It seems quite a few folks are not sure what a DL is and how to spot one. I guess this is due to them being rather overlooked in favour of TCs etc, as a result very few people seem to know what the differences are so time for everyone to be educated
I've been meaning to write a thread on this for a few months now, it's all part of a proposed database I attempting to set up recording all known Marinas I come across and get a more accurate idea on cars sold etc and what models, colour options although sadly for time reasons the project has remained static for the last two months and unfortunately I lost a lot information I had in electronic form so I've been lacking enthusiasm to do it all again
It seems very little is actually known about all the various changes and trim options our cars came with (the number of differences between a 1971 and a 1973 car is quite something!) and it's quite a fascinating topic (for me anyway 
), for a car which BL seemingly never updated it went through constant changes and revisions. Eventually I'd like to write a book detailing the whole Marina story but that's very much a long term ambition for now! Credit must be given to Antony Brown (ScreamingLordStokes) for his excellent in depth article in Understeer about the US Marinas and Paul Viney for his superb knowledge about Jubilees (as well as a record of surviving cars!), both of these are what triggered my interest in learning more about Marinas in general.So onto DLs and the differences between them and the other MK1s (All this goes for MK1s, I have no idea about MK2s as I haven't seen one in the flesh)
The differences are:
Exterior:
No wheel arch trims
No wheel trims
No stainless steel trim running along door tops
No stainless steel windscreen trim, instead DLs use the plastic type as used on all Marinas from early 1975 onwards
'Deluxe' badges on side, rather than 'Super'
Interior:
No trim along underside of the dashboard
Single speed heater
Rubber flooring rather than carpets
Different seats, physically smaller and with a different style vinyl covering
No stainless steel door step trims
Parcel shelf made out of different material and crudely shaped in comparison to the SDL type (NB: Currently unsure whether this goes for entire MK1 production run)
No interior door cappings
Different door cards
Of course it is quite common to see DLs blinged up with trim from other cars, especially wheel trims, arch trims, badges etc as they are easily fitted/changed. The easiest way to tell is the windscreen seal trim as this is not something which is commonly changed although it can be problematic if the car has had a new screen fitted and new trim rather than reusing the original trim, which is why quite a few SDLs now use the DL and later Marina style trim.
A quick look on Flickr and I have discovered ten Marinas registered incorrectly as DLs, including 3 TCs that I know of and I believe are genuine, as such many of the DLs registered with the DVLA appear to actually be SDLs and TCs. Only five or so of the cars on Flickr though were genuine DLs, so it appears to be the majority of the registered DLs left are not DLs at all, although this is only a theory and it doesn't include any MK2s, although with MK2s being rarer in general I suspect their numbers may be in the minority anyway
These are some genuine DLs I know of.
There seem to be far more surviving 1.3s than 1.8s, although I know ial7202 of this forum has a 1.8 DL coupe, and maestego has a 1.8 DL saloon. I also know of a 1.8 DL coupe in Harvest Gold and of course the 1.3 DL saloon in Tundra (later resprayed white) which was infamously scrapped by a club member for it's doors.
The earliest DL I know of appears to be Ben Clayton's 1.3 coupe now sporting a V8 engine. If anyone knows of any earlier ones I'd be interested to hear about them. Bet they're red.
Anyone know of any others?
). Less speed-sapping stuff to take out and throw away.