by Bob Groeneveld/Special to the 91原创 Advance
A local Marina enthusiast will be on the LAMB with other British car buffs in Fort 91原创 later this month.
The 91原创 Area Mostly British Motoring (LAMB) Club is presenting its 13th annual St. George鈥檚 British Motoring Show at the Fort 91原创 Community Hall on Sunday, April 22.
Two of Colin Cuvelier鈥檚 Marinas will be among the 80 cars, trucks, and military vehicles expected on exhibit from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Cuvelier has been mechanically inclined all his life, and has had a special interest in British cars since he was in high school in Aldergrove.
鈥淢y shop teacher [Kevin Moore] had a big influence on me when it came to British cars,鈥� he recounted.
He has been a member of the local British car club for several years, but the blue four-door Marina he鈥檚 been restoring for 20 years, along with a newly acquired convertible Marina, are his first entries in the show.
Marina is not a familiar name for cars around here. They were sold in the U.S. for a few years in the 1970s, and just a few years more in Canada, but they never caught on this side of the Atlantic, despite being the third bestselling make in the U.K. at the time, Cuvelier explained.
鈥淭hey were not very well loved in North America,鈥� he added.
鈥淭he Japanese cars were coming, and they were more reliable, they were cheaper, and the marketing didn鈥檛 suit the Marina very well.鈥�
In Britain, Marinas 鈥渨ere marketed as a car you could tinker with on the weekend and drive it to work all week and then you have to tinker with it again鈥� but in North America that doesn鈥檛 work.鈥� Cuvelier explained. 鈥淗ere, you hop in the car, hit the key, and you go.鈥�
But the tinkering appealed to Cuvelier.
鈥淚 had my first Marina when I was 14 years old,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 42 years old now, and I鈥檝e always had at least two Marinas sitting in my yard.鈥�
His 1973 blue four-door doesn鈥檛 get out of the yard often.
鈥淚t only gets driven a couple of times a year, because of time and, well, [I鈥檓] too paranoid.鈥�
His other car headed for the show in Fort 91原创 is a Morris Marina convertible.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of only 30 ever made, and it鈥檚 the only one in North America,鈥� Cuvelier said.
鈥淲hen I got it here, I converted it to left-hand drive, using all the original Marina parts that I have. In essence, even though it鈥檚 converted by me, it鈥檚 the only left-hand drive Marina convertible in the world.鈥�
It took a year to get that car from England to 91原创. He tracked it through the Panama Canal and up the coast, north past him. And, as his anticipation heightened, back down to Seattle where he picked it up.
He wished they could have dropped it off in Vancouver.
Visitors to the St. George鈥檚 show will get to share his excitement, and that of dozens of other British motoring enthusiasts who will show off their Jaguars, MGs, and Triumphs, as well as the working man鈥檚 makes, like Hillman, Vauxhall, Morris, Cortina, and Austin.
鈥淲e decided it was time to feature cars that we grew up with as mom and dad鈥檚 vehicles,鈥� said John Walden, president of the motoring club.
There will also be a silent auction open to the public. Net proceeds from the show will go to Big Brothers Big Sisters of 91原创.
The show is free to the public, but there鈥檚 a $20 fee to include vehicles in the show. Visit .
Net proceeds from the show will go to .
