Author | Message |
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◊ 2009-07-20 22:50 |
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◊ 2009-07-20 23:21 |
I preferred that they destroy the Porsche Panamera instead of this historical car |
◊ 2009-07-20 23:23 |
Yet another one? |
◊ 2009-07-20 23:24 |
31 minutes |
◊ 2009-07-21 03:07 |
I am GREATLY annoyed because of what they did to this car, since it was a true minter, near concours, owned by a member of the Morris Marina Ecosse, (here are several pictures of the car in mint condition http://www.morrismarinaecosse.com/2007.htm, and it appears in the video at 02:34, 03:11 and 03:23) and it is just not the piano that they dropped... it hurts more when you know that it only had 19000 miles on the clock and that despite being in such a great condition back in 2007, now it will probably have to rust along other Top Gear's scrap cars... And the fact that this 1500 pound challenge to find a RWD Coupe it's just a copy of the 1500 pound coupe challenge they did back in 2005 makes me think that Top Gear's script writers lack of ideas now, that's why they have started this British Leyland bashing during this three last seasons. And it's unfair that the Fast Marina forums have to stand two weeks of vandalism caused by Top Gear fans who think that they can tell everybody which car they must love and hate. Jeremy Clarkson may be the world's most important car journalist, but he isn't a god. And look how many people he mobilizes!: This is a graph showing the average reproductions of a video I made about Marinas. Compare the average, daily reproductions to the reproductions after this episode was broadcasted. The difference is vast! And imagine all this people joining to the Fast Marina Forums for annoying Morris Marina owners, which they do. Just have a look to the Fast Marina Forums to see all the vandalism they have to suffer. I'm sure that they deliberately choose that car because they wanted to hurt the Morris Marina owners club by smashing up one of their cars. And finally, the Marina is bad in the same way that most 1970-1980's car were. Remember that Capri! Much worse than any Marina! And did they give it what it deserved?. If one car from this show had to be smashed, it was undoubtedly that rusty old Capri. |
◊ 2009-07-21 10:54 |
I agree that this has to stop. If Jeremy Clarkson's audience needs a car Colloseum with lions eating what he doesn't appreciate much, they have to move several centuries back in another era & stay there! And if there are clubs with the Morris Marina as subject that can react, everyone should respect cars that might be rarities (even not very brilliant in their time) and totally defenseless if there are not relating owner clubs around the world. That's in my opinion civilised, democratic and paying some respect to someone's idea, even not the cleverest, but anyhow displaying how things were..! In any other case maybe we should restart to burn books that don't fully agree with our credos and bring back a new generation of middle ages. -- Last edit: 2009-07-21 10:55:24 |
◊ 2009-07-21 11:38 |
Lastinpurple, can't you see that Clarkson is only trying to wind up Marina fans like you? It amuses people like him to see geeks (in their eyes) getting so angry over a car that's a piece of junk (to them). If there hadn't been such an uproar from the Marina community over the first Marina he wrecked, then he wouldn't have done it again! So don't rise to the bait! |
◊ 2009-07-21 11:47 |
What they're here doing is just childish really, they think because they have a lot of money and power that they can go out and destroy things simply to make others upset about it. It amounts to the same thing a schoolyard bully does to weaker children, it's just sick and evil. If they destroy anymore of these you can also add genocide to their list of offenses. What's their problem with this thing anyway? -- Last edit: 2009-07-21 11:48:46 |
◊ 2009-07-21 11:56 |
It was a mediocre car and they can't understand why some people are still devoted to it. You're right, it is a form of bullying, but it's not quite like the bullying big kids do to little kids, and "genocide", "evil"? It's only a car (and we're not talking about a Ferrari 250 GTO or Mercedes 300SL Gullwing here). But if it makes anyone feel better I think they've probably made their point and they should leave the Marina alone now. -- Last edit: 2009-07-21 12:02:44 |
◊ 2009-07-21 12:08 |
It's evil because they are hurting many, many people completely on purpose, and if that isn't evil I don't know what is. And it IS genocide (in the car sense of course) becuase if you think about it they probably have enough money and the capacity to purchase and destroy every last one of these in existence, and the only reason they are doing it is to hurt people. I'd rather they destory some ugly Ferrari than this, even if it was truly a crappy car in every way possible it's still a car, and a rare one that is no longer in production at that. |
