Last updated on June 7, 2024
Today’s car is a 1974 Mini Marcos Mk IV owned by George and Michele that I photographed this car at the Queens English an all British car meet with an Auto Jumble held at Woodley Park, Van Nuys, CA. The car is finished in Porsche Blue with a white racing stripe and fitted with a black cloth interior. It is powered by a 65-75 hp, 1275cc A-series inline-four, engine built by Seven Enterprises ( now Seven Mini Parts), with dual SU carburetors. paired with a four-speed manual transmission with 3.40:1 gear ratio. The Marcos was sold as a kit car or factory built utilizing a fiberglass/glass-reinforced plastic (GRP), Monocoque (vehicle structure in which the chassis is integral with the body), and chassis is based on the classic BMC Mini Cooper components. It is powered by a 65-75 hp, 1275cc A-series inline-four, engine built by Seven Enterprises ( now Seven Mini Parts), with dual SU carburetors. paired with a four-speed manual transmission with 3.40:1 gear ratio.Slowing this baby down are 7.5″ Cooper S front discs and drums in the rear. The independent front suspension consists of upper and lower swivels, cone spring block assemblies and shock absorbers. The independent rear suspension consists of cantilever swing arm adjustable through a variable spring rate rubber cone, and shock absorbers.
The Mini Marcos were built between 1965 and 1996 with approximately 1260 units were built of various models. One of the biggest advantages of the Mini Marcos is the simple fact that it is Mini based. Yet it’s technically a kit car, it’s really only the body so you don’t lose any of the Mini handling characteristics and the ease to work on. With more than 5.3 million classic Minis that were built and loads of reasonably priced factory and aftermarket parts are available.
A similar looking Mini Marcos was raced in the 1966 Le Mans that was the only British car to finish and finished in 15th place overall. The drivers were Jean-Louis Marnat and Claude Ballot-Léna. This rare example is a great car to that to was British car shows, Cars and Coffee events, but is just the ticket for some exhilarating canyon carving. Thank you for riding along. Frank
