General

Spyders needed for TV Pilot Programme

feeds@kickapps.com (Gary Harman) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:48:02 PST

the lovely blue Marcos TSO parked at the roadside (which if remember correctly has an attractive lady owner). Glad to see that she isn't one for putting it into hiding for the winter, and we have a decent frost tonight in Cheshire.

Stiff competition for the macho image of my Mantula when girls drive around in TSOs !

Steve

Email mishap!

feeds@kickapps.com (snowman40) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:58:59 PST

I've had a bit of email mishap and have lost the last year's email correspondence related to Marcos cars and the website (www.marcoscars.net).

If you've sent me anything important in the last 3 months (questions, photos, articles, etc), could you send it again?

Thanks.

Mark

RIP Gordon Jones

feeds@kickapps.com (raceply) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:25:25 PST

Gordon continued to race 500s into the 1960s winning the Commander Yorke Trophy in August 1960 and the Lewis-Evans Trophy in October. He also competed in a Mk XI Lotus and an early Marcos before turning his attention to flying, following an accident which left him with restricted movement in his left foot. He continued to fly for many years at Biggin Hill. Gordon Jones died in January 2010

Great Driving Roads

feeds@kickapps.com (Mike009 Gardner) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:36:48 PST

Spring has sprung and the grass is riz ( just seen first snowdrops) and a young mans fancy turns to ?? Getting the Marcos out for another years motoring .
So how about the thought of your favourite driving routes to get the `fun juices` flowing . Why not share them. I`ll kick off with what will be the Mantara`s first big trip of the year over Easter to North Wales and can`t wait , just hope weather is good.
First head due west from South Northants across top end of the Cotswolds to pick up the A44 at Chipping Norton , then into deepest Wales via Worcester, Leominster , through the Radnor Forest, and Rhayader to Aberystwyth. The Radnor to Aberystwyth section is a real blast if the traffic is quiet and very popular with bikers . The road sweeps through fast bends, long undulating sections with good sight lines and the further north west you go the mountains get higher...

Marcos in Classic Car weekly

feeds@kickapps.com (nomis) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:50:54 PST

Nearly missed it. At the end of last week's CCW (Jan 27th) under a feature on "Woodies" there is a nice shot of a #*%%## Marcos in woodland. Alongside wood clad , half timbered Morris Minor Traveller,Cortina Super Estate, Austin A70 and Mini Countryman is a Marcos 1800GT. A nice change to the comparisons with TVRs!

XP thank you

feeds@kickapps.com (brian coleman) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:38:13 PST

I have just received a letter signed by all the Morris family thanking me for my (small) contribution towards getting the XP to Britain for the 50th anniversay, together with a superb picture of the XP. It's made my day

anyone else?

Telemetrix instruments

feeds@kickapps.com (paulo) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:29:58 PST

Does anyone use Telemetrix instruments? I'm wondering what to do about the Speedo. As I understand it, there are a couple of options. (1): Glue magnets to the driveshaft and fit a sensor or (2): Get a "Speedo Transducer + additional cable to fit into the existing gearbox take-off (I think my preferred choice) . However, Merlin Sports appear to be the only place to get these items which I find is odd because most places stock the Telemetrix range. Anybody recommend either solution - or another one I didn't know about? And, anyone know anywhere else to get the Speedo Transducer. Haven't got a problem with Merlin but someone might know another, possibly cheaper source?

First run of 2010

feeds@kickapps.com (OldNoccer) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:10:22 PST

It is this time of year I have an obligation to visit family in Norfolk (from Cheshire), and so I had either to use the V8 Land Rover, or dig the Marcos out of hibernation (no choice really as the Marcos is so much more economical that it pays for my RAC membership for the year).

Its funny how, after a layup, that you forget those niggly problems that you thought you would sort out over the winter. In fact the first things after a layup are to cure the problems caused by the layup, for example getting the damp out that seems to have snuck in. But I did all the really badly misted up stuff the day before, and by Saturday the problem had 'evaporated' (or at least any misting was easily handled by either a heated front screen or the Octopussy ducting a previous owner had added). I had a lot of misfire problems on the test run on Friday, but I was sure these were water in the tank going through the fuel injections, and sure enough they have gone after a shot run.

So the...

