New Zealand Montage (Mararn)

[Gollum]

A set of moulds were made in New Zealand from a Montage body. The car was called the Mararn. Here is my VW based project from 20+ years ago. I never finished it as the money was needed for University. http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu55/prw007/Mararn/Mararn15.jpg (http://s633.photobucket.com/user/prw007/media/Mararn/Mararn15.jpg.html) http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu55/prw007/Mararn/Mararn10.jpg (http://s633.photobucket.com/user/prw007/media/Mararn/Mararn10.jpg.html) http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu55/prw007/Mararn/Mararn13.jpg (http://s633.photobucket.com/user/prw007/media/Mararn/Mararn13.jpg.html) http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu55/prw007/Mararn/Mararn9.jpg[ /URL] [URL=http://s633.photobucket.com/user/prw007/media/Mararn/Mararn1.jpg.html]http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu55/prw007/Mararn/Mararn1.jpg (http://s633.photobucket.com/user/prw007/media/Mararn/Mararn9.jpg.html)

[Gollum]

http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu55/prw007/Mararn/Mararn8.jpg (http://s633.photobucket.com/user/prw007/media/Mararn/Mararn8.jpg.html) http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu55/prw007/Mararn/Mararn16.jpg (http://s633.photobucket.com/user/prw007/media/Mararn/Mararn16.jpg.html) http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu55/prw007/Mararn/Mararn2.jpg (http://s633.photobucket.com/user/prw007/media/Mararn/Mararn2.jpg.html) http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu55/prw007/Mararn/Mararn3.jpg (http://s633.photobucket.com/user/prw007/media/Mararn/Mararn3.jpg.html) http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu55/prw007/Mararn/Mararn5.jpg (http://s633.photobucket.com/user/prw007/media/Mararn/Mararn5.jpg.html)

[Gollum]

http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu55/prw007/Mararn/Mararn7.jpg (http://s633.photobucket.com/user/prw007/media/Mararn/Mararn7.jpg.html) http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu55/prw007/Mararn/Mararn12.jpg (http://s633.photobucket.com/user/prw007/media/Mararn/Mararn12.jpg.html)

[Gollum]

Another Mararn (not mine!) http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu55/prw007/Mararn/Mararn2-1.jpg (http://s633.photobucket.com/user/prw007/media/Mararn/Mararn2-1.jpg.html) http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu55/prw007/Mararn/Mararn1-1.jpg (http://s633.photobucket.com/user/prw007/media/Mararn/Mararn1-1.jpg.html) http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu55/prw007/Mararn/Mararn3-1.jpg (http://s633.photobucket.com/user/prw007/media/Mararn/Mararn3-1.jpg.html)

[Sulley]

That is really interesting to see. It looks like a copyright infringement if Manta had a copyright. Is the top one your car and the bottom one of a finished car? What was the configuration for the engine?

[Gollum]

I don't think Manta would have had copyright. Interestingly the original M6BGT story starts with Bruce McLaren here in NZ! The Mararn story is that apparently a local race car driver/designer Graham MacRae bought a Montage body off Bill Jongbloed (Jongbloed were wheel suppliers for Manta, I wonder if the body was a contra-type payment?) and brought it to New Zealand where he made a few changes and made a set of moulds. They went through a series of owners over the years before being sold off-shore some years ago. There are a couple of finished cars that keep coming up for sale, next time they do, I'll post them on the board. My car was set up for a mid-mounted Ford 2-litre turbo but I was building it for a rotary engine. The other, finished car had Mitsubishi Evo power and was very fast. I believe it was spontaneously disassembled in a racing accident.