Marcos Maniacs

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

Joe,

Be sure to look thru the old messages, lots of good info there, I 
can't answer your ??? about the earlier cars, this is what I can 
answer:

In the mid 80's there was a Marcos Importer on the east coast named 
Bob Boston who imported USA model Marcos cars (I'm the fourth owner 
of a LHD 1984 Marcos). As far as I know these were the latest model 
Marcos cars that were imported. They were imported without 
drivetrain (Like Superformance does now) and could be fitted with 
either a Ford "Capri" 2.8 Litre or the Rover V8 drivetrain. Does 
California go by the engine/driveline age in this case or the 
car "Kit" manufacture date?

My car has a 1974 2.8 Litre drivetrain.   Safety??? They started out 
as race cars but they are small, the roof is Fibreglass only, no 
steel reinforcements.  The good news is you could probabally drive 
under the Semitrailer coming at you but if a Navigator or Hummer 
came your way you'd be toast... If you're worried about safety I'd 
suggest installing a roll bar and four point belts as the stock 
belts ride high on the abdomen.  Remember too that safety in a car 
can count things like responsiveness, acceleration & agility too, if 
you can avoid the accident in the first place you're better off.

This is a bad time to import (exchange rate) but if you do consider 
that check out Redline cars (www.redlinesportscars.com)as they 
specialize in Marcos cars and post a message here to Garry Diver as 
I believe he ships from England and has offered to bring cars over 
before.  Parts?  Garry stocks parts for the USA and there is Marcos 
Heritage in England as well (Garry is the USA dealer of Marcos 
Heritage parts).

Reliability depends on the car of course, I live in Minnesota (6-7 
month driving season and I average 3,000 miles a year on my car, I 
don't drive it daily but I do drive it to work/errands 2-3 times a 
week plus outings as well.  My reliability issues have mostly been 
due to the driveline not being installed real professionally in the 
first place, the "DPO" as it were (Dreaded Previous Owner).
I have had my work done by a mechanic that specializes in British 
cars, ont that is quite qualified (can fabricate parts if needed, 
works on Ferrari's as well).

Good luck on your search, from what I've seen you'll spend over 
$20,000 if you import for the cheapest car from Redline 
(price/shipping/duties etc), not sure of prices for a USA car, 
wirewheel classics in Florida (www.wirewheel.com) has a 1969 wood 
chassis Marcos being restored for 19,900 when done, 14,900 now.  
There was a project car posted here earlier (message 2722) but I 
think it needs some work.

How serious are you about getting a Marcos? 

Paul Weidner

1984 Marcos # 8083
1959 Speedwell Sprite
2002 MINI Cooper S


--- In MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com, "Joe Juliano" 
<joseph_juliano@y...> wrote:
> 
> 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