The Morris Marina became known among petrol-heads mainly thanks to Jeremy Clarkson and his continuous ridicule of the vehicle.
While he worked at Top Gear, the famous car journalist never missed a chance to say just how bad the Marina was, calling it – multiple times – one of the worst car ever made, but not before dropping a piano on top of it.
However, an 18-year old car enthusiast would disagree with him, as he ensured that at least one of the 1.2 million Marinas ever build would remain relevant on the streets, and on the track. Patxi Beasley’s ‘Mutant Marina’ affectionately known as Myrtle, may look like an old geezer’s ride, but underneath its Brooklands Green paint scheme and period-correct dealer stickers a beast resides.
The 900 Kg car houses a Ford Mondeo Zetec engine, a Sierra gearbox, and comes with completely redesigned suspension – characteristics that make it very different than the variants build by British Leyland and maligned by the former Top Gear hosts (Richard Hammond called it ‘drab and dreary’).
Falken’s multiple drifting champion James Deane recently enjoying a slide in the 120bhp car at Rockingham and was very polite about it:
“It’s lacking a bit of power compared to my 750bhp Nissan S14 so you need to keep it nailed. I started drifting in a Sierra and it takes me back to that. It’s old school but cool, though I’ve got no plans to ask Patxi to borrow it, well not just yet!”
The idea behind it was to create a lively alternative to the Corsas and Fiestas that most young driver go for, as the owner explained:
“Everyone seems to go for the same cars and I just wanted something different. This came up and with a few tweaks, it made a lot of sense! Slotting in the Ford engine has made it more reliable and now I can use it every day.”
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