1970mgb Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 So, someone posted on another thread a link to an Ebay listing for an LHD '74 Marina listed on Ebay. I called a little while ago and talked to the seller, and the story is that it was a good running and driving car 10 years ago, but has been neglected and won't run. I'm debating with myself about whether or not I want to take it on as a project. I know these had a terrible reputation when new, but at the same time they're actually legitimately rare in the US. I have seen one in person, and most of the estimates I've seen put the number of survivors at 10-20(although I don't know how much we can trust that). There's some definite appeal in the engine familiarity for me with the MGB. I MIGHT have to convert it to a manual though. In addition, there's the issue of having it shipped a couple hundred miles to me. It's listed now for $700...if I could do $500 it might be a make or break for me. Any thoughts here on it? EDIT: The car as it sits now is an automatic. If I swapped the transmission, it would be to a manual. Sorry for any confusion from my incorrect statement! LightBulbFun and Joey spud 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LightBulbFun Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 as the person who relayed the link onto you, my thoughts should be suitably clear I know you would be in fairly good hands here as there are a few Marina owners here looks at @trigger (although I think most of the Marinas on here are A/A+ engined ones) (just curious whats up with the gearbox? is it a preference thing or is there something wrong with the current gearbox? ) at any rate its hard to get more autoshite then a Marina, a US Spec one at that too those federal bumpers FTW LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dozeydustman Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 It's a good opportunity to save a rare beast, you're familiar with the B-series (uses a Triumph Spitfire/Dolomite gearbox IIRC on the manuals, BW type 35 for the autos, maybe a 65 on the 1.8). Look for terminal rot everywhere. Not the sort of car for me but I'd save it even if in a few months time I passed it on to another shiter or enthusiast. LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1970mgb Posted June 5, 2019 Author Share Posted June 5, 2019 Thanks. It had new floor pans installed when it was last on the road-they were described to me as ugly but serviceable. I'm pretty sure the gearbox is a BW35-that was the auto option for the MGB that only trickled into the US in tiny numbers-as well as for the MGC, of which about half were auto. I've heard that Marinas at one time were popular donors for folks wanting an auto MGB for that reason. With that said, I might have to look into a manual conversion-I know the MGB is supposed to be a real dog with the BW35, and I can't imagine that the bigger and heavier Marina would be any better. I'm still wrestling with this one-I hate to see it go. I've also had some personal stuff come up rather suddenly(in fact while I was on the phone with the seller this morning) that may-for the time being-make adding another car to the stable in the next couple of months more difficult... LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuvvum Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 The BW35 is pretty hopeless in anything under about 2.5 litres. It's fine in my 164, but completely ruined the Dolomite 1850 I had. LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timolloyd Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 Wasn’t there a Marina in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? Therefore this must be the same car and worth $$$$ Snap it up! LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C1am Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 An Austin Marina! Do it. I owned its successor (Morris Ital 2.0HLS auto) and loved it. As you say, the mechanicals are simple and known to you and they were hardly common in the US when new. LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C1am Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 A GT no less! https://www.ebay.com/itm/1974-Austin-Marina-GT/163715716735?hash=item261e37967f:g:VLAAAOSwogpc8rpC LightBulbFun and Joey spud 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New POD Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 Having been upside down as a passenger in a beige 1275 auto marina coupe, in an accident where a pedestrian later died, I usually suggest caution, because I hate them with a vengeance, but an 1800 with manual over drive box, and tuned to fast road spec, with decent modern tyres and updated suspension, might be an interesting alternative to an early 1300 Capri. Do it. LightBulbFun and spartacus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 7 hours ago, 1970mgb said: I know these had a terrible reputation when new, but at the same time they're actually legitimately rare in the US. I have seen one in person, and most of the estimates I've seen put the number of survivors at 10-20(although I don't know how much we can trust that). I'd heard that Austin Marinas had terrible US reviews back in the day, which of course compounded the whole ethos of Marinas being awful cars, which has been the tagline for 40 years or so, I imagine. I've only ever sat in a static Marina, not even been driven in one, so what do I know? That said, I picked up an issue of Motor Trend from August 1973 last year and read their review of the then new Austin Marina GT, imagining it to be torn to shreds. I was quite surprised how balanced it was, actually! Here's an image I've taken (my scanner won't scan at the moment), which is hopefully large enough to read: To sum up, they seem to like the acceleration (as a manual - it keeps up with a rotary Mazda!) and rate the styling but they dislike pedal positioning, ventilation (open