(first posted 4/9/2022) CC has previously looked at the Hillman Imp (Sunbeam Imp) and the Hillman Hunter (Sunbeam Arrow) and examined their role in the decline and fall of the Rootes Group and Chrysler in the UK. But what of the other car in the range Chrysler were building in the UK in the early 1970s, the Hillman Avenger? Let’s follow the story from Coventry, to the US (where it was sold as the Plymouth Cricket), a Government funded derivative as its maker declined, and finally a South American adventure, of which little was known in the UK at the time. The Avenger story covers a total of six marque names, no less.
Back in 1966, Rootes had launched the Hillman Hunter as a conventional, unadventurous and reasonably stylish saloon and estate, aimed at a point in the market slightly above the Ford Cortina and close to the Vauxhall Victor and BMC Austin Cambridge and Morris Oxford saloons. It was a direct replacement for the earlier Super Minx, itself a little bigger than Rootes’ traditional volume car, the Hillman Minx, and although a low powered Hunter was offered as a Minx for a while, there was now a substantial gap in the range at a crucial sector of the market. Rootes, at this time becoming Chrysler UK, had no competitor for Britain’s best seller, the BMC ADO16 (Austin-Morris 1100, Austin America), the Ford Anglia or Vauxhall Viva.
The Avenger, known as the B car and development of which started in 1966, was to be the answer to this, and was all new when launched in the spring of 1970. The technical make up was fairly predictable, with an OHV four cylinder engine driving the rear wheels through a four speed gearbox, rack and pinion steering, MacPherson strut front suspension and perhaps the most interesting technical element, a four link coil rear suspension. Among its potential competitors, only the Vauxhall Viva had anything other than semi-elliptic leaf springs at this time, and Rootes were not known for their early adoption of technical innovations. This suspension and the new engine showed Chrysler’s investment was coming through.
From aronline.co.uk
A consequence of this rear suspension was the styling, and the indeed the packaging. Stylist Tim Fry, a leading light in the earlier Imp project, recalls that the rear suspension led to an unusually high rear seat. To achieve competitive rear headroom, the tail end of the roof had to be high, and the challenge then was to style the car so that it “didn’t look as if its backside was falling off”.
From the CC Cohort, from Bryce Chessum
Fry sketched the high roof, sweeping rear window and boot line, and capped it with the distinctive hockey stick taillights. Part fashionable, part necessity, but it worked and ensured a contemporary feel to the car, and a clear break from any previous Rootes style.
One other consequence of the suspension was that the wheelbase was 98 inches, just half an inch less than the Hunter, although the Avenger was 6 inches shorter overall, and interior space consequently not far adrift. Weight wise, it was under the older and dated Hunter, and the shell was stiff, although Chrysler later stated that a cutout for an after market pop-up sunroof was not possible.
Power came from a brand new, Rootes designed 1250cc and 1500cc four cylinder OHV engines, ranging from 53 to 63 bhp driving through a four speed manual or three speed Borg-Warner 35 automatic. Performance was perfectly credible against its obvious rivals – the Escort, Viva and Morris Marina – and its handling possibly the best of the bunch. None of these were great cars though – you didn’t come to the UK in the early 1970s for the compact mainstream cars any more than you did for the food.
Trim levels went from the DL, with rubber floor mats and a strip speedometer, through the Super to the GL, with a fuller range of four round instruments and brushed nylon upholstery, itself a first for Britain.
The dash was designed with a focus on ergonomics, with the lights and wipers being controlled by drum like units, in addition to the usual indicator/flasher stalk, and very 1970s steering wheel design. The GL had four round headlights compared with the single rectangular units on the lower cars, and the usual additional chrome and smarter wheel trims.
Assembly of the Avenger started at Ryton, Rootes’ main facility just outside Coventry, although the body pressings came from Linwood in Scotland. Engines and transmissions were built in the Stoke works, in the city of Coventry.
The estate came in spring 1972, with a style that lost some of the tidy, compact feel of the saloon.
Both the 1250 and 1500 engines were offered but not the GL trim level. The feature car is a 1973 1500 Super estate, so mid trim level but the smarter estate option.