◊ 2009-07-21 12:55 |
Come on, obviously every car fan would get annoyed if his favourite car is publicly destroyed (look at the Lancer Owners Club http://www.lancerregister.com/showthread.php?t=271068 ). That's just an excuse to destroy more Marinas. I'm sure they won't destroy another Lancer, and personally, I find the average Mitsubishi Lancer more dreary than the Marina. -- Last edit: 2009-07-21 13:09:28 |
◊ 2009-07-21 15:38 |
No, only a tiny minority of people. There's less than 1000 Marinas left in Britain (that does make it pretty rare, maybe they should stop wrecking them) Why is this your favourite car, then? -- Last edit: 2009-07-21 15:54:39 |
◊ 2009-07-21 16:06 |
I do not especially like the Marina (I do not dislike it either), but I find that really criminal. If they were wrecking rotten cars, ok (even if I disapprove), but here it is not the case. Such cars in especially good state should be preserved, even if the model itself was bad. |
◊ 2009-07-21 16:29 |
I think all of these so-called "Lame Ducks" (Morris Marina, Austin Allegro, Princess) etc. were the cars that made Britain in the 1970's. I don't see why some people make these cars hate-objects and destroy them regardless of their condition. |
◊ 2009-07-21 16:33 |
Yes, because in case of the vintage cars it is not important what the car was when was new - good/bad, ugly/nice etc. It isn't a way to determine the value of the vintage car. And maybe someone can explain me what is this famous point in irritating of the Marina's fans? What for? What he wants to prove them? That they like crappy car? You think that they didn't know that it wasn't perfect. Many people love some cars just because they are not perfect. -- Last edit: 2009-07-21 16:39:23 |
◊ 2009-07-21 17:40 |
This is not my favourite car, but it's one of my favourites for one simple reason: I love the design, it's so elegant for a family saloon!. I know that a lot of people think it's ugly, but I just can't understand them. |
◊ 2009-07-22 03:58 |
This is a "Special" |
◊ 2009-07-22 08:50 |
My favourite car is the '73 Mustang, and I loved its destoryal in Gone in 60 Seconds. That film is why it is my favourite car. So not everyone cars if their favourite car is destroyed! It would only be if it was for no reason... |
◊ 2009-07-22 20:24 |
I don't have a very strong opinion about the Morris Marina. It wasn't a good car, in fact the general opinion seems to be that it was a poor car. However, there's nothing terribly hateful about it. Lookswise it's just average for the time. I can think of many much more hateful cars from the past and the present. However, I think this Top Gear attitude to them has gone beyond childish to the point of being just utterly pathetic. Going out of your way to track down something as rare as this just to destroy it was pathetic in the first place, but to then destroy one more, then yet another one just to raise the ire of the Morris Marina owners club is...well, I can't even begin to describe what an utterly silly, vindictive, childish and utterly pointless waste of time, money and effort it is. I enjoy Jeremy Clarkson often, but he's 49 years old now and behaves like a teenager who's never grown up and one who just can't move on with the times. He can't seem to accept the fact that the Marina is now over 30 years old and most of them have already died long ago. You never see any in daily use, so what's the point in hating something that's no longer present on todays roads? He should destroy more Reva G-Wiz (yes, I know he's wrecked a few) and continue to ridicule the environmentalist idiots who are willing to drive such a dreadful vehicle just to be "green". More fun than living in the past. |
◊ 2009-07-24 14:45 |
That's because they're awful cars |
◊ 2009-07-24 14:48 |
The vehicle details for VDH 256S are: Date of Liability 01 09 2009 Date of First Registration 04 08 1977 Year of Manufacture 1977 Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1798CC CO2 Emissions Not Available Fuel Type Petrol Export Marker Not Applicable Vehicle Status Licence Not Due Vehicle Colour WHITE Vehicle Type Approval null |
◊ 2009-07-24 16:45 |
I do not think that is necessary to copy every time the DVLA page, in particular when someone has already wrote the year and the extra info |
◊ 2009-07-28 00:30 |
So anything that was common is not deemed a classic by you? - then why include a Cortina ? And you seem to be suggesting that there is some conspiracy that "true classics go to rot" If you damn a Marina for it's unreliabity -the one in the feature travelled great distance without any reported problems- unlike the horrifyingly unreliable Lanchester |
◊ 2009-07-28 18:00 |
The Lanchester was 56 years old not 32 anyway much rarer vehicles have been destroyed in programs such as Heartbeat and the Royal. |
◊ 2009-07-28 21:26 |
you often find that on old Renault (80s/90s) and there are not "so many" Marina, that's the problem... |
◊ 2009-07-28 23:10 |
