This was purchased in 2004 as an addition to the owner's personal collection. After discovering
the Marcos GT, he just had to have one. The looks are nothing short of amazing. For those
of you who haven't heard of the Marcos before, it's been production (except for a few years
in the 70's) since the early 60s. The original styling was so successful that even the
latest models are based on this same design.
Aside from the totally sexy styling, the most unusual aspect to the early Marcos is
the fact that under the fiberglass body is a plywood - yes, plywood - chassis.
While this may seem impractical, it was actually a major plus to the successful performance
of the car. Using aircraft design methods, the marine plywood chassis (which was treated with
fire retardent) is not only significantly lighter than a comparable steel chassis, it is also
very rigid. Marcos continued manufacturing the GT with a plywood chassis through
1969 and only changed over to tubular steel because it was less labor intensive to build
than the wooden chassis that contained over 300 parts.
What makes this particular Marcos 3000 GT unique is that by all accounts, it is one of the
last two cars Marcos made with a wooden chassis.
The body is in great shape with only a few stress cracks showing through the recent,
but as yet unbuffed paint job. The car is complete, but it is partially disassembled.
The interior is intact, but the windows and weatherstripping are not yet installed.
The engine is also complete, but the exterior parts had been removed for detailing
and only bolted back together for shipping from Florida. The hydraulic systems are
dry and corroded, so they'll need to be completely rebuilt. The suspension looks to
be in good condition, but it will be thoroughly inspected and rebuilt as needed. The
electrical system has been cut in several places and will have to be completely gone
through.
Unfortunately, some serious delamination of the wooden chassis has been found where the
front suspension subframe mounts to the footwell boxes. While not an impossible task,
repairing this damage will be quite a project - requiring that the footwell boxes be
literally cut off and then replaced with new plywood. Given the rarity of this car
and it's place in the production line, it is certainly worthy of a proper restoration.
When that actually happens has yet to be determined.