This well cared for car appeared recently on UK eBay, with a reported 52,000 miles from new with one owner for 40 years.
The plugs on the door jambs are from the aftermarket Ziebart wax based rust proofing, which seems to have done its job.
A stripped out basic model, with rubber mats, no passenger sunvisor and fixed front passenger seat came at the same time. The blue saloon is an unregistered 1971 car which has recently been on www.cars-from-uk.com. Any Avenger is a sight now; the total remaining in the UK is probably less than 200, and I had an eBay search running for a year to catch this estate.
In spring 1973, the two door models appeared, including a 1500GT with a distinctive and attractive three quarter length vinyl roof (if a vinyl roof can ever be attractive) occasionally seen on the four door, the four lamp front and no more power.
More power came in the Tiger version (picking up on an old Rootes name), with around 90 bhp and up to 110 bhp if a competition cam were fitted.
Two series of Tigers were built, totalling around 700 cars, in 1972-3, and very few survive. A full sports saloon interior was part of the package.
The Avenger Tiger was Chrysler UK’s rally car of choice, and was used by the Chrysler dealer funded team, achieving some class success and regional rally success, normally in Chrysler blue and white colours. Alongside the Escort, though, it was an also ran. Most were sold in Sundance yellow with a matt black bonnet, which I remember being the subject of a physics lesson at school at the time.
In late 1973, the 1250 and 1500 engines went to 1300 and 1600, and there were some trim and equipment changes. Unlike almost every other Rootes and Chrysler product, home market cars were all Hillmans. The UK did not get Sunbeams, and no one got a Humber version.
From CC Cohort, from Bryce Chessum
The car was sold across Europe, often as the Sunbeam 1250 and 1500, then as the Sunbeam 1300 and 1600, though in pretty small numbers. Assembly was also completed in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, with some regional variations, and a pickup version was built in central America.
Chrysler’s big ambition, though, was to market the car in North America, as a competitor to the Ford Pinto, Chevrolet Vega and the sub-compact Japanese imports, under the Plymouth Cricket nameplate.
The Cricket (very English with a VW Beetle twist?) arrived in the US in November 1970, as a 1971 model. All US cars were 1500cc, with a four headlamp front, and front disc brakes, which were a model specific feature on the UK cars at the time. Marker lights, tombstone front seats and seat belt buzzers helped the cars meet Federal regulations.
Plymouth pushed the car for the properties that came from its light weight and compact nature, including the handling, ease of driving and interior space for the size of the car.
You only have to look at the emblem to understand how Chrysler wanted it to be perceived.
Sales wise, the car was a failure. In 1971, Plymouth sold 28,000 Crickets against 275,000 Vegas and 352,000 Pintos. Part of the problem may have been the lack of power compared with Ford and Chevrolet, accentuated by automatic transmission and air conditioning. The build quality and durability were worse than poor, with water leaks and (very) premature corrosion. Lucas were also involved……
Sales in 1972, even with more power from twin carburettors and a higher compression ratio, amounted to less than half of 1971’s and in 1973 the car was withdrawn. Plymouth in Canada continued to use the Cricket name, for the re-badged Mitsubishi/Dodge Colt.
Somewhat curiously, Chrysler also began selling the similar-sized Dodge Colt, a re-badged Mitsubishi Galant, the same year (1971). This created something of a show-down between the UK-built Cricket in Plymouth showrooms and the Japanese Colt at Dodge dealers. It won’t take much of a guess as to which one won out.
The Avenger now got caught up in the decline of Chrysler UK, as the company’s European adventure unwound in the face of the oil crisis, the issues in Detroit and the lack of integration and model failures (Hillman Imp, Chrysler 180) across its European operations.
In 1975, Chrysler presented the UK government with an ultimatum – bail out, nationalisation or closure. The Government backed a bail out for £162m (say $1billion now), linked to a revised model plan. The new Simca 1307/1308 (known in the UK as the Chrysler Alpine) would be produced at Ryton, displacing the Avenger to Linwood, the Hunter and Imp would be allowed to fade away and a new compact hatchback would be built in Linwood, based on the Avenger platform.
