50 years of Morris Marina door handles

Inspired by the AMC AMX of 1968, the door handles of the Morris Marina were one of its defining features. Widely regarded as a design classic, the handles went on to open doors on everything from two-seater sports cars to luxury 4x4s. Often copied, never bettered. Or something.

The Morris Marina door handles could have been designed for the Triumph TR7. They just look at home on the wedge. Although fashionable at the time, the flush-fitting door handles also had safety benefits, helping the TR7 to meet strict US federal legislation.

Clearly impressed by what they saw, the team at Ginetta fitted Morris Marina door handles to the G15 as part of a 1972 overhaul. The handles were also used on the larger G21. Other British sports cars to use the handles include the Dutton Leggera, GTM Coupé and Stevens Cipher.

First seen on the Elite Type 75 of 1974, Lotus also used Morris Marina door handles on the Éclat of 1975. Despite appearances, the door handles on the later Lotus Excel were raided from the Toyota Celica A60 parts bin, albeit inverted and used on the opposite sides of the car.

Take a look at the original Range Rover five-door prototype of 1972 and you'll notice a set of Morris Marina door handles. It would be another nine years before we'd see a production version of the more-door Range Rover, by which time the Marina had been dead a year.

Perhaps the least surprising car on our list, the Austin Allegro sported a set of Marina handles. This meant the door handles made it to Milan, where they adorned the Italian market Innocenti Regent. Fiat and Alfa Romeo produced their own tributes to the famous door handles.

Princess Anne owned one of... oh, never mind. Nice door handles; even better two-tone paint job.

The Land Rover Discovery took Morris Marina door handles into the 1990s and closer to the new millennium than any other vehicle. When the Disco 1 made way for the Disco 2 in 1998, it signalled the end for the famous door handles. Gone, but not forgotten.

The Lotus Esprit: proof that Morris Marina door handles work underwater. Well, that's if the James Bond film is anything to go by. We're not sure what Roger Moore thought of the Marina, but we suspect he would have raised an eyebrow in its honour.

A development of the old Trident Clipper, the Venturer was one of the last hurrahs for the Suffolk company. The big news was the fitment of Morris Marina door handles. This alone made the Venturer with a Ford Essex V6 engine Trident's most popular model. Image courtesy of the Trident Club.