MEET THE OWNER – RUSSELL MACFARLANE AND HIS MORRIS MARINA SUPER

I believe ‘Aqua’ was only available on the Marina for the first year of production. Only six Aqua Marinas are known to exist, split between the 1.3 and the 1.8 and Saloon and Coupe. So, who knows - my 1.8 Super Deluxe Saloon could be the sole survivor in Aqua!

We have previously featured some of Russell’s collection, and thanks to a house purchase, the Marina is now the sole member of his fleet. British Leyland introduced the Morris that represented “Beauty with Brains Behind It” in April 1971 - and for too long, it was subject to bad comedy routines along these lines:

Bad Post-Alternative Comedian appearing at a provincial Civic Centre in 2005:

“Cor, weren’t the Marinas rubbish! (Pause). Anyone remember Spangles?”

Etc., etc.

But, mercifully, the Marina now has a large and very loyal following that appreciates it as a fascinating example of 1970s popular culture. It was the ‘stop-gap’ model British Leyland introduced to replace the Minor and Oxford Series VI. It was a reminder of their short-lived policy of reserving the Austin badge for FWD cars and Morris for ‘traditional’ RWD models.

Car thought the primary purpose of the Marina was “to be a straightforward conventional saloon that is cheap to make, cheap to buy and cheap to service”. It was a formula that appealed to countless fleet managers – a vital consideration for BL as by 1971, business customers represented 40% of potential sales. Two years later, the Marina was the second best-selling car in the UK, and the brilliant www.aronline.co.uk quotes a dealer as stating:

No one will look at the Marina and turn a somersault in sheer excitement but, as a value-for-money package, it is exactly what we in the trade have been asking Lord Stokes to provide. If we cannot sell this, we might as well pack it all in.

When Autocar compared the 1.8 Super to the Hillman Hunter in 1971, one of their testers wrote: “I wouldn’t be able to risk the Marina’s superior performance and more predictable handling. I would also be considerably influenced by its flexibility and comparative silence”. Plus, for £1,079, the Super owner benefited from a cigarette lighter and some splendidly artificial-looking plastic ‘wood’.

So, it is small wonder that Russell found himself unable to resist his 1972 example:

I didn’t want the Marina slipping through my fingers as I knew how rare an Aqua Marina was! It is outstanding! My Super is a well-known club car, and I’m utterly smitten with it – it is the colour that makes it for me. I love my car standard, so the Morris will be mainly left alone - just improvements made to the condition over the coming years, and it will be a fair weather, nice, sunny day car.

And if Dad from the 1970s Ladybird Peter and Jane books did not consider an Aqua Morris Marina Super before purchasing his Austin Maxi, he really should have done so.

With Thanks To: Russell Macfarlane and https://morrismarina.org.uk/