Amazing USA Car Auction. BUT this would make you cry.

feeds@kickapps.com (marcos3lv6) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:17:10 PST

Link to an Amazing Classic Car Auction in USA. Beautiful cars and some unbelievable prices. But not a MARCOS in sight.

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/

But this would make you cry if you had a car there. Or worse still if you had just bought one.

http://www.azfamily.com/news/Tents-collapse-at-luxury-car-auction-due-to-severe-storm-82320467.html

Fitting hardtop

feeds@kickapps.com (Plug) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:09:34 PST

A few months ago I purchased a second hand hard top from Jeremy...... before I bend the car in half trying to fit it has anyone got any idiot proof pointers for me. It seams a very tight fit
Like

Do you remove the brackets from the soft top etc. ?
Or remove the soft top even ?
Anyone fitted the body catches before, and what did they use ?

Thanks

Ian

Goes like STINK

feeds@kickapps.com (marco mantara) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 11:23:26 PST

Hi --the catalytic convertor on my Mantara is now producing smells reminiscent of comiing out of a toilet after a bad curry. During it's recent MOT the examiner commented on the smell (advisory!),but it still passed on emissions.
The engine is the 3.9 v8 with the NGK sportpack (c.240 bhp). The exhaust system is stainless steel.Does anyone know how much a replacement convertor is? How easy it is to fit?,and where to get one from?
With the Summer fast approaching (roof down) l don't want to sit in traffic in a portaloo, nor have people asking me to move the car away from the beer garden!

MOT Statistics including Marcos

feeds@kickapps.com (socramsnalla) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:48:07 PST

The BBC website has published a set of stats it obtained under the freedom information act relating to MOT stats for various manufactures and it includes Marcos.

They used the stats to rubbish Ford's MOT failure record in the article but the stats themselves are quite interesting

To access the stats you need to look for a link in the article to an excel speadsheet. The stats cover Mantaray, Mantis, Mantara, Mantula and Marcosite (TS 250)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8456116.stm

SNOW CHAINS

feeds@kickapps.com (marco mantara) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 09:48:28 PST

Has anyone fitted tyre chains to their Marcos?---------------

Help not a Cobra

feeds@kickapps.com (mini) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:31:57 PST

Looks like my partner is thinking of changing his Marcos for a Cobra - yeuk! how do I talk him out of it.

Electronic Speedo in old Marcos

feeds@kickapps.com (geirooye) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:42:04 PST

Hi everyone
I just wanted to share a piece of Marcos related work that I'm in the middle of at the moment.
I have a 1969 2 litre V4 that I have restored during the last years. But some time ago my old classic Smiths speedometer packed in. It had already been unreliable for some time and suddenly it stopped completely. Since then I've been using a GPS for a speedo, but wanted to fix things to look reasonable original. I'm not even sure if it's the speedo itself or the cable that crashed, but since I already have a "new" diff laying on a shelf I wanted to find a solution that was compatible with possible future changes in overall gearing:

First I tried to find specialists that could (re)build me a classic looking speedo with electronic "innards", but the solutions they came up with was either way too expensive or not looking right. It had to be a home made solution then...

On eBay I bought a Smiths Telemetrix...

MARCOS Calendar 2010

feeds@kickapps.com (marcos3lv6) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:25:41 PST

Every year our good friend Brian Coleman produces a Marcos Calendar which is emailed to various people.
This year it is also available to download and print from WWW.MARCOS.LI , follow link to calendar.

Also on this site is a video of Rod Stewarts MARCOS from the TV Show. It is a bit temperamental and usually wants to download first, then play.
Apple Safari, or Explorer 7 & NT do this.
Explorer 8 & Vista don't seem to work. I will try to improve. Any suggestions are most welcome.
Please E-Mail results or comments via link on first page.

If you have anything you would like to put on a Web Page please let me have it and I will add to this site.

A Prosperous New Year and Trouble Free Driving to you all in 2010. See you at LeMans I hope.

Also this link is interesting, came from our American friends

DUTCH SUPERCAR CHALLENGE REVIEW Cor Winning Saturday 2/1/10

feeds@kickapps.com (Gary Harman) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:03:06 PST

Saturday 2nd January 2010 Motors TV 20:10 Dutch Supercar Challenge DUTCH SUPERCAR CHALLENGE REVIEW All the best moments from yet another memorable Dutch SuperCar Challenge season in one comprehensive review.