Tag Archives: marcos

Lest we forget

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Armistice Day today, & a truely glorious Autumn day – clear blue skies & sunshine. Foolishly I have not gone out in the Mantis, even though it’s been on the trickle charger & I haven’t put the hood back up yet on the off chance of a quick spin out. Maybe tomorrow if the Met Office forecast proves completely wrong (currently black cloud with double rain drop icon… Oh dear! 🌧️).

In the meantime I have been told there is a picture of my Mantis adorning the Marcos Owners Club stand at the Classic Car Show. What excellent taste! 🤣👌😎

Goodbye, first quarter of 2022

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A quiet first quarter with very few miles added to the clock, what with playing hockey, work & needing to go out on my bike more than a drive when the weather is sunny. It will be interesting to see how many miles I drive in the Mantis over 2022, given the last two year’s restrictions arising from Covid. However, things are moving (pun intended). I had a wonderful if rather random drive through the country lanes of Cheshire under clear blue skies & beautiful spring sunshine last Sunday with my son. Today I took the opportunity while having a few welcome days away from work to go out for a scenic drive through the Pennines to Chatsworth House, then back through Buxton & Macclesfield via the Cat & Fiddle. I invited my chum along who has a few interesting cars & who unbeknownst to me had bought an immaculate Daimler Double Six Vanden Plas last November. Whilst not my bag (it has a roof!) it’s a lovely 70s saloon and with 5.3 litres to draw on, didn’t have any problems keeping up with the Mantis (although the cornering was a bit interesting on the winding roads in the High Peaks). The Mantis drove well again, wasn’t too thirsty (good thing too at £1.85/litre for Unleaded. Grrr….) & I only got rained on for the last 10 minutes of a four hour expedition, so all in all, good fun!

Next up is a much-postponed (Covid – tsk!) get-together for Marcos owners in the North West, when we meet for Sunday lunch in Northwich. The weather is due to get a lot colder between now & then, & there has even been mention of snow, but unless they salt the roads or there is horizontal rain then I will go in the Marcos. I’ve also booked a ticket for the National Kit Car show at Stoneleigh, where this years Club Marcos International AGM will be held on 01-May-2022. Yes, yes, I know the Mantis isn’t a kit car (you knew that, right?!) but that seems to be the best bet in terms of catching up with other owners, after a famine of events over the last two years. I used to go to the Stoneleigh show & park up with the other Marcos on the CMI stand for a few years when I first got the car, but not been for ages so looking forward to seeing what it’s like.

Le Mans 25th anniversary

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It is 25 years since Marcos took the two LM600s to race at the Le Mans 24 hours. I thought I’d share a couple of documents pulled together by Marcus Potts & Chris Marsh, with input from various others involved.

1995-2020_25_Years_01Download
Le Mans MemoriesDownload

Sounds… amazing! The brilliant thing is that the cars are back out there in the original livery & having seen them in the flesh at LMC & a couple of other shows, they look fantastic! 😎

Castle Combe 60th race

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I was sorry to miss the last 60th anniversary event of the year, the Historic Cup at Castle Combe. Although I had tickets, family reasons meant I was unable to attend, but the pictures & video on Facebook looked great & the weather held for everyone. 👍🌞.

Now I am cycling to work (Doctor’s orders… 😔) the Mantis is not getting used much. The autumnal temperature is perfect for me though so I will probably succumb in the near future! 🤣

Cracking me up

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A beautiful morning in Manchester & with the missing trim having now arrived with National Windscreens, another go at fitting the new screen.

The crack has been sneaking down the current windscreen (since October last year I think? 🤔) so this is good timing before taking the car to the Gold Cup at Oulton Park on Sunday.

“Before”… The poorly screen

Once again the National Windscreens team were first class, talking through the fitting in detail and checking over the car.

End of the road for showing at Tatton Park

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Moreton’s, the company who bought the Tatton Park car shows from the original owners, have reneged on their ‘guarantee’ of a stand at the August ‘Passion for Power’ show. Again, allegedly due to a lack of space (see previous post for the completely empty stand they had in June) & that Marcos only wanted a stand for one of the two days. This was never a problem for the original organisers in over 25 years. It seems Moreton’s aren’t interested in low volume sports cars like Marcos who cannot put out row after row of vehicles. The general consensus amongst the very loyal group of owners who have attended Tatton Park over the years is that we should look elsewhere for a new venue in the Northwest. I also need to be able to trust the show organisers when they make a commitment, which I don’t feel able to do. Unfortunately that looks like the end of the road for Marcos showing at Tatton Park as a club, which we have done almost since it started in the mid 90s.

Not a fan

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Just picked the car up after the cooling fans stopped working again. Unfortunately the contact in the junction block fitted last week by the auto electrician was not a good one, & the resultant power surges melted the Fan relay holder. In the absence of a spare relay holder which fits into the existing modular block, the relay has been wired direct which gets the car back on the road. Something to revisit at a later date however.

It’s been nine weeks since I contacted National Windscreens for a replacement screen as the crack in mine is slowly getting bigger. No outlook on when it may arrive so getting worried it may not be done before the 60th Anniversary at Wroxall in July. The supplier of course could only be Marcos Heritage Spares, so I phoned Rory who explained that Pilkington had moved their manufacturing out to Finland & were having logistics problems. Mine is one of 12 screens he is waiting for from up to four months ago, which is not great! Fingers crossed….

Enlightened

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Gave a recommended local auto-electrician a try & he has fixed the cooling fans (corrosion on junction box behind rad & underneath fan belt) & daylight running lights (earth disconnected in wiring by controller). Result! Just need to wait for the rain to stop now! 🤣☔🙄

Rejected!

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So having been told by the Tatton Show organisers that they were short of privateer entries for their June show, & to apply in lieu of our usual club stand… I got rejected!
It is with great regret that we have to decline your kind offer to display your 1997, Marcos, Mantis. We have received such an overwhelming response from people who would like to display their vehicle at the show that we are full to capacity and cannot accept any more.

And on my birthday too! 😭🙄😢.

On the bright side… at least four of the other Marcos owners have been accepted so at least there will be a Marcos presence.