Morris Ital
| Morris Ital | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | British Leyland (Austin Rover division) |
| Also called | Huandu CAC6430 |
| Production | 1980–84 (1998–99 in China) |
| Assembly |
Cowley 1980–82 Longbridge 1982–84 Setúbal, Portugal |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Mid-size car |
| Body style | 4-door saloon 5-door estate 2-door pick-up 2-door van |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 1,275 cc A-series OHV I4 1,695 cc O-series I4 1,994 cc O-series I4 1,489 cc B-series diesel I4 (Portugal) |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | Morris Marina |
| Successor | Austin Montego |
The Morris Ital is a medium-sized saloon car that was built by British Leyland (BL) from 1980 until 1984.
The Ital was first launched on 1 July 1980. It took its name from Giorgetto Giugiaro's ItalDesign studio, who had been employed by BL to manage the re-engineering of the Morris Marina, a car which had been produced by the company since 1971. Although the redesigned car was named Ital after the design studio, it was actually Harris Mann who was responsible for the car's new look. BL's advertising, however, emphasised the car's connection with the Italian styling house Italdesign, who had in fact merely produced the design. It was originally planned to brand the car as the Morris Marina Ital, but for most markets the Marina name was dropped on the orders of Michael Edwardes and only the Ital name was used.
The Ital had revised exterior styling, but retained the Marina's 1.3- and 1.7-litre petrol engines and rear-wheel drive chassis. The dashboard and interior of the Marina were also carried over largely unaltered. The Marina's coupé variant was not produced in Ital form, but the four-door saloon, five-door estate and pick-up and van versions were carried over from the Marina range. From October 1980 an automatic version of the Ital was available with the 2.0-litre O-Series power unit, as the range-topping 2.0HLS. Only about 1,000 2.0HLS models were sold so due to this and their short production run, the 2.0HLS is now the rarest Ital model. In November 1981 all HL and HLS models were fitted with upgraded interior trim.
Finally, in September 1982, a revised Ital range was introduced. The L and 2.0 litre models were dropped and the HL and HLS were replaced by the SL and SLX models. Front suspension was changed to telescopic front dampers across the range and parabolic rear springs were also fitted, together with additional soundproofing and improved trim. Thus cropped, the range now consisted of the 1.3 SL and SLX saloon, 1.3 SL estate, 1.7 SLX saloon, and the 1.7 SL saloon and estate. The saloon models were dropped in February 1984, with the estate models remaining in production until the summer of that year.
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