MARCOS

In 1959 Jem Marsh and the late Frank Costin founded Marcos Cars, taking the first three letters of their surnames a distinctive company name was born. Frank Costin applied the skills gained in the field of aviation to create a lightweight wood laminate monocoque body and chassis unit. It was this remarkable chassis combined with excellent streamlining that delivered such incredible performance in its day.

The Marcos marque secured its credibility in the racing world when driven to victory by renowned drivers such as Jackie Stewart, Derek Bell, Jackie Oliver, Jonathon Palmer and, of course, Jem Marsh.

In 1961 the Adams brothers, Dennis and Peter, undertook the task of furthering the brilliant design of Costin. In order to simplify the building processes the brothers designed, purely as a temporary solution, the Marcos 1800. This elegant wooden chassis car was wonderfully received at the Motor show in 1961 and remains to this day the inspiration for the modern Marcos. Following this piece of inspired engineering by the Adams' the tremendously successful fibre glass bodied Mini Marcos was unveiled in 1966, being the only British car to complete the Le Mans 24-hour race in the same year. The track success of Marcos was confirmed.

With all the build of all models relying on the time intensive wooden chassis, in 1969 the Adams brothers were commissioned to design a steel alternative. Their design was essentially a square section tubular space frame that cut 15 hours from the manufacturing times of all the cars. Both the Ford and Volvo powered Marcos' were resounding successes with the press. More recently a transition was made to the classic Rover V8 engine, which was utilised by the Mantula Spyder in 1986.

Launched in 1984, the Mantula was very similar to the GT of 1969, but subtle bodywork modifications hid the most significant change; the addition of the powerful, light and highly tunable Rover (nee Buick) V8. With this engine, even in standard form, the Mantula could accelerate from 0-60 mph in under 6 seconds and the improved aerodynamics allowed speeds of around 140 mph to be reached. The Rover engine also came with a slick 5 speed gearbox to complete the picture. The Mantula is arguably the most desirable Marcos for day to day use, especially a version with the Granada based independent rear suspension. The bodywork is little changed from the original Adams design of 1963 and the Rover engine is a delightful unit.

The Martina looks, to all the world, just like a Mantula with slightly flared front wheel arches, but lifting the bonnet reveals the 'raison d'etre' of this car. The Martina was intended to bring Marcos ownership to those who could never afford it (The Marcos has never been a cheap car - in the 60's they were dearer than E-Types) and allowed the classic shape to be built around Ford Cortina mechanics (the flared arches accomodating the wider steering rack of the Cortina). Many Marcos owners viewed these cars with disdain, but having driven a beautifully built version with a tuned 2 litre Ford OHC engine, I'd say that there's little to choose between one and, say a V6 GT (except for the sound, the V6 is lovely) and, with humble Ford mechanics, insuring and running one can be a lot more affordable than a Mantula. The Martina was available as an alternative to the Mantula, which continued to be built.

Today , Marcos are powered by Mustang technic, but some cockpit details are from Scorpio mk2.

Marcos Mantula Coupe 2.0i Pinto 1985	Marcos Martina 2.0i Pinto 1992	Marcos Martina 2.8i V6 1992
Climat-control on the Marcos Mantis (1996)