Distinctively styled by Roy Axe with a flat glass rear hatch and known as the Chrysler Sunbeam (an old Rootes brand being used as the model name), it was aimed directly at the Chevette and the first Ford Fiesta, which both preceded it.
It used a lot more Avenger than you might think, including the doors of the Avenger two door and the interior from the 1976 Avenger facelift, and offered a version with a derivative of the Hillman Imp engine.
The Avenger got its first and only serious facelift after the bailout.
Key features were a revised rear, losing the hockey stick lights, adding a new Chrysler Europe generic front and a new interior sharing much with the new 1307/1308/Alpine.
Badged now as a Chrysler Avenger, it went into battle with the new Vauxhall Cavalier, Escort Mk2 and Cortina Mk4 and the Morris Marina. It may have looked new, and had a very mid 1970s interior but the competition had moved on and the company’s issues didn’t help.
Looking back, you sense that the only reasons the Avenger and Hunter weren’t replaced directly by the Chrysler Alpine were the conservative nature of the UK company fleet market and the Government’s wish to keep Linwood working. The Alpine could have easily replaced the Hunter and the Avenger 1600, and the Chrysler Horizon could have replaced the Avenger 1300 in 1978, giving Chrysler UK a new and fully contemporary range, as Chrysler France had.
In 1978, Chrysler sold out of Europe, selling the entire operation to Peugeot SA. What was not said loudly at the time was that although Peugeot had bought Linwood, they hadn’t bought the rights to the intellectual property in the Avenger, which was retained by Chrysler. And there was a good reason for this.
In 1971, production of the Avenger started at Chrysler do Brazil as the Dodge 1500 – in effect an Avenger 1500 with a set of more conventional looking rear lights and automatic transmission. An 1800 was added shortly afterwards, with an 1798cc version of the Avenger’s engine, which was not used in Europe or North America.
Brazil also got a revised style for the two door, featuring a revised rear quarter and tail that resembled the European Ford Escort Mk2 quite closely, the revised front end Europe got in 1977, and adopted the Dodge Polara nameplate. Production ran to 1981, when Chrysler pulled out of Brazil.
In Argentina, the story is more intriguing, as the car continued to 1991, after Chrysler left Argentina. The four door and estate were available (Brazil only got the two door) in 1.5 litre and 1.8 litre forms, and a 1500GT with the 1.8 litre and twin Stromberg carburettors.
In 1980, Chrysler left Argentina, selling out to VW, who continued to build the car, initially as the Dodge 1500 by Volkswagen Argentina and then as the VW 1500 and VW 1800. There were changes during this period, with another new front and a revised interior, and ultimately a five speed gearbox, until production finally ceased in 1991. In total around 300,000 cars were built in South America and close to 700,000 in Britain.
In late 1979, the cars were badged as Talbot Avengers, as Peugeot adopted a new identity for all the Chrysler Europe operations, but few noticed really. UK production of the Avenger and Sunbeam ended in 1981 and Linwood was closed entirely, and the car was not specifically replaced. Arguably, its place in the Chrysler UK range had been taken three years earlier by the Horizon.
So, looking back at the Avenger and its adventures overseas, what conclusions could we draw? Perhaps the biggest one is that the car, whilst competent and competitive with its home market peers, really was not enough. Being better than a Viva or a Marina was not enough, either in Europe or Britain, and like them it failed in the North American market.
The Avenger came two years after the Simca 1100, from Rootes’ French cousins, and in 1975 and 1978 the Simca was developed into cars which both won the European Car of the Year (the Alpine and European Horizon, although this is an imprecise judge of a design’s enduring significance) and a car that may be saved Chrysler in the US. The Avenger faded away to a low profile exile in South America, forgotten by its maker and unwanted by the new owner of the business.
From the CC Cohort, from Bryce Chessum
I suggest you can trace Chrysler’s initial optimism and ambition for the UK venture and its worldwide potential in the car, and in its fade into obscurity Chrysler’s inability to follow this through. At the takeover of Rootes in 1967, the ambition for a UK based range of conventional, competent and stylish vehicles was there, and the investment was nominally available. Chrysler’s US issues, the oil crisis, the incomplete execution of the product and the evidently more fit for purpose French cars over-ruled this optimism, and being better than other inadequate cars was not enough, for the Avenger, Linwood or Chrysler UK.
