The Mini Marcos is an automobile produced in limited numbers between 1965 and 1970 by

Marcos Marcos may refer to: People with the given name ''Marcos'' *Marcos (given name) Sports ;Surnamed * Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century) * Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer * Nélson Marcos, Portugue ...

, from 1974 to 1981 by D & H Fibreglass Techniques Limited and again between 1991 and 1996 by

. It was based on the DART design by Dizzy Addicott who finally sold the project to Jeremy Delmar-Morgan. Jeremy marketed the Mini DART as the Mini Jem. Jem Marsh of Marcos cars separately developed the project into the Mk I Mini Marcos and despite the similarity of the name, had nothing to do with the Mini Jem. In Sweden the Mini Marcos was sold by Elmhorn-Troberg Racing Service.

Development

The Marcos was sold as a

kit car A kit car is an automobile available as a set of parts that a manufacturer sells and the buyer then assembles into a functioning car. Usually, many of the major mechanical systems such as the engine and transmission are sourced from donor ve ...

utilizing a

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

/ GRP

Monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

with running gear & subframes from a

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

. During its life it went through five versions with changes including sliding windows (Mark II), which also had a modified front licence plate holder. An optional rear hatch appeared with the Mark III and a standard rear hatch and wind-up windows for the Mark IV which also received somewhat longer and taller bodywork. Mini Marcos Mk

The

Midas Midas (; grc-gre, Μίδας) was the name of a king in Phrygia with whom several myths became associated, as well as two later members of the Phrygian royal house. The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek mythology for his ...

succeeded the Mk IV Mini Marcos which at that time was being made by D&H Fibreglass Techniques Limited in Oldham, but the latter marque was subsequently revived by Marcos with the Mark V. Following the closure of the Marcos company, the Mini Marcos moulds were acquired by Rory McMath of Marcos Heritage Spares who has re-launched the car as the Heritage Mk. VI and GT, the latter being a racing version.

Motorsport

The Mini Marcos was the only British car to finish (in 15th place) in the

1966 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 34th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 18 and 19 June 1966. It was also the seventh round of the 1966 World Sportscar Championship season. This was the first overall win at Le Mans for the Ford GT4 ...

: the drivers were Jean-Louis Marnat and

Claude Ballot-Léna Claude Ballot-Léna (4 August 1936 – 9 November 1999) was a French racing driver born in Paris. Career He won the 1969 Spa 24 Hours in a Porsche 911 and the 1983 24 Hours of Daytona in a Porsche 935 Turbo owned by Preston Henn. He also entered ...

. The 1966 Le Mans car was used for several more races, then sold and finally stolen in Paris in October 1975. Many people searched for it, but it took until December 2016 to be found. Marcos entered a works car for the 24 Hours race of 1967 but the car fell out after just 13 laps. It also set four British land speed class records. These are the flying mile, half mile, half kilometre and kilometre for cars up to 1600 cc.

Australian production

There were a few copies of the Mini Jem/Marcos built in Australia. John Taylor of Taylorspeed, in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, introduced the Taylorspeed Jem at a local show in 1968. The car was only sold as a kit and was made to accept any Mini internals. Most were heavily modified by their builders, and no two are alike. All in all only ten were built of the Mark I (with an oval bottomed rear window) and Mark II series (with a square rear window), of which one was sold in Singapore. Taylorspeed Jem Mark1 no

References

{{reflist

External links

Mini Marcos Owners ClubMinijem Plus
Marcos vehicles Cars introduced in 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans race cars Group 4 (racing) cars Kit cars Cars powered by transverse 4-cylinder engines