Autocars Marcos ‘W90’ / ‘W95’

In 1965, Autocars, an assembly plant in Haifa, Israel, secured a contract with Standard-Triumph. However, when BMC acquired British Leyland and took over Standard-Triumph in 1968, co-founder Yitzhak Shubinski decided to look for other opportunities.

Shubinski wanted to add a more popular car to his portfolio, as most of the Standard-Triumphs were too high-end for the local market. He wanted to assemble or manufacture the Mini in Israel. British Leyland was considering assembling fiberglass Minis overseas, and Shubinski saw an opportunity.

Unfortunately, political tensions arose, and in 1969 Marcos Cars was proposed as a solution. Marcos boss Jem Marsh signed a contract agreeing that the car would not use the Mini name or copy its appearance. The car would have a monocoque body, use Mini’s mechanics and weigh a maximum of 700 kg.

Marcos Cars, based in England, began work on four prototypes with estate bodies. The vehicles were informally referred to as Marcos “W90s”, with the “W” standing for “Wogwagon”. The prototypes were taken to MIRA’s proving ground in Nuneaton for testing as required by the Israeli government, with whom Autocars had signed a contract.

Two cars were shipped to Israel, and Autocars was given a budget of 300,000 Israeli pounds (about $1.2 million) for development. Problems arose, however, when the Israeli tax system changed, making the 998-engined Minis very expensive.

Despite this setback, Autocars asked Marcos to build two more prototypes in June 1970, called W95, with fastback bodies. One was shipped to Israel, but by the time it arrived, Autocars’ contract with the government had been canceled.

This, along with conflicts within the management, led to the downfall of Autocars, and the company went into receivership in October 1971. One of the estates was used for years by Jem Marsh’s wife before ending up in Japan, making it probably the only remaining Israeli Mini Marcos.

More pictures of Autocars Marcos you can find in Maximum Mini: The Definitive Book of Cars Based on the Original Mini.