Related Rootes reading:
Hillman Imp MkII Roger Carr
Hillman Imp Paul N.
Hillman Minx Roger Carr
Chrysler 180 Roger Carr
Reminds me of contemporary(to the ’70s) Japanese
imports.
Strange: Wikipedia reports the Hillman make as
defunct by 1931.
Back when these were new a friend’s father bought one thinking it was one of Chrysler’s Japanese imports. He found out very quickly it wasn’t. The car suffered from appalling build quality and poor reliability. I don’t think he even kept it a year.
If buyers did their due diligence regarding the car’s origin that would certainly explain the poor sales since British cars had a very poor reputation here at the time. (Although from a different company, the Cricket came into the U.S. on the heels of the Austin America with its factory-installed rust and exploding in-sump automatic transmission.)
Chrysler’s Mitsubishi-sourced imports were a whole lot better. They rusted, but at least were reliable until the bodies fell apart.
“Strange: Wikipedia reports the Hillman make as defunct by 1931.”
Wikipedia’s not always correct, but in this case I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt by saying that the entry you’re referring to is accurate, although a bit unclear. Scroll down a bit in the Wikipedia entry, and you’ll see that “Defunct: 1931” refers to Hillman Motor Car Company (as a separate entity). There’s another header immediately below it that refers to the Hillman marque as existing through 1976, under a succession of subsequent owners.
Wikipedia is rarely a credible source.
They’re actually quite spot-on with
regards to details about music artists
and record albums. Release dates
and track sequences and titles are
most often correct.
You missed a country. Persia, where it was known as the Paykan, and highly popular.
One thing that catches my eye in those pictures is the nice big footroom. Most cars of that size in the ’70s had cramped footspace, with nowhere to rest a foot except on the pedals.
The Paykan was the Hunter, not the Avenger.
Roger the Avenger wasn’t sold in Australia, Chrysler built the Mitsubishi Galant here instead, selling it as the Chrysler Galant. My mother had one later in the 1970s.
I have seen two Avengers, one GLS sedan with the vinyl roof that extends onto the boot lid the same as the green facelifted car pictured (although this was the pre-facelift model), and a two-door. I’ve seen more Sunbeam Lotuses here.
One thing I found interesting was that the Avenger had a brand new engine, but it didn’t replace the old Rootes engine that had been built in the same sizes and wasn’t related to the Simcas. Not offering the largest version in the US was a strange move too. I gather the 1.8 was used to justify racing the cars with the larger engine in the UK though.
That explains it! Iran is CRAWLING with Hillman Hunters. They were a huge seller there and could still be seen in big numbers until very recently – probably still.
Roger also added a country too many – Australia. We never got the Avenger here, despite being so close to NZ. At the time, Chrysler was selling Mitsubishi Galants here, and later Lancers as well, and they were in much the same market spot as the Avenger would have been. Given the Australian government’s high tariffs on imports in the sixties and early seventies, it would have made no sense for Chrysler to bring in the Avenger. The tight local content regulations for locally assembled cars precluded building another line of cars here, especially one so close in size to the Hunter – and the larger Hillmans weren’t exactly setting sales records either by then.
So…how much did the estate go for on eBay? 🙂
I’m not sure if it sold but the reserve was around £5000 IIRC
The Avenger did have a minor claim to innovatory fame as being the first UK car to have an all-plastic front grille rather than pressed metal or composite metal/plastic. In GL form with a metallic finish it was also rather attractive and thoroughly distinctive with those rear lights.
A former school friend’s Dad had a 1500 Super with a black vinyl interior which he had the use of; must have been sometime in the latter mid-1970s. Anyway, we went to the Lea Valley Leisure Centre (pretty recently opened then) and left it in the car park. Sunny day – we had to open the doors and wait about 5 minutes before we could get into it! You could have fried eggs on the seats. That problem wasn’t restricted to Avengers, of course!
Part of the problem with the Avenger in America (Plymouth Cricket) is that Chrysler never believed in the car in the slightest. I can remember the ads at the time: When you saw an ad for the Cricket, down at the bottom somewhere would be something to the effect of “built by Chrysler UK”.
