1972 Modern Motor Australian Marina comparison test

[locost_bryan]

Just bought this magazine road test off ebay.

September 1972 comparison test of the six top-selling $2500 Australian family cars. Marina comes out very well - highly rated for ride and handling, space and build quality. Not sure what problem they had with the seatbelts, haven't read anything similar in any other road tests.

Marina was released in Australia in April 1972 with the OHC E-series engine. Sales of 1424 in May were second in the segment to Cortina's 1,748. Sales averaged 1,200 per month for the rest of the year, giving totals sales of 9,398 for 1972. More than 10,000 were sold in 1973, and a further 8,109 were sold in 1974 before production ceased in December. A final 2,500 cars were registered in early 1975.

[Kilroy]

Hey Bryan.
Do you know if the bodyshell was the same as the UK items.?
Just wondering how easily I will be able to attach suspension and interior trim from a UK car to an Oz Coupe.
Cheers.

[locost_bryan]

They used English panels until the Six arrived in mid-73, when they changed to locally stamped panels and rebranded from Morris to Leyland. Easiest differences to spot are the larger transmission tunnel for the Borg Warner 3-speed manual and bulged front valance for Six radiator.

If you can fit a Mk3 carpet over the trans tunnel, then you've got an English shell.

Pretty sure your Coupe has an English body, certainly the TC rally car has.

[Kilroy]

My Coupe has Australian suspension, with a Marina 6 rear axle and twin trailing arms, plus the larger torsion bars and different uprights, plus "Girlock" calipers.



The shock absorber arms have been made adjustable so as to make camber easily tunable, but I do not think that will pass muster for road use.
I am therefore undecided as to try and restore an original Australian suspension setup, or to use a UK setup of which I have many, plus a number of 7" wide wheel sets.



I would be keen to retain these wheels, but they do not accommodate as much rubber as my UK stud pattern items.
The "6" diff would also seem to be a sturdy item with whatever horsepower the full race MGB donk is going to provide.

Gathering intel...