Morris Marina Heathrow Fire Service

The Marina was manufactured by Morris (British Leyland) at their Cowley works between 1971 and 1980, during which time over 807.000 rolled off the production line.  Classed essentially as a family car with various body styles from a 2-door coupé, 5-door estate, 2-door van and even a 2-door coupé utility pick up, the most popular was the 4-door saloon.  With front engine, rear wheel drive, line-rear-axle layout, it was typical of the mass produced cars of the day but unfortunately was dubbed dull and dreary. Despite that, it was exported all over the world, particularly to Commonwealth countries where it was also assembled. The 1.3L version had a distinctive radiator grille and was given a lighter engine, which improved its profile a little.

Our 4-door Morris Marina saloon makes its latest outing as used by the Fire Service at Heathrow Airport.  Decorated in high visibility bright red with black interior and registered KLA 12V, the yellow panel on both front doors carries the lettering British Airports Heathrow Airport Fire Service printed in black.  The model features the 1.3L’s distinctive radiator grille and a tooling modification gives it three roof beacons – two blue and silver with an orange one in between.

As a fire support vehicle, our little model adds an interesting dimension to a London Airport diorama as well as appealing to collectors of emergency transport generally.