Meanwhile, for the Dodge Colt, they were screaming “MADE IN JAPAN!!!!” at the top of their lungs.
Keep in mind that by the time the Cricket had appeared on these shores, Vauxhall had been gone for close to ten years, with a reputation of being the ultimate rust buck (worse than the Vega), the Austin America had already fallen on its pretty little face due to automatic transmission troubles (and it was being sold primarily as an AT car), and except for Jaguar, British saloons were pretty much a “you’ve got to be kidding” in America. Not that the Jaguars or their sports cars were much better, but at least there was a desirability of ownership in those cars, and a willingness to put up with what the Brits considered “normal quality”.
So I’ve always felt that, cute ads to the contrary, the Cricket was a quick decision stop gap; a way to hedge Chrysler’s bets alongside the Mitsubishi imports that Dodge was selling. Looking at the two above ads tells a lot if you read between the lines: The Crickets ads are chock-full of cutesy convincing why you should buy the cars. The Colt (I’m assuming that’s a dealer’s catalog, although the print ads weren’t much different) are plain, straight forward, and the fact that the car is a Japanese import sells itself. Of course, back in 1971, all Japanese cars were assumed to have Toyota quality and longevity.
The bottom line was that the Brits were putting out pretty pathetic saloons in the early 70’s. Across the line. Fords weren’t as bad, but they still weren’t up to international competition.
Just the same, I’d love to own a Cricket, for the giggle factor. As well as an Austin Marina.
Yet I see far more Avengers alive and on the road here than Mitsubishi Colts of that era, The Avenger with the 1800 South American motor and Andrew Cowan at the wheel beat the much vaunted Escorts in an international rally in NZ the only time that happened,
Having driven both the Avenger and Colt the Avenger was a better drive though the Colt was maybe better screwed together but the survival numbers dont bear that out.
Spoken as the world’s leading Rootes lover. 🙂
Survival numbers bear out my comments Paul Plenty of Avengers on the roads here very few of those Galants and both were popular in their day. Had Roger said he wanted shots of an Avenger estate I could have got him some There are a couple locally and I saw a minter at a show recently.
I drove an Aussie version of the Galant for a while untill the engine siezed they were regrilled with only two standard sized headlamps and called a Valiant Galant, not much of a car but then I didnt pay much for it $80 from memory no rego it was just a work bomb.
Didn’t a Hunter win the first London to Sydney rally – which I think was in 1968?
I only remember because Ford Australia entered three Falcon GT’s, I think they took 2nd, 3rd and another ranking. They made lots of noise about how it was the only team where all of their cars finished.
Yep thats the reason Rootes Australia introduced their GT model the winning car was driven by Andrew Cowan.
“I’d love to own a Cricket, for the giggle factor. As well as an Austin Marina.”
You clearly have a sense of humour!
The second and third lives for this car in the UK fleet market and in the third world show there was more here than meets the eye. The roominess and economy of operation must have made a pretty good package. Find myself stangely attracted to the hockey stick taillights and simple basic early dashboard wth the strip speedometer.
Importing the South American version with the 1.8 to better handle the automatic might have been a better Cricket, but Chrysler had to be a little worried about costing precious sales higher up the model line.
Back in the summer of 75 I chose Dads company car . an Avenger GLS in metallic Grasshopper Green .Great car leaner and better handling than the Cortina. Last year my son chose mine. Mini Cooper Countryman in metallic Blue with white roof…
I didnt know all the intricacies of ownership of these cars at the time (late 70′), but as a kid, helping my father find a new, or lightly used car, quickly decided to steeer clear of these. That included the simca brethren, or cousins whatever.
2-3 year old versions of these could be found on used car lots with huge rust holes in them, and with not much reduced price compared to a brand new car.
It was the ultimate lemon. They drove like poo, and the exhaust note crowned the impression that these cars were utterly subpar, atleast by late 70’s beginningen 80’s standard.
In the end the decision was made to eek out a little more of our old renault 16, and me and my father updated it somewhat, with the installation of an actual rear seat. Yes, it was delivered as a 2 seat “van” for tax purposes, but used as a family car with us kids rolling around in the bare metal shell in the back. Miser special.
