Club of the month: Marina Owners Club

As many clubs begin to get planning for the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show in November, we hear the Marina Owners Club have already pulled out all the stops to create a show stopping display for the ‘Perfect Partners’ theme.

We won’t announce all the stand details for the club, but the stand team for the MOC tell us they found success by advertising in their club magazine to find cars for the show and were then approached by the owner of a rather special Morris Marina.

The back story goes, in 1974 a partnership of epic proportions was born: the sensible, practical and well-priced Marina couple was combined with the slightly spicier and less pedestrian running gear from a V8 MG! The car then found its way to the London start of the ’74 World Cup Rally- London to Munich, with a slight detour via the Sahara!

The club, recognising the ‘Perfect Partnership’ element will have a replica on display at the show, which was originally built to compete in historic rallying. Like a lot of good replicas, a lot of work, love and investment went into the car and the owner Ian decided it was too nice to risk losing it to a misplaced tree (so he’s building another one – of course!). However, we do hear the car isn’t just a show piece and is often taken out for a bit of rough play!

If you’re wondering what happened to the original car, it suffered from a broken back axle in the desert- however so harsh were the conditions that the majority of the field suffered similar fates, with only 19 cars of the 52 starters making it to the finishing line.

We look forward to seeing the Marina Owners Club at the show – if you’re in a club and you’re putting on an exciting display, send us an email and share the details for your chance to feature in our next email or on our social media feeds.