Aussie Oddballs: Leyland Marina SIX-CYLINDER! Driven! 

Boris is going boxset crazy watching every Hubnut vid from the start, I bet.

@@tinniswood2577 I know that feeling😳I've been stuck here for a few days... its been wonderful

He was partying at number 10

Boris should go bald.

I take it there's no love lost between y'all and this make?

Actually "bones" McCoy said that..

@H HOUR HOTEL ok.

That's typical of a lot of bmc cars. The TR7 was a classic example of that.

Very funny!

@@nygelmiller5293 ;-)

Try the MG MGC 3 ltr straight 6

I totally agree Ham. A missed opportunity methinks.

@@markbriggs5531 They were great at that...missing opportunities.

@@AUmarcus I was so looking forward to a Rover 75 Coupe but it was all over by then.

I like my Vauxhall Velox 1962 with 2.3 straight-six and RWD with three-on-the-tree.(three speed column change) Lovely car to drive. Just recently got it street-legal - now I can't drive it cos we are in lockdown cos of a handful of bugs......

We often gave our best efforts to other markets. The australians also had twin cam powered escorts long after we stopped making them. It wasn't even considered a sporty car, just a car with enough grunt.

Post 1979 facelift UK cars had the 1700cc O series SOHC which was a really good engine. There was even a rare 2000cc O series available as an auto only in the Ital - I only ever saw one

@@leuvenlife the effort was with Leyland Australia. such a shame it didn't continue on

It all just seems like a wasted opportunity to carry on using the old BMC engines in the Marina when there were other more modern engine units available. Thanks for making this video it was most interesting.

@@billywhizz1984 I was lucky enough(!) to own an Ital 2.0 HLS and Auto in Vermillion. That was a fun car, it would fly off the lights and startle a few people, but the head gasket went and then the gearbox cooler failed leading to an obscene amount of pink antifreeze!! Best of all the gear selector broke so it was replaced with some mole grips.

Another car to note, hubnut, along with the Cortina and Torana sixes is the Chrysler Centura based on the old Simca 180 from France. As you would obviously know, the simca was a 1.8 four in gay Paris. The Centura in aus not only got the four in 2.0 form, but Chrysler Australia wedged their own 245ci (4.0 litre) six into it as well! Apparently there was a battle between the Centura and Cortina who could understeer the most! In terms of fuel economy tho, the Centura dismally lost as being the most thirsty of the two! My dad worked in a Chrysler dealership in Melbourne Aus at the time and COUNTLESS customers would be bringing in their KB and KC series Centura sixes into the service dept complaining of shithouse fuel economy! Holden definitely had the wood on it converting the old HB Viva (Torana) to house their own home grown 161 red six pack! You wouldn’t have happened to have driven one while in Australia did you???

The first Holden Torana with a six cylinder was the LC model that was based on the earlier HB series only in looks from the front doors back, mechanically their was nothing in common, the first LC, came with the choice of a smaller 2262 cc (badged as 2250) or138 cubic inch to a 161 cubic inch (badged as 2600) to a warmed over 161in the GTR version then to a hot lumpy cammed triple CD stromberg carbureted GTR-XU1 (Note that they also used the 173ci (2850 badged in the last of the LC’s & the GTR version) then the 173 and 202 cubic inch Holden sixes with similar mods in the LJ series.

@@Tolpuddle581 Valiant is known as a "Greek Mercedes" or a "Carlton Cadillac" haha.

And build quality too...

@Tone. Or the 3.0 litre Essex V6. The lunatics the built the Savage Cortinas tried that but decided it was a little much, but I'm sure the Aussie engineers could have made it work...

gosportjamie SuperSpeed sold the Escort with a 3.0 Essex. The problem with it is, it’s a more involved conversion than others because the size and weight of the engine necessitated installing it further back and modifying the bulkhead accordingly.

@@dungareesareforfools Yes,, that makes a lot of sense being as the Escort was never designed with that lump in mind. I can't help thinking that the finished vehicle must have been perhaps a little terrifying...

gosportjamie yes, to me the popular alternative of fitting the lighter Rover V8 sounds like a better option.

Two words. Fuel crisis.

