MOST Filipinos are surprised when they hear there's a legendary British sports car marque called Marcos. No, it's nothing to do with BBM — the name is a combination of the first three letters of founders Jem Marsh and Frank Costin.

They founded the company in 1959 in Luton, north of London. Their first cars drew on Costin's aviation experience and were remarkable in their use of wood laminates for the monocoque body/chassis unit. Lightweight and good streamlining gave outstanding performance from the relatively modest 1 liter and 1.5 liter Ford engines they used.