1 Body/chassis supplied in clear gel coat together with the following unfitted items: front and rear screens, quarterlights, door glasses; bonnet; doors; dashboard; rubber/chrome filler strip; alloy rain channels.
2 As level 1, but with all of the kit components fitted and including new hinges, locks, door plates and door seals.
3 As level 2, but with body prepared and painted in a choice from six available colours. The interior trimmed with carpet, headlining and door cards, and fitted dashboard and bucket seats. A sound-proofing kit was also included.
Further enhancements could be specified, including: headlamp shrouds; remote gear selector mechanism; roll-over bar; seat belts.
With ongoing development, two levels of quality became available – and an increase to seven in the number of colours offered – the ‘De-Luxe’ version featuring better trim and twin carburettors. On this latter point, it is notable that the Mini Marcos in standard form was a reasonable performer thanks to the completed car’s lighter – by 25% - weight in comparison with that of a regular Mini. Nevertheless, Marcos offered engine tuning kits for the 850 cc A Series engine priced at £22 for Stage 1 and £55 for Stage 2; for the 997 cc Cooper engine, the prices were £30 for Stage 1 and £65 for Stage 2.
The car’s wheelbase was 164 cm, with an overall length of 347 cm. Comparative dimensions for the Abarth 750 GT Zagato were: wheelbase, 200 cm; length, 348 cm. The Abarth’s weight is usually quoted as an average 550 kg against the MM’s 480 kg. While the Abarth in basic form had more horsepower – 44, performance on the road was similar to the MM’s with the 34 bhp (850 standard engine) ‘helped’ by the lighter weight. It would be interesting today to test both cars back to back, with much focus likely to be on how the cars ‘feel’ to drive, rather than the bald metrics, given that the Abarth has rear engine/drive, whilst the MM is front engine/drive. By the end of the Sixties, some MMs were running with 1275 cc A Series engines, and with the 70 plus bhp generated, these were capable of a 0-60 mph time of 8.2 secs.
After the Le Mans outing, the car was used intermittently in competition, taking in track events, hill-climbing and rallying. However, in 1975 it was stolen and remained ‘lost’ until 2016. As rediscovered, it was not so much a ‘car’ as just a shell, all running gear having been stripped out.
Trading
as Marcos Racing Ltd, the factory entered the French classic race again the
following year. Jem Marsh, was partnered
by Chris Lawrence, a widely experienced driver/engineer, who had proven his
ability on the Le Sarthe event with a class win for Morgan in 1962. The car qualified at the April trials 31st
of 33, but, surprisingly, only 2 seconds slower than the works Bizzarrini GT
Strada 5300, helped to some extent by good straight line speed, (over 140 mph
having been seen on the Mulsanne Straight).
In pre-race scrutineering, the car’s windscreen was deemed to be overly raked and thus too low relative to the ground. The team mechanics managed to resolve this overnight by the simple expedient of remounting the screen with the top propped forward and re-secured with pop-rivetted strips which form a revised aperture. They surely deserved a good result as reward for their cheek and pragmatic ingenuity, but were instead paid back with a bearing break up-induced oil pump failure and retirement after the completion of only 13 laps.
Marsh ran the car again later in the season co-driving with Brian Raubenheimer in the 9 Hours of Kyalami. It lasted the distance and finished 3rd in class (Sport2000, Group 6).
