BL rapidly implemented a plan to develop a replacement for both the Minor and the smaller Farina models that could be produced as quickly as possible and would be on sale for no more than five years until a genuinely "all new" product could be launched in its place.

The Marina would use a conventional rear-wheel drive, live rear axle drive-train as found on other popular mass-market cars such as the Ford Escort and Vauxhall Viva.

Commonwealth markets such as South Africa, Australia and New Zealand were large buyers of BL products, but the innovative BMC cars were considered too fragile and complex for use in such countries, as well as being fitted exclusively with small, low-powered engines.

As a result, the Marina was unadventurous but simple, making use of existing BMC components derived from the Morris Minor and MGB, as well as using mainly Triumph Dolomite transmission and running gear from the former Leyland side of the organisation.

Lacking the budget to develop two cars to compete directly with the Escort and the Cortina, the makers sized the ADO28 between the two benchmark Ford models.

Although this idea carried great potential benefits for a company selling cars under numerous different brands across multiple market sectors it was looked on as too radical by the management of British Leyland and Triumph designer Harry Webster was drafted in to push the project forward.

These factors contributed to overheating and oil burning in the Austin Maxi, and so the board decided to adopt the more reliable A and B- series engines for indigenous production.

However, the body had already been designed, so the Marina was forever cursed with a "full nappy" rear-end styling, needed to even the lines between the necessarily bloated front and the rear.

This produced significant cost savings in tooling and assembly, but left the coupé as obvious styling derivative of the saloon rather than having a different, more sporting image as Roy Haynes had originally proposed.

An estate (station wagon) came in 1972, 18 months after the saloon and coupé, giving British Leyland a full-circle competitor for the Cortina and Capri.

These could be fitted with a body kit from BL Special Tuning that added front and rear spoilers, alloy wheels, extra lighting and other details.

It was intended to compete with the generally similar Ford Cortina (and to some extent the smaller Escort); the Vauxhall Viva and later the larger Cavalier; as well as the Hillman Avenger and Hunter from Chrysler UK.

While the labour disputes at BL eroded employment, manufacturers in Europe and Japan introduced innovative designs (such as the VW Golf) with which the Marina and its like were never likely to compete.

Under severe financial strain, BL was bailed out by the government under the Ryder Report of 1975, and Sir Michael Edwardes was brought in to oversee the company.

The result of this exercise, the 1980 Morris Ital features large rear-lamp clusters and a new front end, but the 1971 vintage of the design was obvious.

More comprehensive suspension changes were made with the Mark 2's introduction in 1975, which added anti-roll bars that calmed the earlier car's wayward tendencies.

The Morris Marina was a very popular car in Britain, and was among the country's best sellers throughout its production life, peaking at second place in 1973 — only surpassed by the Ford Cortina.

BL's Austin products, with their advanced front-wheel drive and suspension systems were more expensive to buy and more costly to maintain, and so suffered poorer sales in these crucial markets.

Although Ford remained dominant by a large margin, the Marina did succeed in capturing a larger share of the fleet/hire market and this contributed to its high sales.

In fact, of all the post Ryder Report models that BL and its successors produced, only the Austin Metro would surpass the Marina's sales.

Whilst intended as a stop-gap design until a more up-to-date replacement could be developed, the problems faced by British Leyland in the mid-to-late 1970s meant that the Marina remained in production essentially unchanged, other than some light facelifts and interior changes.

[19] The Marina was a conventional design, a fully unitary spot-welded body (no sub-frames were used except on the six-cylinder) with a longitudinally mounted engine driving through the transmission and naked propeller shaft to a solid live rear axle suspended on semi-elliptic leaf springs with telescopic dampers.

To ease production and reduce costs, the body featured a strong central spine around the transmission tunnel, where most of the unit's strength was.

These provided superior ride comfort over rough roads when compared to early telescopic dampers, but at the expense of sloppy handling and body control at high speeds.

While its simple rear-wheel-drive layout and mechanicals appealed to many Canadian drivers, the Marina's body was prone to extremely fast rust-out on the salted winter roads of eastern Canada, which limited sales in later years.

[24] Additionally, in an attempt to compete with the Holden Torana and Ford Cortina 6-cylinder models, the Marina was also offered from November 1973 [25] with a 121 hp (90 kW) 2600 cc E-series six-cylinder engine.

In 1974, before the termination of Leyland Australia's manufacturing operations, local assembly switched to British-sourced models again in saloon, estate, van and pick-up forms.

The 1.3 motor was offered from 1976 until 1978, but the build quality combined with the grossly underpowered 1.3 version (particularly for the South African Highveld where heat and altitude cut engine performance by up to 20%) made it an absolute failure.

In 1974, George Turnbull retired from BL and took two Marinas, one saloon and one coupé, to the automotive division of the Hyundai conglomerate Korea, which was interested in developing its own car, instead of assembling Ford and Mitsubishi automobiles under licence.

[35] Clarkson was adamant through the episode to preserve the Marina due to its high profile ownership, though the car was later destroyed in similar fashion with a piano being dropped on its roof following the race.