Background
Launched in 1960, the curiously styled yet innovative Marcos Xylon was the first product of the Jem Marsh and Frank Costin partnership.
With its frog-eyed front end, four-piece windscreen and notch-back rear window, the gullwing-doored Marcos was undoubtedly quirky, yet beneath its glass-fibre skin was a plywood composite chassis, the latter's monocoque construction representing advanced thinking for a competition car at a time when steel tubing was the norm in Formula 1.
Ford four-cylinder engines of various capacities were used, and the gearbox likewise was sourced from Dagenham. The Volvo 1800 engine was used for the Xlylon's successor, the 1800GT, which was the first Marcos to feature the classic Dennis Adams-styled body, before the marque returned to Ford power with the outwardly similar 1500 and 1600 models.
Despite its theoretical advantages, the plywood chassis was expensive to produce and was replaced by a steel spaceframe on the 3-litre. Introduced in 1970, the latter used the Ford Essex V6 or Volvo 164 inline six engines, while there was also a (much rarer) 2.5-litre Triumph-powered variant.The cars enjoyed real popularity during the late 60s/early 70s, with celebrities such as Sam Wanamaker and Rod Stewart exploiting the GT’s potential as a true driver’s car. The core design lasted for more than three decades and eventually evolved to cope with over 500bhp.
