*** MARINA/ITAL VAN CROSS-OVERS ***

[The original northen boy]

Just an off shoot topic,about hybrid cars,Dave B got me thinking when he mentioned the MK1 coupe he had that had a few MK2 parts fitted as standard,well has any one else seen one of these.

The vehicle was a X reg Marina Van (Morris 575) that had a Marina MK3 front including sealed beam head lights,Ital inner and outer Ital wings,and Ital side indicators,MK3/Ital dash,and Ital door panels,the suspension was normal lever arms,and the factory fitted 1.3 "A" series and not the "A+" and stock van bumpers.

The van was about 4 years old when my father owned it,a one previous owner and no accident damage replacements panels or trim were fitted,The only thing i can think of is that new parts were simply used for ease as the old stock became depleted,i have spoke to other people who have seen these weird hybrids cross-over vans,and possibly Brian (marina brian) also owned one at some time,were these vehicles simply cross-overs produced sell the old models vans without ordering the standard part that they should have used in their manufacture as the Ital was in production at this time simply substitute one part with another,so therefor was it cheaper to fit Ital panels and trim that were on hand simply on cost grounds?

Russ

Beckett Bros "i got it one piece at a time" :roll:

[JIM73]

I have a van Russ with a mk3 front end and Ital inner wings and a metal dash !

[The original northen boy]

Ay up Jim,
There must have been far more of these cross-over vans made than i thought,is yours on an X plate and do you have the Ital side indicators? The latest registered Ital van i saw was a C reg this must have been a vehicle that had hung around the showroom for a long time the normal cut off point for them is A reg,and a C registration is well into the production run of the Maestro van.

These cross-overs vans must vary on the trim levels,as yours has the standard (tin) commercial dash,and my dad's didn't it would be interesting to see how many other variations were made,and did the hybrid policy extend to the pick-up's?

Russ

Beckett Bros "you know ill beg steal or borrow" :roll:

[marinabrian]

Happened a lot soon than you think, around 1972 I believe
Checksthis out on Fleabay at the minute
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0303793343









Beckett Brothers, "it's a genuine one owner from new, only on this log book mind "

[The original northen boy]

My mistake Bri,
I didn't know that British leyland embarked on the "fit what's-at-hand policy" till latter in the Marina's production,just goes to show you eh?



*** Yet this practice was not just operated by British leyland,here's a rare photo of a MK1 Ford Fiesta that was built using parts from a previous model to save costs ***

Russ

Beckett Bros "baby cried the day the circus came to town" :roll: