'72 Morris Marina 1.3 Coupe. 'Marla'

[adammc]

New Retro Ride owner here. I posted in the new users thread but thought I'd post more pics up here.

My first classic. Just bought a few weeks ago. My wife has christened her Marla. Previous owner is a mechanic who did an awful lot of resto work on her. Rebuilt engine, rebored, new pistons, new water pump, new oil pump, new suspension, new brakes and brake lines plus removal of a lot of rust and new welding/paneling work. He also reupholstered the interior which now looks fantastic (at least I think he did it himself) Also put a straight through exhaust on so she sounds meaty!

I actually felt bad buying it from him as he clearly put a lot of work in and loved it! But, time to make it my own! I'd like to use her as a project car to continually work on and upgrade for the experience. I've done nothing yet bar make a custom gear knob from a purple 4 ball but am keen to get stuck in to bigger upgrades!

[rmad]

Love it!

It looks good now, but I can't help thinking it would look amazing if it was a bit closer to the floor!

It reminds me of this one:

[adammc]

Thanks! Yeah I'd seen that Marina on my hunt previously! I also may get some whitewalls but then I think whitewalls make ANY car look better Maybe with a thinner stripe than that one above but watch this space!

[tomfairall]

100% agree, would look wicked lowered a bit

[vulgalour]

That purple is one of the best I've seen on a Marina and I do have a soft spot for a purple Marina coupé.

[marinanut]

GDL..... Isle of Wight registered originally. Hmmm, I wonder if the resident Marina nutters know it still exists?

[luckygti]

Looks great. Getting pretty rare these now, what's it like to drive?

[820]

Great choice for first classic, the Coupe is the best shape too, hope it serves you well.

[kilroy]

That's looking good right there.

Excellent start point for anything you may have in mind.

Main thing is to keep using it while you decide on the final direction.

They survive in much better condition while they are in regular use.

Noice.!

[adammc]

Thanks all! Yes she's in regular use already, my wife and I needed a second car due to change of jobs/hours and we found this little beauty not too far down the road so we thought, what the hell!

I think she's great to drive, a bit heavy on the steering with those particular tyres but got a 15" steering wheel to replace the one in the pic above and that helps a bit. Gear changes are smooth as silk and she's actually more comfortable to drive than our main Mazda 2 sport! She's a credit to her previous owner.

[Grogster]

Is that a factory purple, or a custom respray?

They had them here, but I don't think I ever remember seeing one in Purple.

Me and my mate from High-School used to roar around in one of those back in the 80's.
His was a snot-green four-door though.

[MiataMark]

Funny when they were new and I was starting to drive I would have dismissed it out of hand, but now I think it looks great (particularly the side profile). A refreshing change to a Mk2 Escort.

A modern twin-cam engine (MX5, K-series) would be a good upgrade on 1275cc.

[adammc]

Yeah I knew nothing about Marinas before we found this, they have gotten some amount of criticism from searching around but she's the perfect little starter classic for us. Love the side profile too.

Thanks for the engine tips, will be looking at beefing her up at some stage I'm sure!

[79cord]

Purple & alloy wheels suit it perfectly, don't think white-wall tyres would be of the right character though, white-lettering or thin red stripes for more of a sporting '70's flavour.
Interior does look great, though door armrests perhaps rather sharp?

[adammc]

Sorry Grogster missed your post up there. Respray! Yeah to be honest, if it had been a 'traditional' colour, may not have been as interested!

I like the lettering and stripes idea 79cord! Yeah the door handles were little cstom made jobs from some very thick steel. Might get something more traditional at some point

[adammc]

Closest thing to purple in the original lineup was this what they called 'Tulip'

[MkX]

There was a thread on here a while back when someone was considering buying a Marina. I sent info on an ad that was running at that time which was for a restored Marina Coupe. Ad is gone but the pics might provide you with some inspiration for getting it as good as it could be:-

Marina thread

e.g.

[adammc]

Yes I've seen that one in my searches! Absolutely pristine! You could eat off that engine!

I've been thinking about getting the wheel arch trim put on mine.

Thanks for the link!

[CaptainSlog]

How long did they use the A series engine? Designed in the 40s and still going strong(ish).

[vulgalour]

They were using that engine shockingly late, even Rover Minis and extremely late Maestros (often referred to as Ledbury and Apple, check out Google for more info) right up until the very end of the 90s. It's a phenominally long run for any engine to have, even more so for a regular car.