57:53 +0000

The installation and maintenance of Britain’s telephone network was originally the responsibility of the Post Office, and as with their purchases of Royal Mail vans, Morris (and later BMC) was traditionally the favoured supplier. This virtual stranglehold was broken in the 1970s, although BL/Austin Rover continued to supply vans during the 1980s, a decade which [...]

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In production : Cowley timeline

Keith Adams — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 15:44:48 +0000

EARLY last century, among the green meadows to the South of the dreaming spires of Oxford City, there was a village called Temple Cowley. In one corner of this village there was a large, dilapidated building that had once been a military college but was left empty for 20 years, until… 1912 to 1919 William [...]

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Marques : Morris

Keith Adams — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 15:29:53 +0000

Morris vied with Austin to become one of Britain’s largest carmakers. It produced a number of iconic cars such as the ‘Bull Nose’ and the Issigonis created Minor before becoming a major part of the British Motor Corporation in 1952… IN the early part of the 20th century, among the green and pleasant meadows to [...]

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The cars : Morris Marina/Ital development history

Keith Adams — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 08:25:53 +0000

Unashamedly created as Cowley’s Cortina, the Marina was to lead Morris – and more importantly, British Leyland – into a new decade of Ford bashing… However, it missed the bus in terms of size and engine range, and because there was no budget to replace it, the Marina remained in production for far too long… [...]

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Also known as : Morris Marina

Keith Adams — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 21:59:41 +0000

In this gallery, we take a look at some of the names used to sell various versions of the Morris Marina in overseas markets, plus one that didn’t quite make it… Of course, as those of you who have visited the BMC 1100/1300 page in this gallery will already know, the Marina featured here was [...]

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Engines : O-Series

Keith Adams — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 18:24:13 +0000

The O-Series was designed to act as the company’s mid-range engine mainstay for the late 1970s and beyond. If at first you don’t succeed… The formation of Austin-Morris from the ashes of BMC in 1969 allowed BLMC’s product planners to focus on the demands of the middle market, without worrying too much about the more [...]

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Engines : B-Series

Keith Adams — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 17:40:57 +0000

The B-Series engine started out as a humble 1.2-litre unit that powered the Austin A40 Devon. Over time, it was developed – and developed – and developed. Middle-market mainstay After the end of World War II, Austin and Morris continued to rely on pre-war engines for their mid-range family cars. Out of the two companies, [...]

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Concepts and prototypes : Morris Marina

Keith Adams — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 19:19:46 +0000

In 1967, Joe Edwards of BMH managed to secure the services of Roy Haynes from Ford as a stylist at the new BMH/Pressed Steel styling studios at Cowley in Oxford. Haynes had previously successfully styled the Ford Cortina MkII and he applied the style of this design to his new project, ADO28 – what was [...]

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Concepts and prototypes : ADO77

Keith Adams — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 19:12:47 +0000

The Morris Marina was conceived in a hurry, but designers consoled themselves in the fact that it was only going to last five or six years… Here we reveal pictures of the ADO77, and discuss why it never came into fruition. Missing Marina THE trouble with developing and launching a car in a hurry is [...]

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In production : Morris Marina

Keith Adams — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:52:07 +0000

During the development of the Marina, it was decided that the Cowley plant in Oxford needed an overhaul – the result was that the production line was completely gutted, giving the plant the capability of producing some 5000 cars per week. These photographs were taken to demonstrate just how much of Cowley was all-new, and [...]

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Tested : Maxi, Marina and rivals

Keith Adams — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:41:12 +0000

Taken from the first-ever issue of What Car? magazine This 1973 test makes fascinating reading, and is a great insight into how road tests used to be. The repmobiles compared Comparison between the Maxi, Marina and rivals Ten years ago the average man in the street would have been happy with a Mini, Imp or [...]

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Morris Marina/Ital : The Austins

Keith Adams — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:36:10 +0000

The car known in the UK as the Morris Marina was sold as the Austin Marina in a number of overseas markets, including the US, Canada and South Africa. USA Canada South Africa South African Marina brochure Marina brochure supplied by John Shepherd

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Morris Marina/Ital : E-Series powered in Australia

Keith Adams — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:21:58 +0000

A question that is often asked by Marina enthusiasts is why-oh-why did the Australian version of the car use the Maxi E-Series engine, instead of the B-Series, as used in the UK. We posed this question to ex-Leyland Australia Operations manager, Merv Sheather and former Leyland Australia Parts Manager, Phil West. The answers were enlightening… [...]

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