The Morris Marina was a car produced by British Leyland from 1971 to 1980. It was restyled by Italdesign and renamed the Ital which gave the car a further 4 years of life. The cars were basically good cars, mechanically similar to the iconic Morris Minor but with the addition of the 1.8 B Series engine, the cars were available with 4 door saloon body, 2 door Coupe and 5 door estate and a panel van was also available. The coupe spawned the rare Mumford convertible, the coupe was also the body style which was the cooking TC version which had the MGB's engine and carburettors and was actually superior to the MGB in many ways. It was the bolshie and beligerant shop stewards of the 1970's which destroyed the reputation of this car because his workforce wern't interest in building them which lead to variable build quality, it has been said that the ones that are still with us are the ones built by scabs, cos they were the only ones with any dilligence!
The Morris Marina was one fine looking car ruined by the mismanagement and idiotic behaviour of a workforce who couldn't have given a shit, and we wonder why Rover is finished??
by A soppy old duffer October 26, 2005