Built purely as a race car to compete in 750 Motor Club events, the car was unusual for its wooden chassis, but this gave it a very light weight and in the hands of Jackie Stewart, Jem Marsh and many others, it achieved outstanding success.
The car was powered by a Ford 105E engine and it's high roof was dictated by Jem's considerable height (something which makes all Marcos cars a good choice for taller drivers, to this day). The original car was built in Dolgellau, Wales by Frank Costin and Dennis and Peter Adams, but it was later built in a small production run in Luton.
Jem races the ex-Stewart car today in FIA and HSCC races and is always
a contender for, at least, class victories.
The Adams brothers and Jem Marsh realised that to make a good living out of building Marcos cars would require something with a wider appeal than the Xylon, successful though it was as a race car.
The first step was to redesign the bodywork of the Xylon to be a little sleeker and this car was known as the Luton Gullwing (because, by now the cars were being built in Luton).
This car still sold mainly to racers, although a few were sold as road cars. Once again it featured gullwing doors, but was a much more attractive car than the original 'Ugly Duckling'.
The next step was to design a new car around the existing wooden chassis and this was to be a convertible or Spyder in Marcos speak. However, the demand from racers for a roof, caused Dennis Adams to hurriedly design a roof for the car, which is not a million miles away from the design now so familiar to Marcos afficenados. This model is known as the 'Breadvan' because of it's slightly boxy roof and boot line.
The downside of fitting this roof was that (due to the use of the gullwing chassis, but not gullwing doors) the doors were tiny and climbing in and out was extremely difficult.
A number of these cars were sold, mainly in coupe form, but it was only a matter of time before a new car, designed primarily as a road-going GT took over from the somewhat impractical design.
It almost goes without saying that all these models were successful racers and, like other models, race to this day in both national and international classic car series throughout the world.
Originally, the, once more, wooden chassised car was equipped with a Volvo engine from the P1800 and had a complex De Dion rear suspension and heavily sculpted dashboard. However, high cost and limited sales of early cars, soon saw a movement to a Ford powerplant, a simpler dashboard and a live rear axle, held in place with a panhard rod.
One feature which appeared on this model and has been retained to this day is the adjustable pedals. Rather than have a seat which moves back and forth on runners, the Marcos has a fixed cushion for squab and seat back and the pedals move in relation to the driver. The position of the pedals is easily adjusted by a wheel on the dashboard (or on recent cars, electric motors). This feature is almost unique, but makes the Marcos a supremely comfortable car in which to travel and allows a laid back driving position, virtually unknown outside the world of single seater racing cars.
Early sales of the GT, which had been designed as a road car, were to racers and once again the car proved its worth on the track. To this day the 1800 and Marcos is a competitive car against both class and bigger engined competition in both FIA and HSCC championships, especially in the hands of people like Roger Ealand, Per Hagermark in Sweden (his car pictured above) and Dave Methley.
The Ford 1500 engine was supplemented, in time, by a Lawerencetune modified version enlarged to 1650cc, the ford 1600 x-flow and eventually, shortly after a failed attempt to qualify a 1600cc car at Le Mans, the Ford V6 Essex engine.
In 1969, the cost of producing the wooden chassis and an abiding doubt in the public's mind about a car with a wooden chassis, led to the adoption of a steel chassis. Outwardly the car was unchanged and the performance and handling of the car was also hardly altered.
At first the steel chassised cars, built in a converted mill in Bradford Upon Avon, Wiltshire, were powered by the Ford V6 Essex engine, but a desire to move into the lucrative US market saw the use of a Volvo straight 6 engine, which already had the necessary anti-pollution equipment available. Some cars also had a 2 litre V4 version of the Essex fitted, but most of these are now converted to V6s.
In 1971, the mill was abandoned and a purpose built factory in Westbury was moved into. However, delays in production during this time and a problem with US Customs over the status of Marcos as a small scale manufacturer led to financial difficulties, which brought about the downfall of Marcos.
A few GTs were built with Triumph 2.5 litre straight sixes, using up supplies of engine originally intended for the 4 seater Mantis.
The relaunch cars of 1981 were essentially the same cars which were produced in 1969, although they were often sold as kitcars and some had the German Cologne V6 in place of the Essex.