AROnline » Marina/Ital

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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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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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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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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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 : 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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The converters : Mumford Marina Utility

Keith Adams — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:15:57 +0000

Mumfords of Plymouth offered several variations on the Marina theme: the convertible, a natty caravanette version, and this – the Utility. The all-year round Marina Side view of the Mumford Utility. The estate-from-cdv conversion was quite a popular phenomenom during the 1970s, and it is not difficult to see why when one views the low [...]

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The converters : Mumford Marina Convertible

Keith Adams — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:11:44 +0000

The Marina coupe had the potential to make a very attractive convertible, but it had a fundamental flaw… The open-top Marina Crayford devised this conversion based on the 2-door Marina coupe following an approach by Plymouth-based BL dealers Mumfords. The coupŽ’s rakish lines should have lent themsleves to an attractive drop-top car, but Crayford’s hands [...]

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Morris Marina/Ital : Huandu CAC6430

Keith Adams — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:07:34 +0000

Outwardly, it looked like an Ital with a nicer looking front bumper, but underneath, it sported a new chassis. The Huandu was built in Western China and proved fairly ubiquitous in its own part of the country… The following account was written for this site by Erik van Ingen Schenau, of the China Motor Vehicle [...]

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Blog : Why I love the Two Ronnies

Keith Adams — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 23:33:12 +0000

Keith Adams Just like washed out Bank Holiday weekends and warm beer, there’s something quintessentially English about the Two Ronnies. So who better to advertise that most English of car ranges, the Austin-Morris line-up from 1981. Would you be persuaded to jump into an Ital after watching this little advert? I probably would, but then [...]

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Tested : Marina vs Avenger

Matthew Hayward — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 19:58:43 +0000

Too close to call? Two doyens of the British family car market slug it out in the first of a new series of road tests… First published in Classic Car Weekly in August 2005, KEITH ADAMS pitted the Hillman Avenger against its arch rival from Cowley, the Morris Marina. It was a close call… Introduction [...]

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BMC>MG’s Top Ten sellers : 1952-2005

Keith Adams — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:04:37 +0000

Keith Adams WITH THE number of BMC/Leyland/Rover cars on our roads diminishing rapidly, we take stock of the successive companies’ ten most popular cars during the post-war years. Some of these numbers are going to shock you, simply because the cars are so rare on the road now. In fact, even the latest car on [...]

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