Perhaps "hating" is a hard term, but at least not incorrect. I'm always wonderung about the public hysteria -with "public" I mean IMCDB- about the Top Gear-bullshit. For me it's not much different than the "Cobra 11"-junk or "Fast and Furious"-shit. Who the fu.. is Clarkson and why the fu.. is "Top Gear", that both are worth to discuss about it? It's just an unimportant show, where an irrelevant idiot is publishing his own preferences and reluctances about cars. Who the hell shall be impressed about the rubbish, he is flatulating out? |
◊ 2009-07-28 23:12 |
I don't think, it's neccessary to fill up the forum with this plenty of DVLA-informations about cars, shown in this show? It maybe interesting, if it's about cars in old movies, if they still exist, but not about test-cars, given for Top Gear by the companies. |
◊ 2009-07-29 22:17 |
Why you felt offended? Isn't it totally irrelevant, what these idiots are saying? It's in the same way relevant for you and for any other viewers, as if in China a sack with rice would bursting (a German saying about total unimportant facts). |
◊ 2009-07-31 11:16 |
The week after: Carla Bruni was at nelson Mandelas Birthday celebration in NY where she sang a song which cleared things up: My Heart is sore, My marina is no more, It was the 1.8, with the optional rear armrest, And now those top gear wazzocks Have dropped a Piano on its roof, I hate james may, And the other two, but mostly james may. I Want my morris back! |
◊ 2009-08-05 00:58 |
They need to lay off the Marinas already. There are only a few hundred left in Britain. Marina fans I suppose can rest *somewhat* easily that there are also a handful in the U.S. that the Top Gear crowd won't get their hands on. |
◊ 2009-08-16 00:47 |
I don't think the age is relevant to reliability -56 compared to 32 - is there a sliding scale of reliabilty? Bear in mind the Lanchester had full Mot with an exhaustive amount of work done- it was probably in it's best state since leaving the showroom new |
◊ 2009-08-16 01:20 |
Clarkson's attitude towards British Leyland cars is well explained in this piece: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/jeremy_clarkson/article384268.ece "In the glory days of BMC, cars were built in one part of the factory and finished in the other. Which meant the unpainted, unprotected shells had to be taken across the road no matter what the weather. As a result many had rusted away before they made it to the showroom. Eventually a tunnel was constructed so the cars were no longer exposed to the elements. Great. But sadly the tunnel was exactly 2in too narrow for the Austin 1800, the so-called land crab, that was in production at the time. Not that it mattered much because the paint shop in the bad old days rarely had any paint anyway. Richard Littlejohn, who covered the disputes that plagued Longbridge back in the 1970s, said he would regularly go to workers’ houses to find the bathroom was Allegro beige, the door was Marina green and the sitting room was TR7 yellow." etc. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-T13gPhYEs |
◊ 2009-08-16 05:25 |
He also did an episode of "Clarkson's Car Years" called "Who Killed the British Motor Industry?" that mentions stuff like that. Here is the first part on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAWH0EfMDfc -- Last edit: 2009-08-16 06:03:08 |
◊ 2009-08-19 20:38 |
The following three parts are on Youtube, too, just look on the right. IMHO Top Gear is a useless series, and Clarkson an irrelevant idiot, who only shows his own unimportant preferences about cars (so who the f... is Clarkson, that's worth to be upset about him?), and the way, how he makes the show, is always only show-related, without real substance of knowledge in motor-historical or technical facts, but after I've seen these four Youtubes, APS221 has mentioned, I must say, that here he is not wrong. Indeed, he has pointed our the reasons for the desaster-years (decades?) of the British car-industry. Sure, real shallow journalism, but not wrong facts. |
◊ 2009-08-28 23:45 |
Shit on heads of top gear hosts! They hate cars! |
◊ 2009-11-13 04:42 |
I like it when olivier panis called this car a "shit-box" |
◊ 2009-11-17 19:19 |
how the hell on earth is the Morris Marina historic lol, its the worst car British Leyland ever made, its the ultimate bit of junk. The best thing BL Made was the Jaguar XJS. The Marina has poor build quality, it handles like a skip on wheels, The low survival rate is due to a combination of factors mainly the Marina's relatively poor rust-proofing and also 'ordinary' family saloon cars of the period the Marina did not gain the status of a classic car, its just junk, if you want to preserve something at least preserve something worth saving, that Marina makes me feel embarrassed at being British. I mean at one point Britain had the best engineer's, the best industry, the best steam locomotives and then that car. I love top gear and am a huge fan, so whats it matter to you if they destroyed one, it doesn't belong to you is it harming your Marina's is it lol. Thank you and good day :P -- Last edit: 2009-11-17 19:20:21 |
