WHY A MARINA?

[Uncle Frank]

I don`t know about you guys, but i must have been asked this question a thousand times over the years, along with stupid observations such as "they`re rubbish, they are", not as good as the Minor, etc,etc, but somehow i never seem to get tired of putting the ignorant straight on a few of the finer points of their comments.
I was recently asked Why? again by a Minor enthusiast who`s entire hatred of the Marina seemed to be based on the thought that if it wasn`t for the Marina, the Minor would have carried on! :roll: , after pointing out the obvious to him ie.. that the Minor sales had dropped off to virtually nil by 1971, and that there was no way the Minor would ever be able to compete with the fleet rivals Ford and Vauxhall were producing, he still seemed to think the Minor was a viable proposition to put up against the Cortina and Viva!...then i showed him Leslies 1300 which happened to be in the sprayshop :twisted: ..oh what fun as i pointed to the much roomier interior, inertia seatbelts, modern dash, massive boot!, after a little silence he just said "wow, where on earth did you find that!", after explaining that Leslie had bought it new in 1978 and that it had never once let him down in all those years, he had to admit that it was pretty good (for a Marina!) :roll: ...you just can`t win with some people ay! :roll:

[JubileeNut]

"wow, where on earth did you find that!"

He was probably looking for one to break for parts for his Minor!!

Although I helped my dad restore a Minor Traveller when I was 14 years old we did break two other Minors for bits But not for me, wrong era

[andrewwita]

well why not a marina - i am not going to have a go at minor owners as i have had about 40 -50 of them and yes i am only 30 , i fell in love with moggie minors when i bought my first one at the age of 14 and it went on from there , until lkast year when my friend sold me his marina - and i have never looked back , and restoring my marina now - i don;t think i ever spent this amount of money on a minor - but i am not complainging , i love my marina

as frank said - more comfortable - espacially on my regular journy from london to west wales
bigger engine size so more speed lol even though i did get stopped for speeding in my moggie once
and more luggage space

[The original northen boy]

Frank you can imagine how many time i get asked the same question people seem to come from all sides to ask me the same or one of this following statements.

:? The last Morris that was any good was the Morris 1000!
:? My Grandad/uncle/dad/relation...had one from new 10/15/20 years (depending on the age of the story teller) and all it needed in that time was a headlight bulb
:? Criminals liked them when they were used for police Panda Cars as they could hear them coming.
:? It sold millions more than the Marina (no the Morris 1000 did not sell millions more than the Marina around the 1.368.000 million mark and this took around 24 years to achieve and sold less units than The Metro)
:roll: My mate turned down the chance to by nurse Gladys Emanuel from the BBC TV series Open all hours!
:roll: I know some on who had a Moggie thou and it' had done well over 200 thousand miles and the head had never been off it!

Why a Marina,simply because i like them, and too be honest i don't really care if they don't do this,i don't really care if they don't do that,i'm really not bothered,yes i have my preferences and favorites as to which is the best of the models,but don't we all? Since i have done the broadcasts on
BBC Radio Sheffield and brought Marinas and ltals up,the overall responses from people i come into contact with has greatly improved,and some i might say have been swayed over,yes i have a joke about them and sometimes highlight their faults,but i believe that attack is the best form of defence,and this always deflates any would be anti Marina asalient,when you get the preemptive strike in.

Marinas are a damn good cars,perhaps not a great car but how many 70's cars were? Yet they are nowhere near as bad as some would like to tell you they are,
"they are not accident waiting to happen
they are not death traps
and they are not the worse car ever built!!!!!
I like Marinas,always have and i think i alway will,and once again i will say this it not just about the cars,i have made solid and long lasting friendships through these vehicles.and continue to do so,would i have made the same level of companionship through an other car?

For further reading see my previous article *** THE TOP TEN MARINA MYTHS ***

The Austin A30


The Austin A35

Here are two really bad photo of my favorite car next to the Marina,The Austin A30 and A35 have three of these babies in the collection,much nicer than the MM,sadly the desirability with these cars is their number plates worth far more than the cars themselves if you can see them under the Marina spares.

Russ

Beckett Bros "see how i'm walking,see how i'm talking" :roll:

[JoshWard]

Why a Marina?

It's not a common as muck classic like a Moggy or an MGB. I dont hate Moggies, they're classic cars I just hate having other classics broken up to keep them on the road.
In reality the Marina is the better car, it's more comfortable, faster and more modern than a Minor.

