All you need to know about Marcos.
Born: 1959 Nationality: British
This quintessential British sports car marque was founded by Jem Marsh and Frank Costin, who took the first three letters of each name for the marque name.
Built for racing, Costin's wooden chassis made for a very light car, powered by a Ford 105E which performed well under Marsh's piloting skills.
It wasn't pretty, earning the nickname the "Ugly Duckling". Costin left in 1961 and, under the direction of Dennis and Peter Adams, the Marcos 1800 was designed, still using a wooden chassis but with a more attractive fibreglass body.
It became the first Marcos GT and was produced initially with a Volvo P1800 engine and later Ford 1500cc units. It had fixed seats and adjustable pedals which became a Marcos feature.
Then in 1965, the Mini Marcos arrived in with an aim to provide a cheap sports car, financially accessible at a price of £199 for a bodyshell and windscreen. A Mini Marcos was the only British car to finish the 1966 Le Mans.
In its lifetime, including a revival of production in 1991 to satisfy an unexpected demand in Japan, more than 1,300 MMs were produced, including 40 built under licence in Ireland.
In 1968, Marcos developed a four-seater Mantis with a mid-engined BRM V8, specifically for racing, but the only car built failed to complete its only outing, at Spa, after rain mucked up its electrics.
The GT acquired a steel chassis in 1969 and a six-cylinder Volvo engine to meet US anti-pollution restrictions. A year later the Mantis name was revived for the 2+2 road car. But, after only a small number were sold, the company ran off the road in 1972.
The marque's future was given hope when a spares-and-service business was set up by Marsh and former employees. After re-acquiring name and moulds in 1976, they managed to get back to building the GT in 1981. In 1982 the Marcos 3-litre was relaunched as a "component car".
The Mantula appeared in 1984 as a coupé using the 3.5-litre Rover V8 power and later the 200bhp 3.9 V8.
The 1991 Mk V Mini Marcos was sold fully-built to Japan with a 1.3-litre Cooper engine. The same year saw another "home-build" model, the Martina, using Ford Cortina mechanicals.
In 1993, the new top-end Mantara was revealed. It used the latest version of the Rover V8. Another 1993 special based on the Mantura, the GT Le Mans, signalled a return to high-performance competition. Under the Team Marcos-Computacentre banner, LM500s and LM600s acquitted themselves well, culminating in seventh place in the 1995 Le Mans.
A new Mantis in 1997, powered by a 4.6-litre Ford Cobra V8, managed 0-60mph in four seconds. It also became the foundation for the Mantis Challenge one-make racing series launched in 1998.
A Rover V8-powered Mantaray, designed to be more user-friendly than the more aggressive Mantis, was rolled out in 1999. Only 18 were ever made. Marcos made one more "brute" car before its next runoff into receivership in 2001, the 4.6-litre 500bhp-plus Mantis GT. Just 10 were built.
Marcos Heritage subsequently bought the moulds and rights to the name and a new Marcos engineering company was later established in Wiltshire, the brand's original home, by "Silicon Valley" entrepreneur Tony Stelliga. He asked 73-year-old Marsh to produce new designs and the first car was released in 2002, the TS250. A TS500 was produced in 2003.
Last month, Marcos Engineering announced an alliance with racing engineering group ProDrive, under which it will produce the new TSO, which was shown at the recent Birmingham show.
BEST CAR: The Mini Marcos for bringing GT-style sports cars to mass accessibility.
WORST CAR: Perhaps the 2002 TS250, which many consider not up to Marcos tradition.
WEIRDEST CAR: Again the Mini Marcos, perhaps the ugliest sports car in the world until you got used to it.