@Lassi Kinnunen it was so long ago I can't remember. Probably little to no difference in it. All I know is at that time we'd had an audi 100 which we got after our zodiac died.... Then the audi caught fire (weak carbs leaking fuel)... Somehow my dad got hold of a Daimler sovereign!

Not quite correct - no separate sub frame but uprated torsion bars, wider rims and other strengthening.

@Tone. Ha!

Plum Loco was my favourite colour in these Australian Marinas

Home on the O'range Plum Loco Scarlet O'Hara Am eye blue NV Green Bold as Brass Hairy Lime My dad had a 6cyl Super Deluxe coupe in Am eye Blue , nice car

@Alan Pennykid Thanks for that memories, mate. Reminds me of some of Holden's funnier colour names, like "Strike Me Pink" or "Barney's Shirt." :-D

New Zealand racing orange!

And didn't THEY go 👍😉😘. The hemi 245 Centura's were the pick of the litter of the Aussie manufacturers "sixed" four cylinder bodied variations. The 3.3 and 4.1 Ford 6's in the Cortina's went hard, The 2.6 Marina did also. The 2.2, 2.6, 2.8, 3.0 and 3.3 Torana's weren't bad but the 4.0 Centura was sensational. Especially in 4speed manual spec. Nicely equipped inside too, great car's.

@@khylerin70 Centursas are rare beasts here. (in NZ) But I have seen one. Very nice. The handfull that came here are tucked away with collecters now.

It was known as "the flying asshole" by the people that worked there.

2620 cc I think. Was a stretch to get the motor that big, starting around 2200 in the Tasman and Kimberly. Also used in the P76, but Leyland were working on a 3.3 litre six cylinder version of the Rover/P76 V8 to appeal to the mass Australian market. Then the collapse of Leyland here.

And the 6 cylinder version DIDN'T have any gear whine! Perfect!

I love what they do, even though I'll never own such cars.

The front wheel drive edition of the E4 engine (as used in the Maxi, Allegro and Nomad) had a 5 speed box. Fun fact, the Lotus Elite, introduced circa 1975 used the Maxi E4 gear cluster in a special Lotus casing. It handled the power and gave decent shifting and durability. Leyland could have done the same and put it in the Marina.

Well, he'd probably Google it, and tell you what size it needed, but that they don't have Trico brand ones, because why the hell would they? I'm only 27, so many of the cars mr Hubnut reviews were dodging the crusher before I was even born, does that make me less of a car enthusiast? I love seeing them reviewed by a down to earth bloke like Ian, and hearing people's stories of their memories of family holidays or driving lessons in these cars etc in the comments. Car history isn't just from the car itself, but the people who were around during its time on the roads. In 20-30 years, i'd happily share memories of cars from when I was a kid with modern youths, not scorn them. However it is strange to think of kids 30 years from now wanting to hear about me learning to drive in a 2004 VW Golf, or getting a 1997 Vauxhall Corsa for my first car! They will probably be getting a self-driven communal car to work by then 🤣

Or Amazon who keep sending left hand drive Wipers.

Owen Steele The line used to be “That’s a fair swap”.

Glenn Powell Bought a battery last year and a headlamp recently. Both good at about the same price as on line Perhaps the issue is only at one branch.

I went to Halfords once (pre-internet) looking for eight spark plugs for a 455 cu.in. Pontiac. Worth a try. Maybe do a cross ref or something? Nope.

J.Falk, actually, the grille is such an improvement, it should have been the grille for Britain as well! In fact, I think that moves it closer to BEING an oil painting!

Coming soon...

The Coupe reminds me of the Volkswagen Fastbacks. Quite nice looking, but of course of being from GERMANY, rear legroom was never a consideration. So, all in all, the British developed Marina is the much useable option! So much for the usual chant of "German Engineering"!

All.Aggro. The.Allegro. And few remember that the original Allegro had a square steering wheel!

@@brucehart706 I do. But i am very old. Lol.

Paul G It always seem to come in a fetching fade of brown.

The Vandan Plas Allegro is beautiful.

Same for me, but a '59 Moggie Trav. Happy days.

You forgot to end your dads rant with "Yer Fathead" !!

The 1750 E series engine had loads of torque. It was a stroked version of the 1500 E series engine. Once you had moved off initially you could remain in 4the gear for most of the time.

Wow! You SAW a Morris MO, and with this engine in!

