Weekly Motor Fix: following the ownership history of this rally-star Morris Marina 1.8 TC coupé

23 February, 2016

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“Built by British Leyland Competition Department, Abington, UK, ‘GC2’ was one of a pair of Morris Marinas built for the 1972 Heatway Rally, along with a pair of Mini Clubmans.”

Originally entered for Andrew Cowan and Jim Scott (the eventual winner in a Clubman), this car was driven in the event by Jim Richards, with Jim Carney as co-driver. After winning a special stage early in the event, and running second overall behind Andrew Cowan, suspension problems and a failing gearbox saw Jim Richards forced to retire in midfield.

Late in 1972 GC2 was acquired by Chris Kirk-Burnnand, followed by brother Barry, who campaigned the Marina in national rallies, club rallies, and hill-climb events. During this time the gearbox, which was not up to the rigors of harsh competition, was eventually replaced with a Hillman four-speed gearbox, and the SU carburettors were replaced with a twin-choke Webber.

From 1977 to 1992 GC2 passed through a number of owners and registration-plate changes before it was purchased by Bog Hulme in 1992. Bob campaigned the car in sprints, hill climbs, and circuit racing events with the licence number RR9291. Research revealed its origins, and Bob personalized the plate back to 1 GC2 1.

The car was passed to Andrew Scott in October 1997 and was given a bare-metal rebuild and paint. The roll cage was uprated for side intrusion, and the Hillman box was replaced with a Rover SD1 unit.

The engine was fully rebuilt (not the original by this time), along with the suspension, brakes, and many other components.

The current owner, Judith Edwards, whose husband Don passed away three years ago, has finally decided to pass this significant piece of New Zealand rally history to another custodian by offering it for sale.

Interested parties can contact [email protected] for more information.

Janspeed recreates the Jaguar sports car

29 September, 2026

Thankfully, a few of these cars made it to New Zealand, the odd one being imported from the UK over the years. However, the 1988 British Racing Green example owned by Bill Slater in Upper Hutt was originally sold as a standard car but converted using the full Janspeed kit by the first owner within a couple of years of buying it.
Bill has owned a few other Jaguars. In fact, after he sold his Jaguar XJ12 in 2018, he found himself pining for another and, when the XJ-S came up for sale, he could not resist it. Having just sold the V12, he was not expecting much from the six-cylinder car other than more reliability and it being cheaper to keep on the road. Naturally, he had heard of the influence Janspeed had on the marque, but it was not until he took the car for a test drive that he became aware of just how superior it was to the car he had just sold. The price of a second-hand Janspeed XJ-S and that of a standard 3.6 XJ-S is quite comparable, making the Janspeed version an incredible bargain, even more so in comparison with other performance classic cars — or even modern cars, for that matter — which cost far more bucks for the bang.

The writing on the wall

25 September, 2026

Deven, a digital content producer in his 20s, says it was the rear-drive Nissan and Toyota drift cars that fired his imagination in his not-so-distant youth and soon had him wanting one of his own. However, like most of us, he had to start in something less glamorous – in his case, a 1997 Mitsubishi Galant. After that, he bought a four-litre V8 1991 Toyota Soarer, a big change from the Mitsubishi.
“It was my daily driver, and it wasn’t that bad to run back when petrol was affordable,” he says.
When he got fed up with filling it up, Deven bought a 1989 Ford Laser sedan, a 1.3-litre five-speed manual, to be his daily driver. It’s in very good condition, bought from a careful older driver, and he still runs it – although he will occasionally also drive the latest in a series of Nissan Laurel sedans. His current one, from 1993, has done the lowest number of kilometres yet, at 183,000. It has the single-cam version of the engine in his Skyline.
“I’ve had four different versions of that car. It was just a car I always liked. It’s really comfortable, quite luxurious. I bought it from a 90-year-old in Hamilton. It’s in mint condition, and everything is standard.”

Weekly Motor Fix: following the ownership history of this rally-star Morris Marina 1.8 TC coupé

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