Do you remember the Morris Marina? Have you ever driven one? The first Marina came off the Cowley production line in Oxford in 1971. By the mid 1970s it was one of the most commonly seen cars on the road. A million were made between 1971 and 1979. Now, according to Auto Express, there are only around 750 left, making the Marina the rarest mass produced car of the last thirty years. Second rarest is the Ford Cortina. So, are you mad about Marinas? Do you covet Cortinas? Are you amazed by Allegros? We want you to tell us about your favourite car - and even better, send us a photo of it. And the winner is... The MG Y Type saloon! Thanks to everyone for voting...
 | | Donna's Reliant Robin |
Donna says:
"Isn't she beautiful! Sandy is my G reg Reliant Robin. I have fond childhood memories of pottering around the countryside with my Uncle Sid in his green Reliant, blissfully unaware of my mother's fear everytime I got in it. Now I am in my late 20's and after the death of Sid, I had an urge to get a Robin. So I did, thanks to e-bay. My Reliant has been the source of many jokes over the past year, however I don't mind. I don't think there is anyone who I have spoken to about it that has not had a funny story about a friend, family member or even themselves and a Reliant Robin.
 | | Giles Ashdown's Aston Martin |
She needs a little bit of work doing to her but unlike most cars she has no rust!!! She will never have any either! There are very few parking spaces that I cannot easily get into and have room to open the door. The Westgate is a breeze even when the car either side is on the white line... that is no mean feat! I truly enjoy the company of my Reliant Robin and enjoy driving her around. She seems to bring a smile to peoples faces as I drive by and she is a talking point too. Whilst shopping at a local garden centre a young boy of about 4 asked his dad why we only had 3 wheels!"
 | | Brian Courtney's Mazdas |
Giles Ashdown in Chesterton says:
"Here is a picture of my baby! Living with five women in the house what else could I do?"
Brian Courtney says:
"I worked for 30 years for Mazda Cars UK until 2001, and when I took redundancy I bought my last and 100th company car! This car was a red Mazda Premacy diesel and I carried on to cover 267,000 miles in this vehicle until late in August this year when I found to my relief a similar vehicle (only in silver) which had only covered a mere 70,000 miles.
Please note that my red car at 267,000 miles was on it's original clutch and exhaust and had never had any work done on the engine or gearbox, and the vehicle was doing 50 + mpg! I changed the oil and the oil filter every 12000 miles.
 | | Chris Powell's Rover SD1 |
I have since sold this vehicle locally and it continues to be used daily and I am convinced that quality will always come to the fore and you get what you pay for."
Chris Powell says:
"Here's my favourite car - the Rover SD1. It's another 1970's car, introduced exactly 30 years ago in 1976.
Almost a microcosm of British Leyland - cutting edge design, car of the year 1977, fell apart as soon as they left the showroom, if you could get one made by striking workers!
 | | John's 1934 MG P Type |
Despite being a 30 year old design, it's still remarkably modern-looking, very fast and comfortable. Mine is very late model from 1986 and was built at Cowley."
John in Wantage says:
"Two old favourites. The blue 1934 MG P Type is called “Lucky Eddie”. Bought for £35 as a pile of bits, and I re-built it. It’s called Lucky Eddie because it’s lucky it wasn’t used as a donor car for bits in the 60’s and saved by a guy (an old boss) named Eddie from whom I bought it.
 | | John's 1947 MG Y Type saloon |
The cream/brown 1947 MG Y Type saloon (same year as queen’s marriage) was bought recently and we call her Doris."
James Spencer says:
"This is my Clan Crusader and Hillman Imp.
Both these cars are in roadworthy condition and used each week."
 | | James Spencer's Clan Crusader |
Mike Sheppard says:
"I owned this car from July 1959 to 1963, then sold it . Bought it back again July 2006." Jane & Mark Curtis say: "We have a 1976 VW bay window camper called Daisy, when we bought her she needed a new interior so we opted for the "bovine" look!
Beats an Allegro any day, bet you can't sleep six in that! People hear us coming as she even moos!"
 | | Mike Sheppard 's classic motor |
Emma Gardner says:
"Our family have owned Allegros for 21 years and use them every day. They have never failed to start even on the coldest morning.
I am 18 years old and learnt to drive in an Allegro which cost £50 off eBay. It was great value for money and I wouldn't be without it." Sue Richards says:
"I would like to nominate my Honda Jazz. Not only is it a wonderful drive, reliable, with lots of little extras, but mine came in pink!
 | | Jane & Mark Curtis' VW van |
It is without a doubt the happiest car I have ever had and everyone, and I mean everyone smiles at me when I drive around in it. Toddlers love it, teenage girls crave it, teenage boys laugh at it and everyone else just says "Hey, what a great colour!" I had it as a lease car, but when it came up for renewal they no longer did pink, boo hoo! So after about a second's thought I decided to buy it!
 | | Emma Gardner's Allegros |
The photo of my beautiful car is from outside the Tower of London, when my son borrowed it for a few days! He had no qualms about being seen in a pink car but then as a jazz musician, maybe he had a special exemption. I love my car!" Charlie Anderson says:
"Thought you might like to see my daily driver classic car. Like the Allegro, the VW Golf Mk1 was born in the 70's. It put UK built cars of that age to shame in terms of build quality, handling and performance! It still out performs many new cars and it's 23 years old.
Designed in Germany, refined in Thame, Oxon."
 | | Sue Richards' Honda Jazz |
Leo Greenaway says:
"This is a photo of my 1954 Rover 60 which is in very good condition considering it is almost 53 years old. I use the car most weekends during the summer months, displaying it at various shows. Today I exhibited it at the Thame Show where it was awarded second prize out of about 35 cars.
 | | Charlie Anderson's Golf |
It is comfortable to drive, keeps up with modern traffic and is very economical on fuel considering it's size. Rovers were built at Solihull, with the bodies and other parts being supplied by the Cowley Pressed Steel Works. There may well be some Radio Oxford Listeners that were involved in it's production. The Rover was known as the Poor Man's Rolls-Royce and is one of the last of the truly British quality cars."
 | | Leo Greenaway's 1954 Rover 60 |
Rex Davies says: "Someone said I ought to be buried in my Land Rover - like Vikings used to be buried in their ships." Farmer Rex has had his Land Rover for fifty three years. He's replaced the exhaust system eighteen times, the engine twice and the mileometer three times. He's taken the car around Europe and even to the Arctic Circle.
| 
