Fast Marina Magazine

:roll: I keep on hearing how rare a car the Marina/Itals are,yet i seem to see
a new find appearing on a weekly basis,via Flea-Bay,or in the classified section of the local Auto Trader,and even through the Inter-web.

Today i have come across such a find (and it's only 25 yards from where "Nell"my pick-up is garaged )

The car in question is a 1977 "R" reg 1300 super de-luxe coupe in damask red the mileage is genuine and reads 67,000 the current owner is the previous owners son,the car has been dry stored since 1996 when his farther stopped driving (due to his age,there's still cushions on the rear parcel shelf and sports a full set of nylon seat covers)

The over-all condition is good the tires are all down, and the brakes have seized-on oh and the car is under an inch thick covering of dust, but on the surface she looks pretty sound..

The seller is asking for offers over £350...

If i could have got the new phone to work (the flash in fact) in near darkness i would have taken some photos,and couldn't push her out of the garage to use the natural daylight..

If anybody is interested i will pass the sellers phone number on,as he and his wife are moving to Spain shortly and would like a quick sale..

So really are we sure the Marina and the Ital are the rarest cars in Britian?


:roll: Beckett Bros "more plastic padding needed"

ever since that stupid artticle was done in the papers etc it has wasted it for all of us, the parts have rocked in price and there seems to be more than ever appearing in papers and web sites for sale. so my opinion on the answer is a definite no.

The article and the rarity of the car is kind of like a double edged sword. In one sense it keeps the value of the car up and hopefully keep the minor owner’s mitts off our cars leaving the Marina for the Marina enthusiasts. I personally don't think it’s the rarest car in Briton but that’s just my personal opinion on the subject.

8) Are we missing something here guys..the original article in Auto Express stated that "The Marina is officially the rarest car in Britain"...-OF ALL THE CARS WHICH SOLD OVER A MILLION!, At no time was it stated that the Marina was the rarest car in britain as such, the other cars mentioned were also million sellers such as the Cortina, Renault 18, Renault 5, Lada riva and various others.
If the Island was taken as a rough idea of what cars are rare now i would say the Marina is pretty well catered for, but i only know of a couple of roadworthy Allegro`s and only one Maxi!! ...not that that is a bad thing really!!

The Auto Express article also said "known to DVLA". With so many garage finds like the start of this subject string, many of them have never been SORNed so weren't known to DVLA. What's happening is all the hidden cars are coming out. I think at the time of the article we all agreed that there was probably as many unknown cars as known.

Look at it another way as the price of cars goes up more cars will be rebuilt as they start to become economically viable restos. Whilst the cars were dirt cheap no-one would do them up (apart from one or two heros in this gathering) and also no-one respected them. Even compared to three years ago - I noticed last year that there were a lot fewer or no "rubbish" and "only fit for scrap" jibes at car shows.

This rarity thing is a double edged sword - our hobby gets less cheap, but what we have progressively increases in value.

It is not cheap by any means, but I am only doing the one car! 8)

Stories of old from some people mention filling vans of cheap spares 10 years ago!
I wish I had done it it a few years back :roll:

Also not all of these finds will be resorted as panels are hard to get and demand for the car is limited. The type or model will judge if it is worth doing, and how much someone wants that particular car.

I have already spent more than the car will be worth and still a long way off the final amount, but I am only doing this once and hopefully doing it right :?

Not all of us have the space to store many cars or funds to expand to extra storage

It would be good to see the last Allegro die, but the Maxi was a good tool. Quite a accomplished rally car too - very little required in the way of preperation. The allegro on the other hand - phaaaa......

8) The TV clip says it is the rarest car of the last 30 years and was once the 3rd largest seller. were there a million built ?

:roll: Too be really honest i have never read the article on the Marina that appeared in the Auto Express a year or two ago,what i have done is incorrectly quote it (i wasn't aware that it referred to car selling over one million units until Frank mentioned it)
The mistake i have made is to follow blindly the"rarest car in Britain myth" that has now been created to back up my claim simply type in "the rarest car in Britain" the source reference used is Auto Express,yet no mention of from cars selling over one million unit sales" is mentioned.....

The rarity aspect is indeed a positive/negative "the two-edged sword" the positive stop cars being scrapped for the sake of it or driven into the ground,the negative is the cars often become over priced and prohibit real enthusiasts from making there purchase, and the spares for the same cars get vastly over inflated,sometimes making repairs prohibitive to many owners who do not have the cash to finance their projects...

The list of good vs bad becomes more and more complex the more you argue one case the more you can argue the other.Well for me i don't like the Marina anymore now whether or not they are the rarest car in Britain
i like them for what they are good,bad,or indifferent a Marina...

Beckett Bros "up to you mate take it or leave it!

5055 wrote:8) The TV clip says it is the rarest car of the last 30 years and was once the 3rd largest seller. were there a million built ?

To answer your question "5505" yes the Marina passed the million mark in 1978, the millionth Marina was on show at the NEC Motor show extravaganza in november 1978, as a footnote to the article i have it states that "The first british car to achieve one million sales was the Morris Minor, it took 23 years to achieve this...the Marina made this figure in just 7 1/2 years!!" .
It may also interest you to know that the Mk1 Marina had already sold over 1/2 a million by 1975 .

8) If the article in the Auto express had never been published or the TV clip had never been shown we would have been none the wiser how rare the car is.It would not have made the slightest bit of difference to us.Prices on ebay are dropping though. 6 months ago wings were going for nearly £150. now they are lucky to make £100.
What really annoys me are the prats who put "very rare " in their advert.They are also jumping on to the rarity bandwagon but if we dont buy from them they will eventually go away.
Its not making the slightest difference to the value of the cars...only the spares and Earlpart are really ripping us off ...or trying to.
I honestly think all this hype will go away.

Like Sean says, it's a double edged sword, all the 'hype' is help keep the values of the car up, but it's costing a fortune for bits now, I remember going after a rear bumper for mine in Christmas 2006, it ended up going for £255! I noticed someone selling a pair of MK1 bumpers, starting bid £199!! Personally I like the fact that my Marina turns heads, it just makes your day that bit nicer, small kids stand in awe wondering what it is, older guys go foggy with nostalgia remembering the days when they had one or wanted one. I like the car for what it is.

Just to keep you all informed,about this car,it has now been sold for £280,via an advert on a supermarket in store sale board.
After some basic prep work (a fivers worth of petrol,charged battery,clean of the plugs and points,and a whiff of easy-start and a couple of good cracks with a hammer to free the brakes the car started and could be pushed out of the garage,yet the clutch remained frozen solid)
The new owner is going to use the shell for a T.C project i think? (a MGB Marina the old owner told me)
I have a nagging doubt this car has been bought by a local garage with the intention to punt it at a profit

:twisted: Beckett Bros" i yam wot i yam" :twisted: