Joe,
Welcome to our world.
1. There is a Martina (see Registry in "files"
section) in CA but it's a long story. Forget even trying.
Pre-1972 can be imported.
2. There isn't any special treatment ffor the wood
cars that I know of as long as the wood is in good shape when you get
it.
3. They are British............ Being 30 +
years old, stuff wears out. Mine had sat for 17 years so I had to replace
all bushings, rubber, etc. I wouldn't make mine a daily driver because the
car is just too rare to put to the daily idiots on the road. At 41 inch
height, SUVs' can't even see you. A Marcos is for fun, not daily
duty.
4. The Volvo engined cars and Ford 4 cyl. cars are
probably the easiest to get engine parts for. Most of us do our own work
and we source parts from the UK and also some stuff from different shops in the
US and Canada. ; We also have Marcos Parts USA in Florida that imports hard
to get parts from Marcos Heritage Spares in the UK.
5. See Paul's response.
Go the the "links" section and start reading. Lots
of info. The Unofficial site www.marcoscars.net has tons of
info.
Where are you in CA?? I'm in Willits (about 3 hours
north of S.F. on Rt. 101).
Don
----- Original Message -----From: Joe JulianoSent: Saturday, October 02, 2004 5:09 PMSubject: [MarcosManiacs] lots of marcos questions
I recently came across the world of Marcos cars and am interested in
finding a used one either in the US or UK. Since it is unlikely that
I will find one in the US, I have a lot of questions about importing
the car and, regardless of the importing scenario, I have some
questions about Marcos Cars. ; I tried to search the archives for
answers to some of these, but came up dry, so I am sorry if these have
been asked before.
1. Has anyone imported a 1984 or newer car (e.g., the mantula) into
California? What sort of smog/emissions problems did they have to
deal with? I am guessing all earlier model marcos cars (e.g.,
1969-1971) would be exempt from smog under the leno law, right?
2. What sort of problems arise with the 1969 and earlier
wood-constructed chassis? Is there any continual maintenance that you
have to worry about?
3. How reliable are the cars (assuming the car is in decent
condition)? Which models are most reliable / less prone to needing
repair? Are the cars reliable enough to make them a daily driver, or
is that a joke (in particular, I was thinking about a 1969-71)?
4. What do people do to get repair on these cars? I am going to
guess it depends on the engine, right, if there is a volvo engine,
goto a volvo specialist, etc.? For routine maintenance, are there
fact sheets/specifications so it is easy to figure out which oil
filter, air filter, etc. you can buy to replace these parts?
5. How safe are they (both 69-71 and 84+)? They aren't death traps
are they? Any modifications people generally do to make them safer?
Any and all help appreciated. Thank you,
Joe