This is my latest acquisition. Once I discovered the Marcos GT, I 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 the last car Marcos made with a wooden chassis. By all means, if you know of a wooden-chassis Marcos GT with a later serial number, please let me know.

It just arrived from Florida in late December of 2004. I purchased it from a dealer of classic British cars as a partial restoration. Since it's arrival, I haven't had a chance to do anything but a cursory evaluation.

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. The wooden chassis has yet to be properly inspected, but I don't yet have any reason to believe that it's in anaything but excellent condition.