The Marlei was a racing car built in
Portugal by Mário Moreira Leite (bearing an acronym from his name) in the 1950s. It featured an
aluminum body and
Opel
Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Grou ...
engine. Similar racing cars were constructed in Portugal during the same period when car races became very popular, including the ''DM'' (by Dionísio Mateu and Elísio de Melo), the ''Alba'', the ''Olda'', the ''FAP'' and the ''Etnerap''.
History
The project began in 1952 when a beyond recovery
Opel Olympia Caravan entered the workshop of Oficina António Sardinha a
Vila Nova de Gaia company, which had operations with
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
. Mário Moreira Leite in his late 50s was the head mechanic at the workshop, he found interest in the Olympia Caravan and started building it into a sports car in his spare time. The bodywork was in a tubular form made up of single piece aluminum most parts of the car were sourced from GM and were highly modified. It featured an
4 cylinder
The engine configuration describes the fundamental operating principles by which internal combustion engines are categorized.
Piston engines are often categorized by their cylinder layout, valves and camshafts. Wankel engines are often categorize ...
water cooled Opel engine with displacement of 1488 putting out 48hp assisted by a
Vauxhall
Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...
4 speed
transmission
Transmission may refer to:
Medicine, science and technology
* Power transmission
** Electric power transmission
** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power
*** Automatic transmission
*** Manual transmission
*** ...
, all four wheels had Vauxhall
braking system the total weight of the car was 580kg and reached 160kmph.
After this the vehicle went for a lengthy approval process which ended in 1955 and the car entered the competitions but due to the delay the competitor's machines were advanced years ahead of Marlei which resulted in a disadvantage anyway the car still managed to secure second place in its class at IV Rally of Porto.
See also
*
Opel Olympia
The Opel Olympia is a compact car by German automaker Opel, then part of G.M., from 1935 to 1940, and after World War II continued from 1947 to 1953. It was one of the world's first mass-produced cars with a unitary body structure, after the 1934 ...
*
Vauxhall
Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...
*
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marlei (Car)
Car manufacturers of Portugal
Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers