Sadly lost my dad last month and have recently begun the task of sorting out his things.

 

Today came across an invoice for the Morris Marina 1.8 Super he bought new late in 1972 and noted some interesting cost options;

 

Heated rear window

 

Servo brakes

 

Cigarette lighter

 

Oh and seatbelts

 

 

Shame it didn't have a laminated screen, remember a frightening incident where mum was driving it and approaching a sharp bend when the screen shattered; she couldn't see a thing. Thankfully those servo brakes were effective

 

 

TP

My grandad had a marina in yellow with a black vinyl roof. It used roughly equal quantities of oil and petrol. But to be fair he did do a fairly galactic mileage in it.

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My dad had a Marina which was replaced in 76 by a Cortina IV.

 

He watched as the whole sales team barrelled off down the first junction and all the wipers came on..........wrong stalk.

I'm surprised on the options list. My sister & BIL were off to some foreign parts ( he as our man in ***) and FO gave them interest free car loan, but "preferred2 the vehicle to fly the flag. They looked at a Mini ( original one, not the BMW "not a Mini" ), and almost every part was an optional extra. Engine --you name it. Initial choice was down to local servicing. But with the extras they decided on something else.

Marina- I remember all the horror stories over the rear end antics of the 1.8TC,which was basicly a 1.8 with two carbs. returning from abroad, we looked at cars and thought a Lada looked not bad at the price etc. but HP ( or lack of records) scuppered that idea ,and as i'd given dealer a deposit, I settled on a sick green ( SWIMBO'S DESCRIPTION) 1.8 Marina. For the money, I think I did well. Rear end antics -I'd suggest that was Top Gear problems,as I never had any rear end twitches. on the motorway- it cruised well at 70 , and could surge a lot higher if needed. At the traffic lights- it was a boy racer worst nightmare. I'd see them roll up alongside in their Escort etc, listening to the engine being revved, and watching the road arrowing a hundred yards ahead.  In the end I'd give them a chance- select second with a bit of revs, and watch the smug look as Boy racer moved slightly ahead, and the sick look on his face as the torque of the 1.8 kicked in and he was left behind.

Edited 15 March, 201511 yr by VWD

My dad had a Marina which was replaced in 76 by a Cortina IV.

 

He watched as the whole sales team barrelled off down the first junction and all the wipers came on..........wrong stalk.

 

Snap, though in my Dad's case the Mk IV replaced the Marina in '77. It was his first new car and it broke down on the day he bought it! We were visiting friends and had parked outside their house. The car refused to start when we left. Turned out the ignition leads had been secured to the bulkhead leaving no free play, and parking facing uphill let the engine settle back on the mounts and pulled the leads out of the distributor! I ended up with a year older Mk IV ten years later - the only model we had both had in common.

 

The Marina went through several local owners and a mate ended up buying it around the time I got my first car. It was weird being driven around in it again, particularly as it was now being driven fast (well, as fast as a 1.8 Marina was likely to move).

 

My Dad must have liked the Marina enough, as the Cortina was replaced by a Morris Ital. Tinted windows, a black vinyl roof and a cream cloth interior. I was impressed with it at the time, though I'm not sure I'd feel the same way now!

I'm sorry for your loss. Liking those cost options on your Dad's Marina  I'd an uncle who had an orange Marina when I was younger.

I had a white Marina 1300 Saloon in the early 80's. It got rallied, trialed and I only got rid of it because we wanted a bigger caravan.

I bet that brought so many memories of you and Dad and the car.

 

I think my Dad ticked the same options on his new Marina Coupe in 73 - It was Harvest Gold - the colour of the inside of a nappy

 

3 years later he traded it for a 4 door in the almost same green as the your current Skoda Spaceback.

 

 

 

The 1.8TC pretty much had the MGB donk so it was fun, but only on the straights - the 1948 Morris Minor chassis underneath didn't do corners!

