It's a 1973 1,3 Coupé Deluxe which was bought new by my granddad. When he wanted newer car in the late eighties no car dealaer would take a Marina so my dad bought it for, I think about 100GBP. The car was sprayed with Tectyl and put away for storage. Maybe 10 years later we started a slow restoration but apart from a respray there wan't much work needed on the car. New piston rings were fitted. Ok the engine is increasingly clattery now so perhaps we will have to do an engine rebuild at some point. In 2003, the car was scrutinised for the finnish "vintage" car test, which you means you're tax exempt and the insurance is about a tenner a year. You only get to drive 30 days though but that's not a problem (since no one is counting the days...).
The Marina now lives a cuddled life, spending most of it's days in a heated dry garage. This time of the year is quite active though with different shows and rallies. In february, we attended the vintage winter rally in Jyväskylä (350 kms one way) and in about three weeks time there is a national rally in Helsinki (430 kms one way) which we will attend. No trailer - we drive!
Apicture from our winter adventure:
After a wash and polish today. The NOS daytime driving lights give a nice period feel. In the 70's and 80's almost all cars in Finland had those.
I found new old-stock hubcaps on eBay. However, they seem too small! Or maybe I should just grease them up and use more violence?
And I'm still thinking of buying that TC that is for sale in Sweden.