In the end we got a brand new 1982 Fwd mazda 323 sedan, midgrade equipped, which was head and shoulders above any Talbot/Simca/Chrysler/Hillman or whatever they wanted to call it next.
Most cars in this class benefitted immensely from Fwd, as it made them alot more nimble and quick to drive. Im guessing lighter too.
The old Hunter was more stylish than the avenger imo.
Another great piece, Roger. Chrysler’s UK story is one that’s endlessly fascinating to me. I see a little bit of the mid-60’s Dodge Dart GT in the green, mid-70’s Hillman Avenger coupe’s basket-handle roofline.
I like the styling of the Avenger/Cricket. The talented Roy Axe was responsible for the design, and he did a good job incorporating some U.S. Mopar elements into the look.
Too bad the rest of the car didn’t live up to the look…
Axe was good at adding US influences to many designs, and Rootes were always taking style ideas from the US as well.
The rear of the car was done by Tin Fry though
I was thinking it was a small-car interpretation of the fuselage C bodies.
We had Minxes, Hunters and Imps, but never an Avenger. I’m sure I travelled in a few though, en route to scout camps, swimming lessons and all the rest. Another car that was ubiquitous and boring, and then suddenly (it seemed) vanished, which makes it strangely fascinating.
So Roger, tell us more about your Sundance yellow physics lesson. Something to do with heat conduction?
The question was why did the car have a matt black bonnet?
Our conclusions were to stop reflections in the driver’s line of sight and reduce heat haze. Didn’t consider fashion…..
I liked the design, but I haven’t seen a Cricket here almost since they were new.
All I can think of when I see an Avenger now is the notorious yard ornament from Keeping Up Appearances. I’m sure it was no accident it was chosen for this role.
The photo is from imdcb.org.
One of my great long-term hopes has been to find a genuine CC Cricket. But I’ve long given up. I can’t even remember the last time I saw one…they disappeared faster than just about any car ever. Even faster than the Yugo, Austin America, and certain Fiats. They literally seemed to have all turned into thin air after a few years.
People say that about lots of cars, that they can’t remember the last one they saw, but I agree 100% on the Cricket. It’s been decades.
I remember seeing an Avenger only once in the 29 years of my lifetime. Of all places in Belgrade, Serbia. It seemed in good shape, in not the kindest environment for old cars.
There’s some drab colours on the feature cars. a neighbour had a lovely turquoise 4 door. With less than 200 left it’s no wonder I’ve not seen one for 13 years. (A very neglected primered example in a warzone in Roehampton)
Oh! The beloved Avenger! In Argentina this car was really Chrysler´s biggest success. In 1970 the situation of Chrysler was really desperate: their only product was the Polara/Coronado line of full sized sedans and the GTX coupés which were gorgeous but tremendously expensive for the average working-man. The Avenger (re-christened Dodge 1500) came to be one of the typical family cars with its conservative mechanics, which resembled very mucho to those of the BMC products previously manufactured by SIAM Di Tella until ’67.
The main competitors were the Renault 12, the Peugeot 404, and since 1974 the Ford Taunus L and the Opel K180 (Kadett).
There were also some sport-oriented trims such as the GT90 or the GT100.
The Avenger was so succesful that when VW took over Chrysler’s operations in Argentina they continued producing them and even made a full restyle.
Curious data: the whole rear part of the station wagon was imported from Great Britain. Since the Malvinas War in 1982 and the end of formal diplomatic relationships, the spare parts of the 1500 Rural (Avenger State) had to be imported through third-part countries. This made reparations of this type vehicle really expensive.
Below, an ad that says “with german guarantee”
I rather like the look of the initial Avengers .
i remember the Plymouth Cricket , everyone who bought one hated it and said they broke down almost daily .
I’m vintage LBC lover but I have NO illusions about how badly British vehicles were assembled back then , more’s the pity as I think good basic designs in most cases .
-Nate
Ive a suspicion that Todd Motors screwed them together better here than Chrysler did in the UK, they werent an unreliable car here certainly they were no worse than other small car offerings we had and body wise they mostly outlasted the Japanese cars of the era they were particularly bad for rust related inspection failures.