a window?!), suspension and braking. I'm guessing that suspension and braking can be upgraded quite easily nowadays and I suppose pedal positioning and ventilation would be more personal perspectives, plus it'd now be a fun, occasional car and not a daily commuter, I imagine. They also think 3000 mile service intervals is a bit crap but I guess you'd be familiar with such things, having owned an MGB. So my verdict would be to go for it, if your situation still allows. It's seemingly being offered at a very fair price by US classic car standards, so I couldn't see you getting too stung if you want to sell it later on, as a running example. I'm sure it'd register some interest on bringatrailer.com at that point! Joey spud, LightBulbFun and JeeExEll 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1970mgb Posted June 6, 2019 Author Share Posted June 6, 2019 Thanks everyone. I've been doing some behind the scenes work today on this. After talking to the seller this morning, I got on the phone with John Twist, who is a well regarded MG expert here in the US. He told me that he saw them in decent numbers in his shop in the 70s and 80s(even though he's an MG guy, he's had pretty much all makes and models of US-marked British cars come through his shop over the years) although hasn't seen one in several years. With that said, he put me into contact with the "Marina Man" down in Arkansas, who is quite passionate about these cars and it sounds like he owns about 1/4 of the known examples in the US . Skip-the Marina Man-said that the Ebay car basically looked solid aside from the obvious issues, and said that he can supply a fair few parts for them. Of course, a decent amount of the engine is MGB interchangeable(I'd probably do what I've done on my B and get the compression up to ~9.5:1, although I'm assuming that involves a piston change and not a head change like I was able to get away with on my car). He even mentioned that he could set me up with a manual set up if I'd prefer that to the BW35. Skip reported to me that he'd done business with the owner of these two cars, so knows of them at least a bit. Since the seller needs to move both his Marinas, one possibility might be to see if I can do a package deal on them. After all, if buying one Marina is crazy, buying two is even crazier! In all honesty, the biggest potential expense right now, and really the biggest hurdle, is transport cost. A non-running car adds a fair bit to the cost of that with commercial carriers, too. I do have a co-worker who is set up to haul cars, and I MIGHT see if he'd be willing to do it in a weekend for a couple hundred+expenses, but even that might not be cheap. Any way I slice it, I'm probably looking at $700-1000 to get it here, if not more. LightBulbFun, somewhatfoolish, Vince70 and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddyramrod Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 It was me that posted it up. You seem to be a long way ahead of me in terms of readiness to take this on, so I'll wish you good luck. My wishes do come with a caveat though: a large part of the attraction for me is the auto box, so please PLEASE do not go manual! LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunglebus Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 On 6/5/2019 at 6:37 PM, timolloyd said: Wasn’t there a Marina in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? Therefore this must be the same car and worth $$$$ Snap it up! Nope - it's an Alfa! I always thought it was an Ital Sudsprint, Dick Longbridge, timolloyd and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1970mgb Posted June 6, 2019 Author Share Posted June 6, 2019 Well, someone other than me put in a bid on the Ebay auction, so it looks like it's going to someone. If I can figure out tranportation in the next day or so, I'll still try for it-otherwise I'm out. I might still talk to the seller about his other Marina. In the mean time, I've been reaching out to the Marina community(all three of them ) in the US, and they've been extremely helpful. Don't worry-if I DO get it, it will stay an auto-at least until-as Skip "The Marina Man" said-the BW35 craps out. eddyramrod, Mrs6C and LightBulbFun 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1970mgb Posted June 14, 2019 Author Share Posted June 14, 2019 Without saying too much- A deal is pending on one of the two cars. I'm actually not totally sure which-the blue one from the Ebay auction is available for purchase as the winning bidder hasn't replied. I'm leaning toward that one, although I'm waiting to see pictures of the engine compartment in the 4 door. We'll see what happens, but I'd like to at least send a deposit and get one locked down today. Skizzer, LightBulbFun, Amishtat and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavcraft Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 You should 100% buy it, but leave it automatic. LightBulbFun, eddyramrod and MorrisItalSLX 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amishtat Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 Good luck however it pans out! eddyramrod 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddyramrod Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 3 hours ago, Cavcraft said: You should 100% buy it, but leave it automatic. ...and immediately ship it over to Eddy! Cavcraft, LightBulbFun and Amishtat 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1970mgb Posted June 17, 2019 Author Share Posted June 17, 2019 So, things are looking very, very good for me to buy the blue GT in the Ebay auction. I've chatted with the seller a fair bit today-he's reluctant to budge on the price but is offering me extras, while personally I'd rather take it as is and pay a bit less . None the less, I'm probably 95% sure it's going to happen, although it will be a few weeks before I have the car here. Me going to get it