Xmas mystery car...

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Bernard Fishtrousers, Dec 8, 2017.

  1. Jules65

    Jules65 Supporter

    It most certainly wasn't a Maxi you Leistershire loser....... I have photographic proof it was a 1300L Morris Ital in inca gold.......

    Just look at that cool dude pose with 1983 porn tash


    [​IMG]


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  2. Jules, your loafers are frightening me.
     
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  3. Gingerbus

    Gingerbus Supporter

    I think Monsieur Poisson-Pantalons was referring to the legendary fully reclining front seats (‘Shagmaster Lay-flats’ as we used to call them) that were fitted in Maxis.
    I’m sure it was the only reason a friend of mine bought a Maxi.
    He progressed on to a Citroen GS I think after writing it off, then after wrecking the GS a Vauxhall Chevette van (Chevanne?) fitted with a mattress resumed horizontal services.


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  4. Merlin Cat

    Merlin Cat Moderator

    Morris Ital!!! A friend from school had an Ital that we used to go on adventures in. Tho quite often that meant going to the rabbitabout near Woodstock, or the Rollright Stones. :)

    How did they come up with the name Ital? Did they target Rastafarians? As in Ital food etc?
     
  5. JT1

    JT1

    Or the Citroen GS where it was between the front seats and the tape deck ideally positioned to collect crumbs..
    CrazyRadios_CitroenGS-L.jpg
    Image shows only a radio but radio/cassette versions were also available :thumbsup:
     
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  6. Jules65

    Jules65 Supporter

    It's the white socks that made the current Mrs T laugh out loud. She soon stopped when I pointed her in the direction of the 6 pairs I still have in my sock drawer.
    I'll also have you know that matching those grey loafers with the grey slacks and grey T shirt with horizontal yellow stripes took me no time at all.

    The boot of the car was huge..........but it was invariably full of water.......... Marina by name, marina by nature.
     
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  7. The name Ital was used to emphasise BL's use of famed Italian design house ItalDesign in the re-engineering and modernisation of the Marina.

    They should have sued!
     
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  8. ‘Ital Design was contracted to redesign and engineer the body changes for the revised Marina. The job they did was hopeless – the ADO28 and ADO73 drawings using decimal inch dimensions were completely beyond them.
    As a consequence, the entire job was redone at Pressed Steel Fisher in Cowley, mostly by third and fourth-year apprentices – the only body engineering resource available.
    So, despite the long-held belief that Ital Design was responsible for the revised styling of the new car, it was somewhat less involved in the process, and bungled what it had been given to do. Of course, the story soon got out that the Morris Ital was actually the work of Giorgetto Giugiaro and, as former BL Public Relations Officer, Ian Elliott said: ‘… why spoil the story with facts, we thought!’
    Needless to say, Ital Design did not appreciate the fact that its name was being attached to such a car, despite the fact that it allowed the original Morris Ital television advert to be filmed on its premises. Subsequently, Ital Design treated the Ital as something to be quickly forgotten – a non-event.
    Right from the beginning, naming the Ital had proven to be a thorny issue for the Marketing Department: the initial plan was to call it the ‘Morris Marina Ital’, that way acknowledging the major role the Italian styling house had in the car’s conception. This plan was soon scuppered by the intervention of none other than Michael Edwardes, who insisted that the ‘Marina’ moniker was dropped.
    To the Marketing Department’s utter surprise, Austin-Morris got away with it – and the story that the Ital was the work of Giugiaro became legend. However, without that renaming, the Press’s expectations of the car might not have been so high but, in the event, the 1971 vintage of the Ital was impossible to disguise.
    Austin-Morris were intelligent enough to realise this fact and unashamedly aimed the Morris Ital at the fleet market, citing its low running costs and simplicity of design as major selling points. The idea was that, now Ford was moving towards front-wheel drive with the new version of the Ford Escort, the Ital would offer an orthodox alternative for those fleet managers who still harboured fears that the added complexity of front-wheel drive equalled grief in the service bays'.
     
  9. Gingerbus

    Gingerbus Supporter

    All I know is that they were as good as they looked. Not very good at all.
    My dad had a company one for a while, and dare I say it the Hillman Avenger (great name...) company car he had was was a better car.


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  10. I remain transfixed by the bottom left picture...

    Did you do it with a camera on a self timer that you just threw onto a pile of crap and ran away from, or do you, slightly more worryingly have a partially sighted mate you asked to take the picture. Presumably at no point did you bother to specify that he managed to include both front and rear of the car?
    Or to get it centred top to bottom?
    FFS Julian.
     
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  11. Merlin Cat

    Merlin Cat Moderator

    @Bernard Fishtrousers i used to play hockey against a Pressed Steel team in the 80's. Their home grass pitches were marvellous, like lawn bowls greens.
     
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  12. Jules65

    Jules65 Supporter


    The picture was taken by a former girlfriend whom may I add had been subjected to a session in the afore mentioned reclining seat position prior to the photograph being taken, hence the terrible manner it was taken.

    She was still suffering from the experience she had experienced if you catch my drift ;)
     
  13. Jules65

    Jules65 Supporter

    I must remember this when next conversing with 'Berni'
     

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