HubNut appears to be amazed that they had vinyl seats in a lot of these Aus/NZ videos. Wasn't he alive in the 70s? Vinyl, and everything else synthetic and nasty, was huge back then. In the UK they even had Bri-Nylon bed sheets, equally as dumb.

I rated the performance of my 1.7 O Simon, certainly better than a 2 litre Cortina I had around that time

@@doornier mine never really wanted to rev maybe i just got a friday motor

If I remember rightly they did a 2.0 o series in the later Marina but only in automatic form , the Marina box was never the best so I guess a 2.0 on it would be a failure waiting to happen

That Dick Smith CDI was the ducks guts back in the late 70's, and you built it yourself.

Ray G, I had no idea Dick Smith did CDIs, wow!

@@munnsie100 it was a kit, it may not have been branded Dick smith I don't remember. It wasn't cheap though.

@@munnsie100 In the 80's Dick Smith produced lots of auto use electronics kits, this was when the staff were enthusiasts, not salesmen, and they would order in special parts for you. I preferred the Transistor Assisted Ignition kit they sold, the CDI would find too many High Tension leaks in an old ignition system but the TAI reduced the current through the points and with dwell extension gave a nice fat spark.

@@rayg9069 Agree fully mate. I had a Datsun 200B and Dad and I built the TAI for it - worked brilliantly. Every time something played up and I disabled the TAI, Dad would say - and what did that achieve then...? because it was never the cause of the problem. The dwell was awesome on that kit and like you say, the current going through the points was negligible so there was no point erosion or pitting at all, and the tune just stayed and stayed. When that Datsun was running well (which was most of the time) it really hummed along nicely.

Exactly what I thought, front end of the yellow one especially, looks like a 120Y Sunny. Rear end of the orange one just like a Sunny coupe.

@@neilwalsh4058 Google XU1 Torana (based on HB Viva) and the rear of the orange one is the spitting image!

the B120Y had a 1300cc and 5 speed, did it not? Can you imagine a 120Y with the 260-Zed engine in it?

Look like a cross between the Holden Torana and Ford Escort ~

Datsun copied other cars all the time back then.

Clarkson is a public schoolboy who probably sneered at the poorer kids being taken to school in their dad's Marina or Austin 1100. He's also currently under investigation for hosting an illegal hare coursing event on his property, which should tell you everything you need to know about the man.

My late Dad was given one, by is mate at work. He was selling a Classic Renault and a guy drove all way from Devon and brought the car and he said, well can't drive both cars back. He left with the Renault and Tell said to me Dad, well I don't want the marina, and threw me Dad the keys. Had that car least 5 years never had any problems with it. I loved driving it.

If it ain't got 300 hp TG boys not interested .saw a coupe with nice wheels looked really cool ,got more attention than some of euro boxes around it.

Who cares what Clarkson thinks of anything really. I tried to read one of his books once, gave up after a few pages. What a load of drivvle. His TV appearances were no better. He could have been the worst presenter in the world, ever.

@@tub19 great story. 👍

RetroPower?

Remember, when one was talking about the handling back then, they were often comparing with BL's other main product in Oz - the Mini Clubman (which didn't go away until '78.) And that's a hard comparison to beat, even today.

That 6cyl would probably change his opinion on the Marina

Being a bit harsh on the Trabant aren't you?😁

I would suggest the Reliant Regal as the West's answer to the Trabant (although loved by many and were quite quick).

@@MartindynaThe mini or the 2CV was more like the west's answer to the Trabant. The Regal exploited a loophole where you could drive one on motorcycle licence and you only paid motorcycle road tax, hence their popularity in the hard up 60s and 70s..

The problem thats often forgotten is BL had no money, successive failures like the land crab, the dismal early sales of the maxi, boths failure at export. They could not tool up for this having committed to the B series for the marina at 1.8, which was also used for the MG , they just didn't have the flexibility.

a magazine review said at the time of release that the Marina handled like "an elephant on stilts" and that's without a 6 cyl engine :D

@@mikehawes4935 surely the company couldn't have as impoverished as THAT! What would it have cost to REALLY treat the WHOLE group of firms as one unit and use the best engines from around the world? After all, the development cost of the 6cylinder engine had already been paid for!