I wouldnt mind driving a Minor, doubt I would buy one though.

I hate 'elitsm' in classic cars, my mechanic usually works on Aston Martins and E Types but he has enjoyed working on the Marina with me and my father.

A30s/35s are lovely cars, for a smaller classic I want a Herald (may get one next year to run alongside the Marina). My late grandmother bought an Austin 1100 when she passed her test because she was fed up of all the Minors everywhere!

[JubileeNut]

Hi Russ,
You really need to let those cars breath! All those spares are hiding the poor things!!

Plus, have you been collecting the wrong spares! Do any of them fit the cars you have there?
Where on earth did you get all that stuff?
I just wish there where garages clearing out BL bits now!!

You mentioned on the Radio you had 200 eye ball vents!! Are they MK1 or MK2? Just thought I would ask :shock:

I can help you out with some of those MK1 spares as you won't want those clutering up all your space
Just give me a call!

Paul.
(Keep on buying things I already got or never needed :| )

[The original northen boy]

Ay up Paul,
There's a fair bit of stuff that i have collected over the years,the photos weren't to show stock but to attempt to show the "Tea pot" Austins,the eyeball vent are for MK2/3/Ital,and yes i do have 200 of them.

If there's any thing you need let me know i'll pop a few stock photos on this post,just to give you some idea of the stuff i have.The A30 and A35 parts and spare are kept in the other garage,but there nothing like the volume of the Marina stock i hold.













Hope you enjoy my Aladdin's Cave selection of parts and accessories,and once again if you need please ask!

Russ

Beckett Bros "oh no not me, but the man who sold the earth" :roll:

[Kilroy]

Here's a thing.
They say that the strongest skeptics make the most devout fans.
I was truly a skeptic when it came to Marinas.
If any of you were around here to have witnessed my first posts back in the days of Ben's marina.org website, you may know what I mean.
I swapped my first Marina for a used washing machine, and I thought it was probably not the best price I could have got for the washing machine.
The Marina in question was very rotten and I only managed to make it last for 6 months - but it provided most of the running gear for my blue estate which survives today.
Thats 15 years later, and a total of 330,000k so far.
Hardly surprising that when people offered me more of them for nothing I took up the offer.
I now own 10 Mk3's and have no intention of parting with any of them.
Admittedly I tend to modify them to suit my own needs - but much of that is intended to show up much later machinery. It works.
I intend to accumulate wealth in the millions - and I shall continue to drive Morris Marinas.
They may become somewhat more elaborate - but Marinas no less.
Suit me sir..!!
Kilroy

[JubileeNut]

Hi Russ,
Wow you do have a lot of bits there! I think I can even see a Mini bumper in black!!
Got any rear spring plate rubbers? Matty is looking also for me but these are small items and when you have such a lot of gear it is like looking for a needle in a hay stack :roll:
New MK1 Ash tray in black with wood trim would be nice!

Keep guard on that aladins cave Russ!
My answer to all security issues or people not willing to talk is - high voltage!! :shock: :shock:
Even more so when you stick some large capacitance on the output - get a big crack then :P

Paul. I am not mad really! :| Just don't nick my stuff

[tigon20]

My stock reply is now WHY BLOODY NOT!!!! lots of people wet themselves over mk2 escorts etc etc etc etc..... but i chose the car that has so far been bloody reliable, fun to drive and always puts a smile on my face.

I was thinking about this today as i returned home on the metro service and as i surveyed the cars the station and to be honest from the passers by the only car getting the glances was mine.

I once bought an audi A3, its the only time in my life when i bought a car for style over substance and i would still have my marina every day over that car.

So why a marina, why not, that should the answer every time, we dont need to justify why, we know why!!!!

[norway_triumph]

why a marina ?
Because they've earned that special place in my heart. Not through genious styling, outstanding handling, beeing a good investment or beeing that you could outrace anything on the street with. I think it all comes from way back when i was a student and i ran them on a VERY tight (non-existing) budget, but they always proved their liability and never let me down. Each summer i use to drive up north 1500 kilometers each way and i never had any doubts when starting the the trip that i would make it. As long as the battery was fairly charged up they always started even in dead winter. And as nobody else had discovered the marina-secret i got them for next-to nothing. i Also find the people who ownes marina a very pleasant ackowledge. So even if i have and will have other classics, i'll never forget my marina -roots

[Alan The Exocet]

Russ are you going to put more picture of the part you have on here?