Editing Morris Ital (section)

==Design and launch==
[[File:1984 Morris Ital SLX 1.7 Rear.jpg|thumb|1984 Morris Ital SLX rear]]
The Ital was given the design code ADO73 F/L (as it was considered a facelift of the Series 2 ADO73 Marina launched in 1976) and was first launched on 1 July 1980. It took its name from [[Giorgetto Giugiaro]]'s [[Italdesign]] studio, which had been employed by BL to manage the re-engineering of the [[Morris Marina]], produced by the company since 1971. Although BL's advertising emphasised the car's connection with the Italian design house, Italdesign did not have a direct role in the styling of the new car, which had been handled in-house by [[Harris Mann]]. With a very limited budget to work with, Mann managed to give the car a more contemporary look through new door handles, prodigious use of plastic mouldings at the front, and very few sheet metal changes (all of the Ital's front body panels are interchangeable with those of the Marina). Saloons gained a restyled boot lid and much larger rear tail lights. The estates were almost unchanged at the rear compared to their Marina predecessors.

Italdesign had been involved in a consultancy role, to help design new tooling and assembly methods, and work out how to integrate the altered parts of the new car into the existing Marina production chain. As such, despite bearing the studio's name the Ital is absent from lists of styling jobs handled by the firm. 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 British Leyland CEO, [[Michael Edwardes]], and only the Ital name was used.<ref>[http://aronline.co.uk/ado28storyf.htm ''Marina/Ital Development Story'', AROnline] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120035124/http://www.aronline.co.uk/ado28storyf.htm |date=20 November 2008 }}</ref>

[[File:Morris Ital Estate 1980 Adams Road.jpg|thumb|left|A Morris Ital Estate seen in Cambridge in 1981.]]
[[File:Ital van (3341730366).jpg|left|thumb|1983 Morris Ital Van ]]
The Ital had revised exterior styling, but retained the Marina's 1.3- and 1.7-litre [[petrol engine]]s and [[rear-wheel drive]] [[chassis]]. The [[dashboard]] and interior of the Marina were also carried over largely unaltered, including the main fascia panel, which faced 'away' from the driver. The Marina's [[coupé]] variant was not produced in Ital form, but the four door [[sedan (car)|saloon]], the five-door [[station wagon|estate]], and the [[pickup truck|pickup]] 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 [[BL O-Series engine|O-Series]] power unit, as the range topping 2.0 HLS. With a very short production run, only about 1,000 models were sold and it remains the rarest Ital model. In November 1981, all HL and HLS models were fitted with upgraded interior trim.

In 1982 the Ital production line was moved from [[Plant Oxford|Cowley]] to [[Longbridge plant|Longbridge]]; this was to allow the former to be refitted for the upcoming start of production of the [[Austin Maestro]], and the Ital's ultimate replacement – the [[Austin Montego]].  Finally, in September of that year, 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 [[Leaf spring|parabolic rear springs]] were also fitted, together with additional soundproofing and improved trim. 

Thus cropped, the range then 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. 

During the 1970s British Leyland had been working on the development of an all-new car to replace the Morris Marina and the Ital was only ever intended as a stop gap replacement between the demise of the Marina and the launch of its replacement in the form of the Austin Montego, which did not happen until April 1984.