I’m sure that anyone seeking to buy one new in America would’ve gotten the upsell pitch to a Valiant or Duster; one of the few times ever when caving in to the car salesman would turn out to be a good idea.
Like a lot of 70s Rootes & Chrysler history, the cars seem to be not quite good enough.
doesn’t stop me being a big fan of them though.
Both companies knew how to build good cars, what happened ? wasn’t there anyone in upper management who remembered from history that when good reliable cars are built, customers will come back for another one .
It seems Rootes inherited the nasty windshield & back window seals that went from chrome to brown and then black from Chrysler.
Anyway make mine a GT or Tiger coupe.
The black coupe from Brazil is very handsome from the back, sort of an AMC look to it.
I would put it down to Chrysler being pretty ruthless about cutting costs from Rootes operations, and a lot of staff jumped ship, in addition to the general industrial issues of the time.
These cars were no better no worse dynamically, equipment or styling wise than the typical Japanese competition. Had Mopar managed to sort out the quality control and add more power, they would have sold and have given the concern a toehold in the econobox sector – extremely useful in 1973…
A brown Plymouth Cricket replaced my mom’s ’60 Falcon (or maybe ’61 or ’62 depending on when I ask – will need to dig up old photos to verify this). Our biggest lemon ever. Lasted five years before heading for scrap.
It was at its best sitting in a showroom. There, it looked good, had comfortable bucket seats, huge bins on the front doors, a nice set of gauges, and a fat sporty steering wheel. It had much more room in the back seat and trunk than a Pinto, Vega, or Bug which were the main competitors. I remember my family also test driving a Fiat of some sort, maybe the only car even less reliable than a Cricket/Avenger. (Well, the Vega is wosre than anything). The auto trans was reluctant to shift – we had to climb a small hill leaving home, and it would often grind to a stop and even start rolling *backwards* down the hill before it shifted into 2nd and jolted us forward. The exhaust system was always failing. The gear indicator, physically attached to the gearshift lever, frequently broke and indicated the wrong gear; this was replaced about yearly. Crickets were rare sights even when they built them. Ours was replaced by….. a ’76 Chevette, which also served only five years before being driven into rubble.
Wonderful piece. I enjoyed every word and the clips.
I remember seeing these when they came here as Crickets. My father even looked at a used one not long after they arrived.
Had I been of buying age back then and interested in imports this one would have appealed. At least it does today with it’s pleasant shape, unique tail lights, a front compartment unencumbered by a useless console eating up space, dashboard that doesn’t look like some gauche boombox and the right size and fuel economy. Simple, efficient and small.
Even the details like the script spelling out the Avenger name are nice.
I saw a Cricket at a British Car Show at Woodley Park in Van Nuys CA about 7 or 8 years ago. Pristine condition. The owner had assembled all sorts of memorabilia for it over the years. I loved it and the idea that the owner had lavished so much care in keeping it running and maintaining it’s appearance.
There were lots of Jaguars there and other cars, but the Cricket is the only one I remember in any detail.
was it green with black stripes and hood/trunk?
What doomed Chrysler Europe was that their business model had simply been outdated. Chrysler wanted in on the European market after having seen the success of Ford and GM, failing to recognize their business models had been outdated as well. The European market was at the time specialized in small local markets, where local players was domestically very strong, but not regionally. Ford had local operations in France, Germany, and the UK: GM had Germany and the UK. Ford sold their French operations to Simca in the 50’s, but didn’t really bring together their European operations until the creation of Ford Europe in the mid 60’s with cars like the Ford Transit and Ford Escort. Same with GM and their Opel and Vauxhall branches, which didn’t really co-operate until the late 60’s. Chrysler Europe had operations in Spain, France, and the UK. And they were simply a day late and a dollar short for bringing it all together. When Ford and GM had consolidated their efforts, it was really too late for Chrysler.
My grandparents had one of these back in the 1970s….A Plymouth Cricket! I don’t think it was a very good car and they traded it for a Mercury Zephyr in ’77.
Their Cricket. No idea what year it was. It must have been considered a real oddity to their friends and neighbors….we’re talking redneck country here. I think they traded a late 60s Road Runner for it.