◊ 2010-01-07 02:13 |
It's historic because it was made during a historic time period. They're icons of British culture in 1970s, and as with EVERY older car, as many as possible should be preserved to keep the breed from going extinct, so to speak. Whether or not these cars were considered good cars when they were new is simply irrelevant. No 30-40 year old car can be objectively judged by modern eyes. -- Last edit: 2010-01-07 02:24:51 |
◊ 2010-01-07 02:47 |
It's hings like this hat make me hate Top Gear sometimes... |
◊ 2010-04-15 02:21 |
I think I`m right in saying most of us were bought up to look after things & to respect other peoples stuff, we also like `old stuff`, cars being the main one. We also understand the value of things & realise that value isnt related to cost. As I`ve said before, if a tree fell on my Jag or Porsche, I wouldnt be that bothered, they are replacable fairly easily, if a tree fell on my Uno however, I`d be distraught, I love it to bits & its not replacable. I also want to keep it original, its lasted 20 years as it is & I want to keep it as close to original as possible, however, in the last 6 months its had a mirror kicked off, the rear bumper damaged by someone reversing into it with a tow bar & numerous dents & scratches have appeared all over it. The behaviour shown by Top Gear in the last couple of years is similar to that of drunks going out every weekend intent on destroying what they can & causing as much trouble as possible, deliberately wrecking peoples property for `a laugh`, occasionally resulting in fatalities when they are confronted by the owners. Jeremy may be in his 50`s & may be sober, but his persona is virtually the same, like a spoiled obnoxious destructive teenager with infinate funds. I was hoping James`s persona would rub off on him when he joined, even Hammond had a respect for all thigs mechanical, but instead both James & Hammond have been endorsing Jeremys challenges, to the extent of James stating how all Marina`s should be destroyed... Some of Top Gear is entertaining, some of it, for real car enhusiasts like most of us, is cringeworthy & quite infuriating. I`ve lost respect for all of them. |
◊ 2012-06-29 09:08 |
Are ALL YOU MORRIS MARINA FANS STUPID????? Its SH*T!!!! Let me make a comparison. Who in the world cares about Yugos??? NOBODY!!!!! The poor factory workers wouldn't, neither would Malcolm Bricklin! NOBODY CARES ABOUT STUPID RUBBISH BLOODY MARINAS!!!! I wouldn't give a rat's *ss for a marina! Does anyone like the 1990 Oldsmobiles??? It was made by some drunk southern hick redneck! I would never own one of those. Who likes the Chevy Cobalt?? ITS RUBBISH! It was designed poorly, made poorly, and is a disgust to the world! I am a Top Gear fan! I started watching a month ago, I have seen 10 seasons in a week! Jeremy Clarkson is just promoting his views of him and the bloody majority! Jeremy Clarkson is not the stupid bigoted racist sexist WESTBURO BAPTIST CHURCH! Get a life |
◊ 2012-06-29 10:00 |
Yep, stop watching the stupid TV shows, turn off your computer and get a life. |
◊ 2012-06-29 10:16 |
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◊ 2012-07-25 23:42 |
/vehicle.php?id=407146 |
◊ 2016-05-07 09:43 |
I agree with him, it is a shit-box. Now I rather have a 1956 Morris Minor than a crappy Marina. |
◊ 2016-05-07 11:58 |
It hasn't completely disappeared - DVLA now list it as SORN - other detail unchanged. So someone's got it somewhere, and presumably intends to do something with it. |
◊ 2016-06-11 19:28 |
British cars used to have the electrics made by Lucas. That has been rediculed and it's claimed that "Lucas invented the darkness". Yes he did, in that sence that the company replaced the flammable gas with electic light, and thus invented the light. I'd say Lucas made the most beautiful electrical components in history, but badly maintained, any components can go wrong. Just check the earth and there's no problem whatsoever. However in the 70's Jaguar, to reduce cost, let an Italian company made the electic system. That was probably one of the worst decisions made by BL, mainly because of two reasons; partly because wires were badly insulated when drawn through metal (like the fire wall, the A-pillar or the doors), and partly because it was laid on the floor where the passengers feet would tear it apart. That system was also used in the Fiats of the 70's and 80's. But having that said I have to confess that I've never studied the electrics of a Jaguar in detail, but I have seen it in a Fiat Argenta. And a friend told about the Jaguar Italian connection. Also I have a 1954 Fiat 1400 whose electical system is of amazing quality. I don't understand why it could become that bad in the 80's. -- Last edit: 2016-06-11 20:07:27 |
◊ 2016-06-11 19:56 |
