Marlin engineering

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Marlin engineering
legal form Ltd.
founding 1979
Seat Crediton , Devon
management Terry Matthews
Branch Automobile manufacturer
Website www.marlinsportscars.co.uk

Marlin Engineering is a British automobile manufacturer that has been based in Plymouth, Devon, and then Crediton, Devon , since 1979 . The website is called Marlin Sports Cars Limited . For Marlin Engineering , a source names the founding year 1996 and the dissolution year 2002. There is also a Marlin Cars Limited founded in 1993, which still exists .

description

The company was founded by Paul Moorhouse , who, after building a few prototypes for his own use, decided to take one of them into series production as a kit car . The first kits were sold in 1979.

The first model was the Roadster, which was manufactured until the construction along with that of the Berlinetta was sold to YKC Sports Cars (YKC) in 1992 , where they were manufactured until the owner retired in 2006 and they were sold to Aquila Sports Cars Ltd . resold.

In the mid-1990s, the company was sold to Terry and Mark Matthews , who introduced the Hunter model. Mark Matthews died in 2014.

According to an announcement from the company website in May 2019, the company is closed and production has ceased. The factory is for sale.

Models

Roadster

Marlin Roadster

The roadster was the first model and was based on the Triumph Herald . The two-seater car made of aluminum and fiberglass had a radiator grille similar to that of Alfa Romeo's pre-war sports cars. In 1981 the Morris Marina's rear axle replaced that of Triumph and the Marina's engine was fitted as standard, although many customers installed different engines.

Berlinetta

Marlin Berlinetta from 1979

The Berlinetta came out in 1984 as a 2 + 2 coupe and consisted of parts of the Ford Cortina Mark III or Mark IV.

Convertible

The 1991 convertible was a further development of the roadster with parts from the Ford Sierra .

Hunter

The Hunter was a pre-built car based on the convertible.

Sportster

The Sportster is the successor to the Roadster, which has been completely redesigned and was also delivered as a Roadster. It has the six-cylinder engine of the BMW 3 Series E36 with a displacement of 2.0 to 3.5 liters as standard . The vehicle is 3.65 m long, 1.65 m wide and weighed about 850 kg. It is available as a kit or a pre-built car.

5EXi

Unlike its predecessors, Marlin said goodbye to the retro look with the 5EXi and built a modern two-seater with a mid-engine, again as a roadster. The car has a space frame on which fiberglass panels are attached and the four-cylinder engines with 1100 cm³ to 2000 cm³ displacement come either from Honda Civic or from the Rover K series. The vehicle is 3.55 m long, 1.69 m wide and weighs around 650 kg.

The car is available both as a kit and as a pre-built vehicle. The factory states that the kit can be assembled in 100 hours.

Web links

Commons : Marlin vehicles  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ opencorporates on Marlin Engineering (accessed on May 16, 2020)
  2. ↑ opencorporates on Marlin Cars (accessed on May 16, 2020)
  3. ^ N. Georgano: Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile . HMSO. London (2000). ISBN 1-57958-293-1
  4. ↑ Information from Marlin Sports Cars Limited (accessed on May 16, 2020)
  5. ↑ HISTORIC KIT CAR BUSINESS FOR SALE . Retrieved May 14, 2020.