355 Morris Marina 1.3 Super Coupe (1970)
Morris Marina 1.3 Coupe (1971-78) Engine 1275cc S4 OHV Production 515,888 (1.3 only but including the Mk.II 1,3 models)
Registration Number GPC 421 J
MORRIS SET
www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157623690377489...
The registration on this car denotes a 1980 vehicle which is clearly wrong, it now sports the registration CFK 488 K
Launched by BL as a Cortina beater as a 1.3 and 1.8ltr Coupe and Saloon with Estates from 1972. Conventional engineering and specification and scary understeer on the larger engine models.
The range was supplemented with a range of higher performance 1.8 models, with a Mk.II version from 1978-80 in total around 953000 were sold.
Despite it becoming fashionable in the 1970's and 1980's to bash the Marina it provided undemanding moting and sold almost 1000000 cars. What is often forgotten is that the Marina was also an accomplished rally car. In 1970 BMC chairman Donald Stokes had ordered the closure of the BMC Competitions Department, by the time the Marina came on stream stage rallying was gaining in popularity and in early 1971 it was decided to use the new model in the 1971 RAC rally, the following November. Luckily for BL, Special Tuning had a rally driver on its books by the name of Brian Culcheth and so with no team, no mechanics, no funding and initially no sponsorship a team of talented engineers developed a 1.3 Coupe into a rally car, funded purely by sales of performance parts from Special Tuning. The 1.3 engine was chosen against the more powerful 1.8 on the basis of its weight affecting the handling of the 1.8 engined cars.With the 1.3 and using Mini components decent horepower figures were achieved and in the 1971 RAC Rally the team claimed 1st in class. Subsequently, the car was entered in seventeen more national and international rallies until 1975, either being placed or winning class honours in twelve of them, the others being crashes/failures.
For 1976, BL management decided to move to the Triumph Dolomite Sprint for its main rallying weapon.
A big thanks for 21.5 million views
Shot 20:04:2014 at Weston Park Ref 99a-355
355 Morris Marina 1.3 Super Coupe (1970)
Morris Marina 1.3 Coupe (1971-78) Engine 1275cc S4 OHV Production 515,888 (1.3 only but including the Mk.II 1,3 models)
Registration Number GPC 421 J
MORRIS SET
www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157623690377489...
The registration on this car denotes a 1980 vehicle which is clearly wrong, it now sports the registration CFK 488 K
Launched by BL as a Cortina beater as a 1.3 and 1.8ltr Coupe and Saloon with Estates from 1972. Conventional engineering and specification and scary understeer on the larger engine models.
The range was supplemented with a range of higher performance 1.8 models, with a Mk.II version from 1978-80 in total around 953000 were sold.
Despite it becoming fashionable in the 1970's and 1980's to bash the Marina it provided undemanding moting and sold almost 1000000 cars. What is often forgotten is that the Marina was also an accomplished rally car. In 1970 BMC chairman Donald Stokes had ordered the closure of the BMC Competitions Department, by the time the Marina came on stream stage rallying was gaining in popularity and in early 1971 it was decided to use the new model in the 1971 RAC rally, the following November. Luckily for BL, Special Tuning had a rally driver on its books by the name of Brian Culcheth and so with no team, no mechanics, no funding and initially no sponsorship a team of talented engineers developed a 1.3 Coupe into a rally car, funded purely by sales of performance parts from Special Tuning. The 1.3 engine was chosen against the more powerful 1.8 on the basis of its weight affecting the handling of the 1.8 engined cars.With the 1.3 and using Mini components decent horepower figures were achieved and in the 1971 RAC Rally the team claimed 1st in class. Subsequently, the car was entered in seventeen more national and international rallies until 1975, either being placed or winning class honours in twelve of them, the others being crashes/failures.
For 1976, BL management decided to move to the Triumph Dolomite Sprint for its main rallying weapon.
A big thanks for 21.5 million views
Shot 20:04:2014 at Weston Park Ref 99a-355