Marcos Maniacs

Hello Mark
Thanks for your response. I have converted a coupe of MGB and Triumphs
myself. If a car has been converted, I usually find brake lines and fittings
have been replaced. Also, tell-tale holes and mountings for the original
hardware are hard to conceal. The original steering column mount holes would
have to be filled. Also on a marcos, I noticed that the glove box
compartment is unique to the right side to make room for the wiper motor.
Plus on a early Marcos, would the hand brake be repositioned?
Respectfully
David Skora (5006)


> -----Original Message-----
> From:	mark_saxby [SMTP:Mark.Saxby@...]
> Sent:	Wednesday, January 23, 2002 1:41 AM
> To:	MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com
> Subject:	[MarcosManiacs] Re: More historical tidbits - a bit long
> 
> 
> I don't know how many Marcos were made LHD originally. Presumably all 
> those bound for the states (mainly Volvo 3 litres) would have been, 
> but it's very simple to convert a Marcos from LHD to RHD and vice 
> versa (the dash and footwells are symetrical), so there's no 
> guarantee that a Marcos that is now LHD started that way.
> 
> I'd guess that all the Triumph cars were, originally, RHD as these 
> were built by Rob Walker cars to use up parts and sold through Rob 
> Walker dealerships in the UK.
> 
> In one of the Brooklands books there's a picture (unless my memory is 
> going completely) of an early-ish 1600 with LHD in London, so they 
> weren't unheard of on the early models, although it's not clear where 
> cars were going. 
> 
> In the UK, at least, the Marcos was a VERY trendy car in the 60s with 
> many rock stars and TV personalities owning them The Walker Brothers 
> had two, Rod Stewart (allegedly) went solo to pay for his and John 
> Noakes (British TV presenter - Blue Peter for anyone with memories of 
> British Children's TV :^)) had one. Therefore it's not unlikely that 
> a number were bought by European celebrities and built in LHD.
> 
> END_OF_RAMBLE.
> 
> Mark
> 
> PS My car's currently with Alan Fereday Cars being refurbished ready 
> for a return to the road in the Spring (I hope :^))
> 
> --- In MarcosManiacs@y..., David Skora <David@a...> wrote:
> > Hello Dan
> > Thanks for the interesting history. This is almost more than what is
> > currently available in print about Marcos cars! Is your car left 
> hand drive?
> > My car (5006) is LHD. Do you have any idea how many Marcos were 
> left hand
> > drive? Were all the Triumph or Volvo 6-cyl. cars also LHD?
> > Thanks Dave
> > 
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From:	Dan Orie [SMTP:dorie@s...]
> > > Sent:	Tuesday, January 22, 2002 6:02 AM
> > > To:	'MarcosManiacs@y...'
> > > Subject:	[MarcosManiacs] More historical tidbits - a bit long
> > > 
> > > Hello All;
> > >   I had a chance over the weekend to really pour over the 
> documents from
> > > my
> > > build history ordered from Rory. Some of it may be common 
> knowledge, but
> > > it's new to me since I haven't read much of the information 
> available
> > > about
> > > our cars - I hope it's not boring.
> > > 
> > > Prestige imports of Los Angeles CA. seemed to be the first 
> authorized
> > > dealer
> > > of completed cars in the USA. The biggest problem at the time 
> (summer &
> > > fall
> > > of 1969) was getting the Marcos to comply with smog regulations. 
> They
> > > pre-sold over 200 cars, but couldn't sell one due to this fact. 
> They were
> > > almost in a panic to get the cars certified by the EPA before 
> customs sent
> > > them back to the UK, and seemed distressed to find out that Volvo 
> engines
> > > were taking the place of the Fords - maybe they were tied to Ford 
> somehow?
> > > 
> > > My car as I mentioned earlier, was ordered by the President of 
> Ford at the
> > > time. The car was first delivered to a company called Kar Kraft, 
> who at
> > > the
> > > time was a performance and tuning specialist working with Ford. 
> Kar Kraft
> > > was responsible for all of the work in changing regular Mustangs 
> into the
> > > 'Boss 429 Mustangs'. 'Boss' was how the workers of that project 
> referred
> > > to
> > > the President of Ford at the time and the name stuck. It is my 
> speculation
> > > that having Kar Kraft initially work on the Marcos to comply with 
> the USA
> > > regulations at the time could have been an informal test and 
> first step to
> > > an eventual selling agreement in the USA by Ford.
> > > 
> > > There was considerable frustration on the part of the guy from 
> Kar Kraft
> > > in
> > > charge of getting my Marcos road-worthy. The correspondence 
> between him
> > > and
> > > a couple of Marcos employees - including Jem Marsh was almost 
> comical at
> > > times. Evidently, my car arrived with 'bad engine bearings'. Some 
> thought
> > > it
> > > was due to overheating, but Marcos claimed that it was due to 'oil
> > > surging'
> > > which was purported to be a problem with almost 20 percent of all 
> of the
> > > Essex engines. The Reliants and TVR's along with the Ford's were 
> claimed
> > > to
> > > be experiencing the same problems. A bigger radiator along with a 
> new
> > > engine
> > > was ordered for my car.
> > > 
> > > Also, it seems that someone from Marcos (I'm almost positive is 
> was Jem)
> > > was
> > > trying to get Kar Kraft to be a Marcos distributor for the 
> central and
> > > east
> > > regions of the USA. He claimed that they really didn't have any 
> interest
> > > in
> > > selling the Marcos in the UK, and told them that a new factory 
> was being
> > > built and they could produce around 350 cars per year. Kar Kraft 
> claimed
> > > that the Marcos attracted considerable interest from the public 
> just
> > > sitting
> > > on the trailer. Kar Kraft was almost being begged by Prestige 
> imports and
> > > by
> > > Marcos to provide engineering in helping Marcos pass the 
> emissions tests.
> > > 
> > > In summation, I don't know if the President of Ford got to drive 
> my Marcos
> > > before he was fired in 1970. However, the considerable problems he
> > > experienced with the car probably soured him on ever thinking of
> > > officially
> > > importing the cars as part of Ford - if he were thinking along 
> those
> > > lines.
> > > The correspondence between Ford USA and Marcos on my cars 
> indicates that
> > > there was some confusion as to who was doing what at Marcos.
> > > 
> > > Dano
> > > Essex V6 3M/5463
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> > > MarcosManiacs-unsubscribe@y...
> > > 
> > >  
> > > 
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> > >
> 
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