Tag Archives: Marcos Mantis

All I want for Christmas

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It’s been just over two months without the Mantis, & with Christmas Day tomorrow I have to face up to the fact that Santa is going to struggle to fit it into my stocking! On the other hand Jay has been uploading a few photos of the engine & also the chassis (which will have to be tip top if it’s going to cope with all that power). I was relieved to hear it’s generally OK with only superficial rust in a few places – nothing some rust cure, Hammerite & Waxoyl won’t sort out.

Another New vs Old shot!

 

I’ve also been trawling the automotive world for a decent Engine Start button. Given it’s going to take up one of the holes from the Racelogic Traction Control on the dash, it will be highly visible & therefore needs to look right. I like the idea of something red, but also backlit so it can be seen at night. The aftermarket Engine Start buttons are either barnded, cheesy or both, so I’ve narrowed it down to the Audi S1 (below left) or the 370z Nissan OEM GT-R Push Start Switch combined with the 2015 Nismo Model Red Trim Cover Finisher (below right). I’m leaning towards the Nissan currently as I can’t get the surround for the Audi button plus there’s not much aluminium on the dash (other than the gear knob).

 

Then I’ve got to get the socket & loom which fits the button of course, and then there’s the small matter of how you wire up to achieve the ‘Stop’ function on the engine.

Oulton Park Gold Cup

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Bertie & I went to The Gold Cup at  Oulton Park today, having been invited to bring the Marcos Mantis along & show it on the SP Automotive stand.

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We enjoyed watching the races & were delighted to find a battle worn Marcos GT competing in one of the races. It didn’t finish particularly highly (lots of faster TVR Vixens) but that might have been because the owner had come straight from the airport having just flown in from South Africa! Nice lifestyle!

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The car got a good amount of attention on the SP Automotive stand, & we got free entrance tickets… so everyone was happy. Huzzah!

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Summer must be here… off to Tatton Park

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Another 10+ turnout for the first of this year’s car shows at Tatton Park in Cheshire, my local show & one I’m always happy to support. It didn’t rain but no-one needed the Factor 50 either. The stand was next to the Triumph Stags, and away from the treeline in a more central spot this year which was welcome as more people come past. The Mantis scrubbed up well but as in previous years it was very hard to compete with some of the older cars that have been restored & polished to a lovely sheen. With the Mantis in regular use it’s never going to be a concours winner but it still draws the eye. In my entirely objective opinion. Oh yes. Er… right let’s move on to some pictures.

 

Tatton Park

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It’s… time for Tatton! Yes yes, August is here & that means getting the band back together to create a Marcos Stand at The 24th Classic, Vintage & Sports Car Show at the ever lovely (but let’s be honest, sometimes rather moist) Tatton Park. As it was, the weather was pretty decent, as was the turnout with a nice range of different models (that is, the cars not owners). The usual suspects were present & the reward for having given the car a quick wipe down was plenty of footfall past the stand. Chris Message’s purple Mantis always gets a lot of attention as does Howard Plant’s lovely Mini-Marcos (conveniently parked next to each other, no less!).

The trees provided some welcome shade in the end.

Chris & Angie discuss how much better the green car is than the purple one. Probably.

Our next door neighbours were an excellent rock ‘n roll band!

All weather vehicle?

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Heavy snow in Cheshire, even this close to Manchester. So… the gritters are out, & away the Marcos goes. After the debacle with the chassis a couple of years ago, & despite being determined to keep on enjoying the Mantis in the wet, it seems prudent to keep it away from heavily salted roads. Lee has done far too good a job of fixing the chassis for me to ruin it now! However, now I actually have a house with its own garage, I can sneak out every now & then check it’s still there & still mine. Might even turn the engine over… OK no I won’t because someone recently told me it’s bad for it unless you go for a decent drive & get rid of all the condensation. But, it’s a nice thought. Snow never stays long where I live so I may get out again soon – maybe squeeze in a few more nursery runs before Crimbo?

Pre-Tatton… again

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Tatton Park tomorrow. Of the ten cars who had requested exhibitor passes, four have dropped out in the last 24 hours. Gaaaaargh! Some hasty ringing around & some emails may have mitigated this so we’ll have to see how many cars make it for 0830 hours tomorrow morning at the Swan meet point. I am expecting nine cars, but no longer sure of owners or models! In the meantime some more work with Mequiars detaling gubbins means the car is still looking pretty good, so fingers crossed there’s no rain. It would be nice to pick up a trophy from the Tatton Park judges on the 50th year…

On hold

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Progress on the Mantis has slowed somewhat while Lee does some urgent work for Jeremy at Redline. We’d discussed this & I don’t mind waiting a bit longer. The quality of work I saw on my pre-Crimbo visit was excellent, so I have no intention of rushing Lee. Very positive feedback about Lee from elsewhere has been trickling in, which is also reassuring. There is even a queue for Lee’s time building up behind me, but so far the other Marcos owners have been very understanding (& sympathetic).

Away days in Warminster

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The car remains with Lee in Warminster, with steady progress on the chassis. We have a call to discuss progress about once a month or so, but neither of us are great at remembering to contact the other so it can be longer. The weather has been awful in the North West with few if any of those crisp, sunny Winter days that I enjoy driving in so much – hood down, obviously! So… I’m not missing the car right now. The Marcos forum continues to give me my Marcos fix most days. I suppose I can empathise a bit more now with those owners who have to do without their cars for months (years, frequently) while they restore them. My LM500 chum in Todmorden continues to have a super-charged (but non-running) car sitting in his garage which must be even more frustrating for him than me with the Mantis. At least I know something’s happening on my car – poor old Caz seems to have run up against a brick wall with his ECU problem, & I gather the manufacturer is being a bit arsey, not returning calls & so on. It’s a crying shame because with the colour-coded rear wing it will (sadly) outshine the Mantis & totally totally deserves to be out on the road. Although Caz remains very philosophical about things, I suspect his experiences as a passenger in the Mantis at last year’s Le Mans 24 Hour came nowhere close to the pleasure he has got from taking his own car over there in previous years.