Marcos GT

Marcos GT is the name used by the British firm of Marcos Engineering Ltd for all of their cars until the introduction of the Mantis in 1970. Most commonly, the name is used to describe this very low coupé designed by brothers Dennis and Peter Adams. The car was first introduced as the Marcos 1800 in 1964, with a wooden chassis and a Volvo P1800 engine. Later models had a steel chassis and commonly Ford engines although others were also available. The majority of these sports cars were sold in kit form. The car was out of production from 1972 until 1981, when small scale kit production recommenced. The original GT continued to be built until 1989 or 1990, being developed into its altered Mantula form. This was further developed into more powerful and aggressively-styled designs, culminating in the 1994 LM600 (which competed in the 1995-1998 Le Mans 24-hour races, the 1996 car is shown below). As was the intent with most Marcos cars, the GT series saw a lot of competition use. The original 1800 and other 1960s and 1970s Marcos are still competitive in both FIA and HSCC (UK) historic racing series.

It is telling of the Corgi Toys engineers' attention to detail that the early Corgi Marcos cars have a recognisably Volvo 1800 engine, and the later ones get a Ford V6. None of the kids that played with these toys would get that, but the Corgi designers still did it. In a nutshell that is why I've spent 20 years writing this website. That level of sheer engineering attention to detail needs and deserves to be recognised. What a fantastic piece of modelling, all the detail is splendid, bodywork, engine and interior. The door-tops are great, the usual trick with die-casts which have opening doors is to pretend the windows are wound down and just to provide a door bottom, here we have proper frames - and there's an interior door trim. Look inside - the interior is beautifully modelled. This is a jewel - I'm so proud of it. These guys were not just supreme toymakers they were true engineers on a miniature scale, it's such a shame these skills are lost - or more accurately no longer available in million unit runs at 4s 11d a go.

324 Marcos Volvo 1800 GT

The Marcos 1800GT was added to the range in 1966 and remained in production until 1969. This car is either white or blue with a driver figure. The white car generally has green racing stripes but has been reported with blue stripes. The blue car has white stripes and a pale blue interior. Of the two commonly found versions the blue one gets a premium over the white car with green stripes. The white car with blue stripes is the highest value. When the car was deleted in 1969 it was re-released with Whizzwheels. When I spotted the blue one below on eBay I had to have it. You hardly ever see the blue one, but look closely at the pictures, this one is really not well put together, it has even managed somehow to lose it's dashboard and steering wheel, I still love it though.

377 Marcos 3 Litre; WhizzWheels

Well - the original was only an 1800 - the re-vamp with Whizzwheels is now a 3 Litre, but it's no better for it and we have lost the opening doors along the way. There is actually a change under the bonnet. The original had a recognisable four cylinder engine cast as part of the main body shell. In this one there is an inset plastic moulded engine in its place, vacuum plated in silver. The new engine is different and could very well be a three litre V6. That aside this is an example of taking a first rate piece of modelling and dumbing it down. The Whizzheeels version of the Marcos GT was a rerelease of No.324 which had been made from 1966 to 1969. The new car was released in 1970 and remained in production until 1972. Colours are yellow with a black bonnet stripe, white with a grey sunroof or metallic blue/green with a large Marcos logo on the bonnet on a round sticker with a black background. Prices seem to vary across the colours but not by much and the different guides do not agree with each other.