The full story of the Marina, from its birth in 1971 to the end of the road in 1984, taking in its rebirth as the Ital along the way.
The Marina was developed in double-quick time following the formation of BLMC, with the aim of providing the company with a car to take on the Ford Cortina.
The development story
The full story of the Marina, from its birth in 1971 to the end of the road in 1984, taking in its rebirth as the Ital along the way. |
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Drawings & prototypes
This gallery offers an insight into the Marina's development cycle, under the stewardship of Roy Haynes. |
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| Picture kindly supplied by John Capon |
Morris Ital: the rivals
Just how well or badly did the Ital stack up against its rivals? |
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Missing Marina
The ill-fated ADO77... Cowley's Cortina |
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Marina/Ital in video
A couple of excellent adverts for the Morris Marina and Ital... |
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Marinas at Cowley
Cowley received a major revamp in anticipation of Marina production. Here are some images of the Marina being built there. |
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The Marina and its rivals
Taken from the first ever edition of What Car?, this road test pitted the Marina against four rivals – including the Austin Maxi... |
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Austin Marina
The Marina was sold as an Austin in the US, Canada and South Africa. This gallery contains some shots of the Austin versions. |
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| Picture kindly supplied by John Shepherd |
E-Series Marinas
So why did the Australians and South Africans use OHC E-Series engines in the Marina? |
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| Picture kindly supplied by Scott Williams |
Mumford Marinas
Five-door estate version not big enough? Fixed roof no good? The solutions were at hand... brought to you by Mumfords. |
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| Picture kindly supplied by Andrzej Bijowski |
Huandu CAC6430
In the late 1990s the Ital range (including the van and pickup versions) was briefly produced in China. |
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The great escape
The remarkable story of TV journalist Michael Kirsch's successful attempts to save some Bosnians during the Balkan conflict of the early 1990s. Reproduced from CAR Magazine... |
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Picture gallery
The Marina and Ital, as photographed for the brochures and contemporary magazine articles. |
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Publicity material
Here you'll find a useful listing of Marina/Ital brochures and press photos, featuring items from both the UK and overseas markets. All of the press photos listed can be viewed online; some of the brochures can also be viewed in full, while for most of the others, the covers can either be viewed or previewed. New items will be added from time to time, as they become available. |
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