Be fair to the Marina!
It was originally intended as a stop-gap Cortina clone to allow BL to develop a 'proper' fleet car. The market researchers had found that while private motorists would buy a car in the Mini/1100/13300/Maxi/1800/2200 range with a transverse engine and FWD, fleet buyers wanted to purchase a conventional car with front engine and rear wheel drive: Ford Anglia/Escort/Cortina/Granada. Vauxhall Viva/Cavalier etc. So BL produced the Marina as a short design life car to give them time to change their policy. But they lost the plot and kept the Marina/Ital on long past its sell-by date.