It seems that many people like to mock the Marina, but they don't do it of the right reason. And much, much too late. I once read the history of the Marina, and apparently it was developed to be a luxuary middle class saloon, but somewhere in the middle of the development process BL bosses realized that the cars, even if they sold well, would generate a loss. Hence they told the engineers to cut as much cost as possible, in order to make the loss as little as possible. Unfortunately they also cut corners where they shouldn't have done, and when a preproduction car was eventually showed to the press, the journalists couldn't believe how bad the handling was. They asked the board of BL if the car was to be sold as that or if they would sort the handling. As BL answered that it would be sorted, the journalists didn't mentioned it in the reviews. Unfortunately BL didn't keep its promise, and many Marinas ended up in ditches. BUT, eventually realizing that that wouldn't sell any cars, BL changed the suspension after a very short time, making it no worse than any other car at the time. Unfortunately by then the damage was already made, and the car got a bad reputation. And when something have got a bad reputation, that cannot be changed easily. No matter how good the product becomes after the redevelopment. It's rather sad, actually. I really like the Marina. -- Last edit: 2016-06-11 19:59:08 |
◊ 2016-06-11 20:16 |
I always understood it had much lower objectives - more aimed at becoming Morris's Cortina - straightforward and cheap to build and sell (similar target as Rootes/Chrysler had a year earlier with the Avenger), plus a response to rapid growth in UK of mechanically simple Japanese Toyota/Datsun porridge cars. Also meant to be a replacement within Morris for the by now prehistoric Minor 1000, the elderly Oxford, and the expensive-to-manufacture 1100/1300 (Morris stopped all these ranges when the Marina launched). -- Last edit: 2016-06-11 22:52:34 |
◊ 2016-06-11 21:14 |
Sheesh. The only thing I'd want a Morris Marina for is something I could throw an old V8 into. To say this is better than a Capri is so untrue it hurts. That's like saying a Ford Fairmont is better than a Fox Body Mustang. |
◊ 2016-06-12 08:20 |
The problem is that I cannot for the time being check my source, as I've forgot what it was. Classic and Sportscar?, Thouroughbread and Classic cars?, or possible "Worst cars of the 20th century"? I don't know, but I'm positive about the objective. Then there's another matter if the author was correct... |
◊ 2016-06-12 08:53 |
Perhaps I can step in with a quote. Page 254 of Graham Robson's "The Cars of BMC" states: - (My précis) "Harry Webster had been drafted in by Stokes to head the Longbridge design office and to work up a crash programme of new model development. Quoting from "The Leyland Papers", by Graham Turner, "the Marina was conceived as an up-dated version of the Morris Minor,.....it had occurred to Webster that it might be possible to take most of the Minor's mechanical parts, update them where necessary.......and put a new body round them to produce a simple, rugged, low-priced car which could compete very effectively with the Viva and Escort." So, a quote from one respected journalist of the automotive industry, repeated in a reference by another, agreeing with the positioning of the Marina as a piece of cheap and cheerful junk. IMO, the design of the cars was no better and no worse than any other of the low range front engine rear drive competition, except that the 1.8 engine was really too heavy to permit decent handling. They were badly let down by their appalling build quality, the Japanese message of decent build quality if not decent rust prevention having not yet percolated into the thick heads of some of the British car industry's management and workers, mainly in Longbridge and Cowley, but Coventry was not immune. The Morris Minor was a world beating design in 1948, engine excepted, but to think that it could, with minimal change, cut the mustard in 1971 was optimistic to say the least. If anyone wishes to question my reasoning, they are welcome, but I would add that I was there, I drove most of the cheap and cheerful cars of the time, and was working for a tier one supplier from a period a few years after the introduction of the models in question. Purely as a matter of personal preference, my Mk V Cortina 2.0GL Estate took some beating for general usability and durability, not to mention its more than acceptable performance. It was undoubtedly a much better proposition than the equivalent Marina/Ital estate. -- Last edit: 2016-06-12 14:48:14 |
◊ 2019-06-18 02:16 |
1971 Marina road test - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSInTTUF2gE For approving nods from other drivers this is the car. |
◊ 2024-11-01 20:58 |
So they dropped a piano on it? Big deal. Just replace the roof from a donor Marina. Good as new. |
◊ 2024-11-01 21:00 |
so far , only the cartoons survive a piano drop that easily.. |
◊ 2024-11-18 02:31 |
Good thing they installed roll bars before the piano fell on the roof. Also, it was noticeably rusty, so it didn't exactly look pristine anyway. |