Marcos Motor Company Revives Iconic British Sports Cars
Marcos Motor Company Ltd, custodian of the iconic British sports car marque founded in 1959, has revealed ambitious plans to build the first new Marcos cars in two decades. Engineers have already begun crafting physical prototypes as the firm evaluates three distinct vehicle programmes that marry classic Marcos DNA with cutting-edge engineering for road and track.
Programme 1 reimagines a beloved Marcos model by retaining its unmistakable silhouette while installing a contemporary platform and drivetrain. The prototype now runs on track, showcasing new in-house capabilities and laying the groundwork for potential customer cars.
Programme 2 delivers an all-new, lightweight sports car designed for both road and circuit use. Marcos has engineered and crash-tested a fully homologated rolling chassis and continues fine-tuning it. Although the design owes nothing to legacy models, it upholds the brand’s commitment to mechanical simplicity, low mass and seat-of-the-pants handling.
Programme 3 focuses on continuation cars. Because the company owns original body moulds, tooling and jigs for almost every model built since 1959, it can produce faithful, fully authorised recreations that carry the authentic Marcos logo and provenance.
Beyond new vehicles, Marcos Motor Company will continue to support owners through its Marcos Heritage Spares arm. Customers will benefit from genuine parts, servicing, repairs and performance upgrades developed by the group’s engine specialists.
“Marcos is a much-loved British sports car brand,” says owner and chairman Howard Nash. “It has an excellent history but also an ethos of simplicity for raw, driver-focused handling. It’s an analogue experience you can’t get from large car manufacturers and supercar brands, and one which I think enthusiasts hanker after today.
“We want to honour that original ethos while being forward-looking too, giving Marcos a new, younger audience, as well as bringing the brand back for those who grew up with it.”
Nash, who possesses an automotive and motorsport engineering background, bought Marcos in 2022 after joining its board the previous year. He now chairs Automotive Vision, which includes Marcos Motor Company, as well as historic entities Marcos Engineering Ltd., Marcos Sales Ltd., and Marcos Heritage Spares Ltd.—the latter of which has been in continuous operation for more than 25 years. The wider group also encompasses a century-old body and paint business, as well as an established engine restoration and tuning firm.
Throughout its history, Marcos has consistently punched above its weight. Future Formula One world champion Jackie Stewart, F1 driver and team owner Jackie Oliver, and Le Mans legend Derek Bell all raced early cars. Designers applied De Havilland Mosquito expertise to create the world’s first monocoque chassis, a breakthrough that influenced modern race-car construction. The Mini Marcos lapped the field on its debut and emerged as the highest-placed British finisher at Le Mans in 1966, later setting four 1600 cc land-speed records that still stand.
During the 1960s and 1970s, pop icons such as Rod Stewart, the Walker Brothers and Paul Jones of Manfred Mann drove the Marcos GT, which producers nearly cast as Roger Moore’s car in The Saint. A GT launched Jonathan Palmer’s Formula One career in the late 1970s, and GT evolutions captured British and European titles throughout the 1990s and 2000s. The 1998 Mantis GT became Britain’s first 500 bhp road car and attracted owners including Maxi Jazz of Faithless, while celebrity collector Jay Leno recently praised the GT as “one of the prettiest and most unusual sports cars of all time.”
