Does anyone know anything about these other than what I can read on wiki?
There's one nearby, looks pretty neat. Would it be cool with a 12A under the hood?
Does anyone know anything about these other than what I can read on wiki?
There's one nearby, looks pretty neat. Would it be cool with a 12A under the hood?
I haven't seen a Marina in years! 
It would certainly be different!
From what I remember, it used the MGB motor with a different cam and carburetion. If it has an automatic, it's a Borg Warner unit. I think it uses the B rear axle and front brakes but has its own control arms and shocks.
Cool, good info to know. This is a 4 speed car. The one near me is the same fast back body style as in that picture.
Those door handles are so 70's BL
Carson wrote: Those door handles are so 70's BL
Or AMC's.
All the Marina's here have returned to the earth a long, long time ago...
It's sort of like an MGB with a back seat, and everything good about the MGB sucked right out of it.
In answer to the original question, it would be extremely cool with a 12A under the hood. More so if it was in some 70s-tastic shade of lime green like the one above.
I had an Austin Tasman when I was 18, 4 door sedan V6 FWD engine, was so wide I could lie across the front seats completely, it was pretty cool in the day in a funky way
Allright, a slightly less flippant answer...
The good: Reasonably good handling. Can probably repurpose quite a few MG parts for upgrades. Could probably fit almost any engine you want under the hood.
The bad: absolutely abysmal build quality. I mean, it's better than, say, Trabant, but it's not good. Parts supply may be drying up. Kinda funky-retro-cool.
Even at its best, it's not nearly as good as a lot of other sedans/coupes from the 70s. I think if I wanted something weird from that era, I'd go with a first-gen 200sx. Still not a particularly good car, but better made.
Suspension wise its a slightly updated Morris Minor - not exactly the update to date. The engine is either a 1.3L A-series ala Spridget or a 1.8L similar to MGB.
It's the 1.8.
Doesn't seem like it's as cool of a car as it could be. The guy is asking a lot for it as well.
hi there there are more marina's around than you think! looking at the car pictured it looks like a T.C. model. i only know of 3 in australia at present so can i get some info/ details on this one? please. i had a marina sedan that i modified with a dolomite 1850 motor and a TR7 5speed gearbox and competed with it at mount cotton hill climb a few times, the car is now in oberon NSW cheers
Last Sunday's TopGear answered any question I ever had concerning the Marina, haha.
A friend's GF had one and I remember having to go on jumping missions. And the car needed started, too!
IIRC its claim to fame might be the last (small) British sedan (e.g., other than Jaguar) imported into the US until the MINI...?
No, a couple of Rover models have that distinction. The odd hatchback thing from the 1980s and then the wonderful Sterling badged ones of the 1990s, IIRC.
Sterlings were re-badged Hondas...
What a steaming pile of dung, as I recall from being an apprentice mechanic in a british colony during the 1980s
bruceman wrote: What a steaming pile of dung, as I recall from being an apprentice mechanic in a british colony during the 1980s
Most of what British Leyland built in that time period was not what you'd call "quality product"...
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