Fast Marina Magazine

I'd better pop down the shops tomorrow then

I think your spot on about because they were base models they were more likely to be bought buy fleet buyers and people looking for a cheap car, hence the poor survival rate. Mind you, if that were true then I expect we would be seeing more TCs on the road than SDLs as they were more likely to have been bought by people who are interested in cars. Or, just maybe, it may be a combination of the two, with DLs being thrashed as cheap cars, TCs being thrashed by more 'enthusiastic' owners and SDLs sitting somewhere in the middle, or of course it may just be that the SDL sold more than other models.

One general trend must be true though: As Marinas became very cheap transport it would have been the TC and higher spec (SDL) models attracting buyers rather than the base models, as a result a lot were scrapped. This appears to be the same case for any classic car and often even by the time the car reaches classic status the base models still aren't recognised as being worth preserving by some owners' clubs, for example Dolly Sprint owners turning their noses up at 'lesser' models and let's not get started on the classic Ford world, wonder how many base model 2 door MK1 and MK2 Escorts are left now?
So glad the MMOC isn't like that

Wonder how many 6-cylinder 1960's Mustangs survived?

Very true that many more TCs will have been crashed , thrashed by "boy racers" , or used to repower MGBs .

Pensioners may have been more likely to buy SDL's, to get a little more comfort in their twilight years. And their cars would have had a much gentler life. More likely to be washed, garaged, and serviced.

Dynamos were fitted to the entire range at launch in 1971, not sure whether the alternator was even an option.





Chris
www.marinacoupe.co.uk
Sent from iPhone

MarinaCoupe wrote:BL were just doing what everyone else was doing;

BL - DL, SDL, TC
Ford - L, XL, Ghia, E for Executive
Vauxhall - E for Economy, L, SL

Etc. etc.

Everyone had a base model.

Then there were the sub-poverty spec models. My first two company cars were an Escort mk2 1.1 Popular and then a Fiesta Mk2 1.1 Popular Plus. Both had rubber mats, plastic seats, no hub caps, single speed heater fans, no heated rear screen, no radio or tape player, no reversing lights.

Chris
http://www.marinacoupe.co.uk
Sent from iPhone

Mind you, Ford had optional "rally packs" and "luxury packs" (and an "extras pack" as well?), leading to such trim designations as XLR and GXL in the earlier '70s (seeing a Capri 1.3 in a magazine road test with the same instruments and seats as the Capri 3.0 Ghia it was being tested alongside was to say the least).

BL and Vauxhall had simple stepping-stones in the early '70s, as you say , and Ford followed suit (I am deluding myself here possibly ) from 1976 on to give the "company car structure" we all knew and loved for perhaps the next 30 years?

Josh your spot on.
DL's were Fleet buyer and rental cars, and were sold in huge numbers to Fleet buyers everywhere, they were quickly thrashed into oblivion and due to their occupation and high milages, plus the base cars were always given to Junior sales people and general pool cars, thus hated and given more of a thrashing.
SDL and TC were given to more senior people and given a slightly better time of it, plus lots more public bought them, I mean who wouldnt spring for the extra Luxury, its not like the marina was particularly luxurious anyway
Poverty spec cars were generally only bought by Fleet Buyers, and people who could just afford a new car, selling them used to be a nightmare secondhand and most of us in the trade avoided them like the Plague hence they were really cheap in the secondhand market too, cheap cars get abused, therefore only a few survive.

I've actually always had a bit of a soft spot for them, I had loads in College and most of them died by my hand, hard rally style driving on the weekends with little or no maintenence and rust, rust, rust! plus you could get another one taxed and mot'd for $50 quid, and the rubber mats always smelt much less due to the water leaks they all had in the screen and boot

I'm actually having fond, fond memories here It's one of the reasons I love my rusty van so much.
If you think there's few DL's about, I'll bet there's less Vans and pick ups, they all got battered to death by builders and mechanics in the 80's, i remember when nearly every garage had one round the back for trips to the dump and picking up parts/ engines
Great days

Vans and pickups seem to survive comparatively well for being a commercial vehicle, seems to be a bit of a mystery, especially when compared to some other classic vans (Chevanne, Bedford HA, Escort etc). Not sure whether there are more out there than 'real' DLs, I have certainly seen more commercials out and about but that doesn't account for what people have stashed away.

