Design to production took just 18 months, and various sources still rank the Marina among the worst cars built.
Lead trim: Marina 1.3 A-Series · up to 121 hp
Morris Marina1971–1980
- 0spots by members
- Unclaimednobody has spotted one yet
- 0sets it belongs to
Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Morris Marina yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactDesign to production took just 18 months, and various sources still rank the Marina among the worst cars built.
The Morris Marina is a small family car manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1971 until 1980 (also sold as the Austin Marina in South Africa and North America, the Leyland Marina in Australia and the Morris 1700 / 575 in New Zealand), designed by Roy Haynes and Harris Mann under the ADO28 codename to replace both the Morris Minor and the Morris Oxford. It has a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, came as saloon, estate, coupé, coupé utility (pick-up) and van, and 1.2 million were built; it rarely came close to challenging its main rival, the Ford Cortina, and ranks in various sources among the worst cars ever built. The Marina was launched on the domestic market on 27 April 1971, went from design stage to production in just 18 months (with torsion-bar front suspension and leaf springs at the rear, and a four-speed manual derived from the Triumph Toledo unit), and the 100,000th car, a 1.8TC, emerged from Cowley on 29 March 1972. British engines were the A-Series 1.3 and B-Series 1.8 (with the 1.8 TC twin-carburettor version for extra performance, and the 1.7 O-Series from 1978), while Australia and South Africa continued with the E-series, including a 2600 cc six offered from November 1973 with 121 hp; a 1.5-litre B-Series-derived diesel (37 or 40 hp depending on the source; 3,870 built 1977–1980) was sold in a few European countries but never in Britain. The 1980 replacement, the Morris Ital, was the same car with mild styling changes. The page gives no end year for the E-series six, so the generation end year is used for it.
Collectors Spotted in the Morris Marina Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Morris Marina yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
6 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marina 1.3 A-Series | 1971–1980 | 1.3 L Inline-4 | 60 hp | 69 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Marina 1.5 B-Series diesel (European export) | 1977–1980 | 1.5 L Inline-4 | — | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| Marina 1.7 O-Series | 1978–1980 | 1.7 L Inline-4 | 78 hp | 97 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Marina 1.8 B-Series | 1971–1978 | 1.8 L Inline-4 | 85 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| Marina 1.8 TC B-Series twin-carb | 1972–1978 | 1.8 L Inline-4 | 95 hp | 106 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Marina 2.6 E-Series six (Australia and South Africa, 121 hp) | 1973–1980 | 2.6 L Inline-6 | 121 hp | 165 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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