Morris Marina: “Beauty with brains behind it”

April 27 is King's Day and therefore a national holiday. But in the British car world, April 27, 1971 was the day the Morris Marina model range was introduced in Britain. A car that has probably been more talked about than any other British Leyland product. The Marina was mainly the target of humorous slander. But it's worth recalling how the Marina was seen as a resounding success in its early years by the corporate press, and indeed the entire automotive press.

A temporary solution

Something simple and marketable may have been what the company needed quickly to keep its shaky finances on track. And that was exactly something the Marina had in common. The Morris Marina was originally intended as a temporary solution and should be replaced as early as 1975 by a newly developed car intended for the middle class. After a relatively short development time of eighteen months, the Marina appeared on the market in April 1971. It was sold exclusively under the Morris brand name.

Not shocking but fine!

The Morris Marina had to counterbalance the success of the Ford Cortina, especially in the business segment. It should therefore not be more expensive than the Cortina, so that quite a bit of outdated technology was used in the car under the skin. That technique came from the Morris Minor from - don't be alarmed - 1948! The appearance was according to the zeitgeist, not shocking but just a great model.

Less than three years

From concept to launch took less than three years and it sold like hot cakes in Britain in the early years. The Morris Marina captured more than six percent of the total market with more than 100.000 units sold in both 1972 and 1973. In the booming UK market of 1973, it beat the Ford Escort to become Britain's second best-selling car (after de Cortina) with long waiting lists for some versions.

Stay in production

If the Morris Marina had been replaced by something new around 1975 (as originally planned), the car would no doubt be remembered as merely a conveniently positioned intermediate model. But British Leyland's growing problems kept Marina in production and 'stuck', so to speak. That eventually led to the Ital in 1984. A car with a slightly modified appearance, but actually still the same Morris Marina from 1971. Pretty good!

Prefer front wheel drive

In retrospect, BLMC's Austin Morris division would have fared better for itself had they built on their recognized strengths in manufacturing front-wheel drive cars. And thus leaving the cut-throat competition from mid-sized rear-wheel drive models to 'the Americans' as Ford, Vauxhall and Chrysler UK were sometimes called.

The best in the world

But that was all still in the future in April 1971, when the Morris Marina was launched to an overwhelming sea of ​​publicity. The international press was invited to a spectacular event in Cannes, while in the UK a £500.000 media campaign used the slogan 'Beauty with brains behind it'. That brain was British Leyland's coaching staff, still routinely described as 'the best in the world'. Well, self-knowledge is a virtue.

Ten versions

Initially there was a line-up of ten Morris Marina models (the station wagon came later) with two body styles and a wide choice of different engines. Both the 1.3-door Coupé and 1.3-door sedan were available as 1.8 Deluxe, 1.8 Super Deluxe, 1.8 Deluxe, 1.8 Super Deluxe and 1300 TC. The XNUMX TC was certainly not a childish car, which we in the Netherlands - driven by Bart Luijbregts - regularly saw at work on TV at the AVRO rallycross in Valkenswaard. His brother Wim even became Dutch rally champion with a XNUMX version. Well…, the Morris Marina. Reviled by TopGear in its later life, it was an excellent car for many at the time.

Never had anything…

Your AMK editor can talk about it. In 1978 and 1979, because of his military service in the Air Force, he tore back and forth four hours a week to the 12^e GGW near Osnabrück. The red Morris Marina Coupé, with a black vinyl roof and four young men in it including luggage, did not budge for more than a year. Oil in it in time and go! Never had anything…

Was he really that bad?

So negative stories about the Morris Marina are a bit exaggerated to say the least. What is a fact is that the Marina was born under a bad star. The British car industry had a major image problem in the 1980s. This was caused by poor or highly variable build quality, outdated technology, too long production time and short-sighted management decisions. The Marina could not escape all these vicissitudes. The last Morris Marina rolled off the production line in October 1.163.116, after no fewer than 1 units had been built. So more than XNUMX million… Not a lot for a car that was initially destined to last a maximum of six years. It was the last real Morris. A brand name that was once highly valued by its buying public. And was it really that bad? No not at all!