Leyland Australia Marina History

The Marina was sold in Australia from 1972 as the Morris Marina, assembled at the Zetland plant using British body panels but fitted with a locally developed version of the BMC E-series engine. When Leyland rebranded its vehicle range in March 1973, the Marina became the Leyland Marina. The most distinctive Australian specification was the addition of a 2.6-litre inline-six E-series variant — a longitudinal rear-wheel-drive application of an engine that the parent company had only ever used in front-wheel-drive transverse form — giving the Marina genuine six-cylinder performance unusual for a car of its size and class.

Australian Marina production ran from 1972 to 1974, with around 30,000 units built across sedan and coupe body styles. When the Zetland factory closed in October 1974 alongside P76 production, locally assembled Marina production ended; for a brief period Leyland Australia imported British-sourced CKD Marina kits in saloon, estate, van, and pick-up forms, but volume was negligible. The Marina is notable as one of the few examples of a major mechanical re-engineering of an existing British Leyland product specifically for the Australian market.