| The Marina is the last Morris seen in Ecuador. The story of British Leyland
cars here, as I keep in mind, begins in the 1960´s when they arrived.
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I was
only a child but I can remember seeing the Morris Minor and a lot of Minis.
During the first years of the 1970´s also arrived few Mini Cooper and Morris
1300, one of which was bought by my father, Holger Bucheli. Later, arrived the
Marina as the line top car, and at
last, the Austin Allegro 1.6.
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The first Marinas arrived in 1973 and the last ones in 1975. The
colors that arrived were: Damask Red, Blaze, Bronze Yellow, Teal Blue, Green
Mallard and Glacier White. My father bought my Green Mallard Marina 1.8 SUPER
in December 1973 to the local dealer, Morisaenz.
This MK1 version arrived without servo and heater. Up to now, motor and
gearbox have been repaired and runs nice and silently…. All damaged parts have been replaced with original
ones, even though recently becomes more difficult to find them in Ecuador. From that time on, we try to maintain my car as new
as possible.
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| The attitude of having British cars in my family
comes from my father being the Commercial Secretary in the British
Embassy at Quito. |
| Right now, no more than three “original”
Marinas remain in Ecuador and I am one of its proud owners. |
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