From a Roadrunner to a Cricket? Wow. That’s a complete 180!
You say 6 brands, but isn’t it 7?
UK – Hillman, Chrysler, Talbot
Europe – Sunbeam
North America – Plymouth, Dodge
South America – VW
And has the orange Tiger got after market seats?
Yes, the Restall seats bespoke to the first Tigers (based on the Super mid-range model), didn’t last long and weren’t comfy either!
Most were binned and replaced.
The fact that the later Tigers (based on GL model) didn’t have the same seats reflected the feedback.
The Plymouth Cricket was a car I had no clue of the existence of until a couple years ago. It does seem to have vanished into thin air…
British cars of the 60s and 70s did that, literally. Some started to dissolve in the showroom
Great article – Chrysler owning the intellectual rights to the Avenger after the Peugeot-PSA takeover would certainly explain Todd Motors in New Zealand retaining the Chrysler branding on the Avenger in 1980, while the Alpine gained Talbot branding.
Since the article was published, values of Avengers have really climbed and are now +/- 75% of the ford equivalents.
They are a lot harder to keep going though, as spares availability is just not on a par with dagenham’s finest.
Most of the die-hard faithful Avenger/Sunbeam owners know their cars well and know how to keep them going…with Avengers, there were some issues that, if they weren’t addressed in early ownership, would kill the car quickly. Knowing the issues and prevention was key to reliability and MOT passes through the years.
As the UK’s smallest mass manufacturer, the information just wasn’t shared fast enough and Chrysler failed by not understanding that their customers, workers and dealers did not share the American work-culture of the times.
My Dad was a Linwood worker and even though he knew fine the cars were not built well, only went through 2 Avenger estates when I was growing up…the 2nd was sold as a daily commuter car in the early 90’s. Not bad for a 1976 model!
Here’s a 1973 Bud Lindemann video road test of a Plymouth Cricket GT with twin carburetors.
The Avenger suspension was designed by Jack Channer, who had previously been a chassis engineer at Bristol—pretty good pedigree.
Road & Track had a road test of the Mitsubishi/Dodge Colt and the Plymouth Cricket. Their take was that the Colt made a better first impression, but the Cricket had better handling and braking: “British understatement or something, but the Cricket’s best points are revealed under duress.”
They concluded that “… if the buyer can get past the barren interior and strange controls, Chrysler may have the right car for once.”
Having driven a lot of these entry level British cars when they were near new Escorts,Vivas, Cortinnys and the like the Avenger was the better handling car and ridiculous as it may seem survivors are not uncommon in NZ I do know of several surviving estates and numerous sedans including Alpine models with quad headlamps twin carb 1600 engines.
The Plymouth Cricket must have been on Evel Knievel’s handlers shortlist when considering vehicles for his 17 car jumps.
Thought the Plymouth Cricket was a cute little sedan. Too bad it was such a steaming pile, sort of like Chrysler’s British 4-door Vega. Fortunately, unlike the Vega, the Cricket never sold all that well and importation was mercifully ceased after only three years.
The interesting thing about the Argentine version “adopted” by VW is that it’s the only front-engine/rear-drive car ever made under the Volkswagen name.
Not quite. The Amarok ute (about Ford Ranger-sized) and the LT vans were FR, and the Crafter van can still be had in that form.
As a trivial aside, the newest Amarok will be based on the Ford Ranger, the VW original having been something of a commercial flop. And as a further trivia, the Amarok (rear or 4WD) has a name in Oz for being a steaming pile, so maybe it’s best VW stays out of RWD.
There was another front-engine/rear-drive vehicule then VW once offered in Europe, the Taro, who was a rebadged Toyota Hilux in the early 1990s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Taro
There was a also a heavier version of the LT made in collaboration with MAN and badged VW MAN. The pictured Danish Army vehicle clearly shows the dual badging. These were more commonly 4×2 with a lower ride height. The cab also formed the basis for the Peterbilt 200 Mid Ranger whish was made by VW Brazil and IIRC sold in Brazil as a VW.
Now then you mention it, the first-gen VW Crafter was a rebadged Mercedes Sprinter but now it’s done with MAN as the MAN TGE.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Crafter