I suspect mine spent the first couple of years of it's life being thrashed by a junior salesman as a Mann Egerton car, or maybe it was a demonstrator and racked up 15,000 miles in those two years. It was then sold by them in 1974 for £520 (JWC- a 1.8 SDL- cost her owner about £1800 in 1975), I don't know much about the guy who owned it from then on but he only did about 1000 miles in it and kept crashing it

JoshWard wrote:Plain? I prefer 'charming' When I first sat in a DL (Paul Utting's one, GNG 508K, which is his everyday car) it put me in mind of a 1950s or 60s car! Very basic motoring indeed.

Weren't heated rear screens an optional extra on SDLs?

I guess for rallying BL didn't really need all that fancy trim weighing them down

I think for another daily Marina I will be going back to the extra comforts of an SDL, mind you the lack of rust trap trim is a bit of an advantage, just to have to weigh it up against the rubber floor which makes the floorpans sweat!

Hi Josh, good topic. As far as i know heated rear screens became standard on Deluxe Marinas from July 1974 along with hazards and an exterior mirror. Super models also gained cigar lighters and reversing lights as standard from that date. Servo assisted brakes also made standard on 1.8 cars along with twin horns.

Joe Warren has a VAST amount of knowledge on early Marinas even to the point of when body panels changed slightly ( like the lip on front valences etc )
Very interesting and knowledgable chap.

Hmm, i rather liked the look of that lip on certain front valances, kind of finished it off with a flourish.

I think the lip went in 1972?

Early cars also had a different interior light, different demister vents, slightly different indicator/wiper stalk controls, boot fuel vent, different fuel tank, 'suicide' suspension, fuel line coming from O/S of the car, different washer bottle to name but a few.
There are loads of differences, quite amazing really. I should have made a list the last time I looked around a 71 car! I guess when they saw a chance to lop a few quid off the cost of production they did...

Luckily it makes dating Marinas fairly easy, I have worked out Ducky is probably a January to March 1972 car (despite not being registered until May) as she has a chassis number lower than a March 72 car I know. I think they changed the fuel line to the N/S by March 72 so it's likely Ducky is Jan/Feb 72.

The lack of exterior mirrors and reversing lights helps explain why she was crashed so much though

Prices for optional extras (April 1971): Heated rear screen £13.05; Alternator £6.53; Reclining front seats £16.97; Cigar lighter £1.96; Reversing lamps £3.92; Servo £13.05; 145x13 radial tyres £13.05 (plus an additional £6.53 for 165/70s).

Of course only the TC had most of the above as standard.
Wonder how they came up with £13.05 for so many things?

Hmmm...wonder if mine would have had crossplies when new

Certainly still got the original crossply spare tyre...

Shame they're so expensive now

JoshWard wrote:Hmmm...wonder if mine would have had crossplies when new

Certainly still got the original crossply spare tyre...

Shame they're so expensive now

No Its not, Crossples are without a doubt the worst tyre known to mankind!!!!!
I know people like origionality but, hell they are truely dangerous
I had a set on a 100e pop that would only do 65mph and that was terrifying on crossplies, swapped to radials and totally transformed the car. Felt like a greased otter on a skating rink before the swap

Josh

If you ever need to use the spare, then you'll be driving illegally, you should never use crossplies and radials on the same axle.

The tyre characteristics are so different that it would be bl***y dangerous.

I would strongly recommend changing it for a radial and the putting the worst radial of the five in the boot as the spare.





Chris
www.marinacoupe.co.uk
Sent from iPhone

I totally agree Chris