IN September 1973 British Leyland didn’t have much to crow about. For the first time, its range was being outsold by foreign imports. Figures released mid-month showed that they took a record 32 per cent share of the British market in the crucial August new registrations month.

The news could not have come at a worse time because BL was trying to galvanise its dealer network to ‘celebrate’ the 60th anniversary of Morris cars.

Unfortunately, with money in short supply there was precious little to throw a diamond jubilee party. In a bid to boost morale the company scraped together enough to come up with a limited edition model – the Jubilee, based on the Marina 1.8 TC 4-door saloon.

Dubbed a “glamorous show car” by BL’s desperate publicists, the Jubilee was only available in yellow. A black vinyl roof added a sporty touch and a badge on each front wing denoted its ‘special’ status.

The ‘exclusive’ interior featured seats with nylon covers, head restraints and black sun visors.

BL bosses had hoped the Marina would be a competitor to the Cortina. It was conceived as a simple car that would be easy to service and cheap to run – exactly what Britain’s fleet managers said they wanted.

But the development was rushed because BL set its on-sale date in stone before the project was finished. No matter what, the new Morris had to be ready for the 1970 Earl’s Court Motor Show.

Chief engineer Harry Webster had cut his teeth with Triumph. Under his watchful eye the company had reeled off a string of striking designs including the TR3 and the TR5 (the first British production car to use fuel injection). He must have been appalled when BL bosses told him that, to save money, the new family Morris would have to be a ‘bitza’ – made from existing components - using as much as possible from the positively antediluvian Morris Minor.

The Northern Echo:

 

NOSTALGIA: A page from the Marina 2 sales brochure

At least the styling looked contemporary and the target dimensions meant it offered more metal than most of the competition. But the Marina wouldn’t be as profitable as BL hoped so it set about aggressively ‘taking cost out’. Management decreed that the new model should cost no more than £580, but this proved impossible, even with equipment and componentry pared to the bone, so the starting price was nudged beyond £600.

The engines were pinched from the MG range (A-Series from the Midget, the B-Series from the MGB) but the higher-powered version suffered from chronic understeer, something which would have been sorted had the development programme not been so rushed.

The Northern Echo:

BROWN BOMBER: BL cornered the market in exciting shades of, er, brown.

 

Initial sales figures were quite good (if not quite measuring up to BL’s ambitious target of 11 per cent of the entire market) but soon BL’s troubled industrial relations took a hand. Time and again the Marina production line came to a standstill as workers downed tools at the Cowley plant. In 1971 The Times reported that BL had firm orders for 60,000 Marinas, but only 12,000 had actually been built. Fleet managers who couldn’t wait cancelled their orders and returned to the Ford fold.

The Marina had always been planned as a stop-gap but when the time came for a replacement the company was bankrupt – and the Morris had to soldier on with a few minor modifications. When the Marina 2 went on sale in 1978 Motor magazine concluded: “Dated suspension, crude handling, mediocre roadholding, poor driving position – way behind its competitors.”