I bought two Marinas for £125 in 1990 , kept one running with spares from the other and only spent £18 on it in a year (new battery) it was only the 1.3 but could take 4 of us and a boot full of beer and camping equipment for a weekend at Santa Pod and was really comfy and nice to drive , I've owned much worse cars

My Condolences for your Dad Tim.

I delivered a brand new Morris Ital 1.8 TC for a friend who worked for a BL dealer.

It demonstrated the worst understeer of any car I've ever Driven!

I had an old Mark II Cortina at the time and it was better in every respect.

No wonder BL went bust.....

Sorry to hear about your loss too.

 

My father had a T plate (78 I think) 1.8 Super that I learnt to drive in, took my test in, learnt that I was never going to be much of a spanner monkey after trying to "fettle" it (I tried advanced the timing by 2 degrees, and closed up the tappet clearances by about 30%) in an attempt to get it to breathe deeper at high engine revs. i don't think I really got the hang of the adjusting the distributor using the light bulb on/off method, the garage mechanic who serviced it after I had messed with it asked him which moron had been let loose on it.

It was also the first car I had a smash in, it had no rear end grip, and panic lift off oversteer in spades, as I found out when I hit a tree backwards. It really was a terrible car, with the chassis dynamics of a horse and cart; my friends at the time were borrowing their dad's BMW 2002, Cavalier SRi and Citroen GS; all far more capable dynamically, but somehow nowhere near as loveable. I still have an innate fear of entering a sharp unsighted bend too fast on a trailing throttle....

Thank you to all for you thoughts, its much appreciated.

 

 

TP

Sorry to hear of your loss.

When I was 17 years old, my mate had a Morris Marina 1800 twin carb. It went like the bells of Shannon or so we thought, but having just looked up the performance figures it wasn't that good. Here's the numbers, I think you'll see what I mean.

Performance

Top Speed 0-60 SQM MPG Engine Pwr Comment

94 mph 13 s 26 mpg. 85 bhp 5500. 1.8 Special

Then again, I suppose the skinny tyres and drum brakes all round added to the illusion of speed!

Edited 16 March, 201511 yr by flying pig

Sorry for your loss.

I had a Morris marina 1300 late 70's, can honestly say it was the worst handling car I've ever driven. I fitted a telescopic damper conversion to the front and that made it a bit better than the Morris 1000 door closer type dampers that were fitted originally.

Some say they have piano magnets fitted in the roof....

It was Harvest Gold - the colour of the inside of a nappy

I won't have a word said against harvest gold....

(see my avatar)

Some say they have piano magnets fitted in the roof....

 

Why? What do they (or supposed to) do?

Why? What do they (or supposed to) do?

They attract pianos....

They attract pianos....

 

Of course. As demonstrated many times on Top Gear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTf1siNx5_4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

In 1981 I traded a Renault 4 for a three 3yr old 1.8TC Marina Estate due to my wife announcing she was expecting our second child. The petrol tank top corroded out, still in the dealers 1 month warranty, the handbrake linkage froze on one winters morning, and shattered when released, (with a hammer). It cornered like two drunken heifers riding a tandem on flat tyres, the seat backs broke due to the shocking pigeon poo welding, at four years old the sills went to lace, but to give it it's due it always started and ran and was a workhorse, a damn numb workhorse though.

Edited 17 March, 201511 yr by P6bJOHN

I've got a brochure for a Triumph 2500 TC like my dad had. I'll have to have a read through and see what was standard.

In 1981 I traded a Renault 4 for a three 3yr old 1.8TC Marina Estate due to my wife announcing she was expecting our second child. The petrol tank top corroded out, still in the dealers 1 month warranty, the handbrake linkage froze on one winters morning, and shattered when released, (with a hammer). It cornered like two drunken heifers riding a tandem on flat tyres, the seat backs broke due to the shocking pigeon poo welding, at four years old the sills went to lace, but to give it it's due it always started and ran and was a workhorse, a damn numb workhorse though.

I had actually forgotten I also owned an estate at one point , again the dull beige colour didnt have it long .

 

Pic of my old 1.3 one