is a likely option now-I'll certainly write it up if I do go to get it. As a question- in the video that @dollywobbler made on the Marina the other day he mentioned them not having brake servos. Both of this seller's Marinas have servos-does anyone know if this was something standard on the 1.8 version and not on the smaller cars, or was it something that was optional on all home market cars and then(I'm guessing) made standard on US market ones? I've never missed a servo on my B-and I've driven later Bs with servos-but at the same time the Marina also weighs a fair bit more than the B(or the Minor for that matter). The last Minor I drove had absolutely terrible brakes, but it was more that they had almost no feel and seemed to not do a whole lot even with my foot on the floor-I'd guess that particular one had more to do with the seller having put Midget front disks on it but not upgrading the M/C to one that could push enough fluid for the disks. danthecapriman, Joey spud, Skizzer and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Jetter Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 Servo's standard on the 1.8, optional on the 1.3 with front pads - apparently some had drums all round. Info supplied by, yep, you guessed it, the Olyslager Organisation. chaseracer and Mrs6C 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddyramrod Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 I'd be inclined to think the servo was a standard fitting on US-market cars, after all, your domestic cars had power brakes way back in the 50s! As long as it works it can't be a bad thing, I suspect. I'm glad you've gone for this, it'll be in the best place it could be, probably! LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey spud Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 I do rather like that citron yellow one in the back ground. Back in the very late 80's i bought a white 1300 Marina coupe (PLA ??L) for £12 that was drum brakes all round,it had been reversed into a post and pushed the rear panel in so the boot wouldn't close. A quick bit of biffing and levering with a large bit of wood saw everything back into shape again but i had a Datsun 120a coupe at the time so didn't need the Morris so i parked it up under the railway arch outside Rochester Motor Company where i was working with thoughts of getting it back to my flat. It slowly got covered in pigeon crap and then a Tramp moved into it. After various comments from senior staff i reluctantly scrapped it not long after and got my £12 back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollywobbler Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 Yup, servo not standard on the 1.3. Would certainly like one on a 1.8! paulplom and LightBulbFun 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs6C Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 14 hours ago, Joey spud said: Back in the very late 80's i bought a white 1300 Marina coupe (PLA ??L) My Daimler Sovereign is PLA 94L! Photo here... https://autoshite.com/topic/19386-six-cylinders-motoring-notes-what-a-pleasant-change-i-enjoyed-a-54-mile-drive-out-this-evening-going-nowhere/?do=findComment&comment=1826257 Joey spud and LightBulbFun 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs6C Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 By the way, my parents had a Marina 1.8 Super estate in bright blue with beige velour cloth. It was a very nice car. IMHO the estate is the most pleasing of the body styles, but any Marina is worthwhile. Hope the Stateside purchasing goes well! LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New POD Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 19 hours ago, dollywobbler said: Yup, servo not standard on the 1.3. Would certainly like one on a 1.8! You don't need a servo, on a drum braked car, because drums are self servoing. I'm fairly sure that the early 1.3s would have been mechanically the same as an A30. A professional classic motoring journo would know this sort of pointless detail. But I'm only guessing. In any case a servo won't improve the brakes performance. It can not change the physics of the friction materials. It will mean you dont have to press as hard. A bloke I worked with Roger Perks, of Coventry University worked for AP Lockheed in the 70s and was called to BL to investigate the reason one or 2 of their cars were not braking in a straight line. Marina? assembly line had drums on one side and discs on the other. I'm sure it was the Marina assembly line. paulplom and stonedagain 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1970mgb Posted July 2, 2019 Author Share Posted July 2, 2019 Alright, I've sent a deposit on the blue GT in the original listing-now that I've claimed it as mine I just have to get it here from ~700 miles away... In the mean time, Skip "The Marina Man" sold me an original factory service manual and driver's handbook. Amishtat, C1am, wuvvum and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplebargeken Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 A Marina in the USA, wow. Can't wait to see the project thread LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parky Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 If it turns out to be an absolute shed, keep it anyway and next time Clarkson is over in some expensive luxury car, you can pull a nice surprise on him! Really looking forward to seeing how this turns out tooSavvy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trigger Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 Well done on the buy, being a GT I guess it's a twin carb model which has a bit more umphh than the single carb although they are still pretty sprightly, the very early 1.3s had drums and no servos but they soon gained discs and servos by the mid 70s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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