You only have to look at the cab of the Leyland Marathon, launched in August 1973, to see that it was designed on a tight budget – what you might call a `knife and fork’ job based on the ageing `Ergomatic’ which was originally launched in 1964. The upper front section was from the Mk III Buffalo, while the lower front panels had something of the Bathgate `G’ cab about them. Despite such first impressions, the vehicles embodied many up-to-the minute engineering features and most operators had good service from them.
The Marathon was British Leyland’s response to growing European competition in the early 1970s. British
