Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[clan chieftain]

Once again smart arse Clarkson and his team of muppets destroy a BL car. This time a Marina in excellent condition. It was sold by a member of the MMOC to the BBC who assured him it would not be wrecked....liars...Not happy with wrecking it smart arse decided to burn it.A terrible fate for a really good car...He just hates BL. A great advert for a British institution called the BBC.....Lada enthusiasts must also be gutted.
So what classic car will be next.......The marina was sold on Ebay and the BBC bought it through someone else.

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The Clan Chieftain

[peppiB]

Sadly once we sell something, we have no control over what the new owners do with it. I used to like the Marinas - I have owned 3 and apart from the body rotting off one of them (parked a full winter on a main road with gritters going past 4 or 5 times daily), had no mechanical problems. It was sad to see an iconic car destroyed like that. They weren't as bad as many would have you believe.

[Brian M]

Found this on another forum, it is supposed to be from someone on the Top Gear production team:


"OK, your admin has called and asked me to come along and clarify a couple of things. So I will.

First of all, yes, that is a (riveted) repair to the car used in the destruction sequence which was originally a blue car, given a quick spray job to make it look like the nice one. GJR said that the decent car was in the compound and, for a while, so it was, but we haven't spoken in a week or two since when the Marina has found a new home in the hands of an enthusiast who refuses to use any forum because of the rubbish that tends to be talked about these very things!

The scrap car had to have a framework fabricated and fitted into the floor and chassis areas (sills, suspension mounting areas etc.) as it was really quite the rustiest thing we could have found, this made it safe to use on the "race" segment during which the interior trim from the good car was used in close ups.
Prior to the fire, that trim was replaced to the good car and the remains of the scrap one filled with a bed of poly peanuts and flour to give the impression of an interior fire.

No interior trim was destroyed, nor any usable parts. Even the windows were replaced with sugar glass. The car was obtained from a man who had intended to use it for racing of the oval track variety, but as it had no structural integrity, he gave up on that idea and gladly took the BBC's cash! As I said to GJR when asked by him to break cover and write this, the information is all available in the public domain, no secrets, no myths, and this is why the comments posted on the Marina site were so roundly criticised by him, they were purely speculative and had no basis in truth.

So go ahead and take a dislike to Top Gear, but please, Marina fans, acquaint yourselves with the facts of the situation before condemning something armed only with wild inaccuracy and assumptions.".

I think Top Gear is a great comedy progamme, and as all three presenters own various classic cars, I can believe what is said above, they have used the same method before - using a good car for the first pics and then destroying an unrepairable car that they have prettied up to look like the original.
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Brian
1970 Volvo Amazon and 1978 Safari 15-4 Caravan
Classic Safari Forum: www.classicsafaris.co.uk

[Rick]

[Keith D]

Hey 71 Marina,

Good to hear that people still care for the Marina.

BL sold them in Australia, but with different engines. My father bought one new in 1972, a 1750cc overhead cam single carby coupe. He loved it and had a very good run with it, keeping it for years.

They were available in Australia in either a 4 door sedan or a 2 door coupe and with a choice of 1500cc OHC motor, 1750cc OHC motor with 1 or two carbies and then the flagship, the one they called "Big Red". This one was fitted with a six cylinder OHC motor of 2250cc. I think it was the same engine as your Princess ??? The Big Red went like buggery, as you would image!

Regards - Keith D

[clan chieftain]

Oh well at least the good car is ok.
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The Clan Chieftain

[peppiB]

pleased it was all staged. A rare landcrab was once seen going over a hill on Heartbeat and being destroyed. The same thing happened there. A good one was used in the programme and a basket case was sprayed up and pushed over the edge.

[peter scott]

[Scotty]

[peter scott]

Ah there's nothing wrong with good old lever arm shocks

My old Jag has one at each corner. Having said that it also has leaf springs
at each corner. (in-built damping)

Peter
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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[PAUL BEAUMONT]

We shouldn't forget that the Maxi was the first true hatchback. I had 2! I dont know about being avant garde, but they provided a very acceptable solution to transporting young family and dog without the need for a lumbering estate. How come the clowns at BL never capitalised on it?

[Greg]

I Hope they didn't wreck a good example, but would they really go to the bother of dressing one up?..I don't know.
I caught this episode of 'Top Gear' tonight and when I saw some 'Old' cars, I guessed what was to come, then the race started and yes, 'Bang'! straight away, so predictable. So I changed chanel and watched something else!....................a programme about Paint drying or Grass growing or something!

[Penman]

Hi
I know James wasn't involved in the communist cars bit but, given his fixation on Dacia (he keeps mentioning a forthcoming one in the News section) i was surprised that the didn't manage to source one of those Dacia Renault 12s, that used to be imported here from Rumania.
[img]i.pbase.com/v3/23/479723/2/50350581.CarDacia1.jpg[/img]

[PACresta]

Yes i must say i was taken in with the destruction of the Marina, its nice to learn (via Brians post) that a total scap one was used.

The Top Gear team certainly like pushing the boundaries, the one driving the HGV's a few weeks back being a typical example.

[clan chieftain]

I have nothing against Top Gear. Its just that Jeremy Clarkson seems so smug........Yet on the other hand the documentary he done on Brunel on the series "The Greatest Briton who ever lived" was brilliant.

LONG LIVE BL TIN>
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The Clan Chieftain