Auction sites have many cars we rarely see elsewhere, be it on the road, at car shows and classic meets or in museums. Looking through them is a Curbivore’s take on going onto a new car configurator, and video sites are useful sources of contemporary advertisements. And with the lockdowns, we’re having to do this a little more than usual.
Regular CC followers will be aware that I am Rootes fan, and I’ve been Rootes hunting. I’ve taken CC down the Rootes memory lane, and to several of the cars, before, so this piece is going to be a little different.
The Rootes Group, the Hillman, Humber, Sunbeam and Singer combine was brought together by the brothers Lord William (Billy) and Sir Reginald (Reggie) Rootes in the 1930s and run by them until they had to sell out to Chrysler in the 1960s. In that time, the company became one of UK’s Big Six (Morris, Austin, Standard, GM Vauxhall, Ford and Rootes) and lasted to be one of the four surviving groups in the UK industry (BLMC, GM Vauxhall, Ford and Rootes) by the early 1960s.
The reason I am a Rootes fan is that my Dad had Rootes and then Chrysler UK cars from 1964 to 1986, so for many years I assumed they were better than other cars he could have chosen. That’s how it works isn’t it? Dad chooses the best.
In 1967 Chrysler took full control of Rootes and in 1970 took control of Simca in France as well, having progressively purchased stock from Ford and Fiat. The companies were then slowly but surely blended together, with the French products clearly taking long term precedence.
In the UK, the Rootes dealers, having had the Pentastar logo over the door and on the cars since 1967, became Chrysler Europe dealers, selling in addition to the Chrysler UK vehicles a full range of Simca products. The change on the continent of Europe was much less marked – Rootes had always been a small player in Europe and there was no emerging demand for such conservative products.
This advertisement comes from 1972 or 1973, based on the products covered. But let’s take a run through it, and blend it with Dad’s experience with the Chrysler Man, also known as Ken, and some cars I’ve found whilst browsing the classifieds, lockdown style.
Ken was the salesman, service manager and general chap in charge at Prospect Motors in Morley, in Yorkshire, and was, as far as Dad was concerned, the “go to” guy for a car. The garage had a showroom, holding 3 or 4 cars and a display of used cars, some of which were allowed to graduate to the showroom if Ken thought they were good enough.
The first car to come from Ken was a 1965 Hillman Imp, purchased in, I think, 1970. This was to be Mum’s car, although I suspect all the paperwork was probably in Dad’s name. It was a basic, nothing extra Imp, in a very pale sky blue, and destined for all the usual second car stuff of shopping, kids to school and so on.
This car came from the line of used, or second hand as we used to say, cars that Ken kept at the front of the garage. I remember Dad asking his brother in law, a design draughtsman at Vauxhall-Bedford, to look at it with him.
This car was one of the Mark II Imps introduced in September 1965. That meant a cable, not automatic, choke and cable, not pneumatic, throttle, and precautions to improve the cooling – a better water pump, cylinder head gasket and bigger radiator, and a fan with more blades. You could describe this as the finished Imp if you wish, given the pressure Rootes’s engineers were under to get a car to market in May 1963.
So, the car was pressed into school run service, and on the second day a driveshaft failed, stranding the car on a roundabout. The local doctor pushed us to the side of the road, and Ken got it repaired. The car remained with us for about 3 years, before it was replaced by something similar but different, from Ken. And that replacement? A 1968 Imp van, with an aftermarket folding back seat. As I said, Ken was the “go to” guy.
The Imp in the advertisement is therefore a later model, though still identified by Chrysler as a Hillman Imp Mark II. In 1968, the car received a new interior with a contemporary if less innovative interior, losing column stalks for minor functions and gaining a full width fascia instead. Better seats added to the ambience, but sales remained very low, especially compared with its primary local competitor, the Mini. In 1970, BLMC built 300,000 Minis, Chrysler built around 20,000 Imps.
The car I found for sale is a bit of a find, a trend that will come clear as we go through exercise. It’s a 1975 Imp Caledonian, a special edition version of the Imp Deluxe with many added features. These extras included wheel trims, door mirrors, over riders, a radio and reversing lights. Add these to the Cherry Red and tartan seat patterns (this car was built in Scotland, remember) and you have quite a striking package for £1275, say £11,000 now. Effectively, the Caledonian was a run out special – Imp production ceased in 1976.
The first new car from Ken was a 1971 Hillman Hunter Super, sold in the North America as the Sunbeam Arrow.
The Hunter would be Dad’s third Hillman family saloon, preceded by a 1964 Minx and then a 1966 Super Minx, which was bought elsewhere but maintained by Ken after the selling dealer had proved inept. Dad was to prove to be a Rootes loyalist.
The requirement for the Hunter to fulfil was to be the archetypal family car, capable of carrying a family of five around for the usual family duties. It was a Ford Cortina, not an Alfa Romeo Giulia, competitor, and served in that role perfectly well. It was not a modern car, even when new, but then most of the local competition weren’t either.
It had a 1725cc OHV four cylinder engine, which on some models went to the extravagance of a light alloy head, a four speed gearbox, with an optional overdrive, a leaf spring rear axle, leatherette (or, more accurately vinyl) seat trim and, as it was a Super, a plastic wood dashboard and a centre console.
Hunters are thin on the ground now, with perhaps only 100 or so on the road of the UK. The best I have found was this 1971 Hunter DL, or Deluxe, the entry level Hunter. Mechanically, it matched the Super, but had a less luxurious interior and matt black not silver finish grille. This example came up for sale in 2018 at an auction.
This car is a 1.5 litre version, with a 1496cc version of the same engine, with 54bhp instead of 61bhp, and the more basic interior. Earlier versions of this, from 1967 to 69 were sold as the Hillman Minx, with an even more sparse interior, before the cars were all blended into the Hunter range, along with the modestly upscale Singer Vogue.
Dad’s Super did have bumpers, although the front wing badge was present only on the near side for whatever reason. We chose, collectively, Aztec Gold metallic paint, the only extra on the car, and it felt, in November 1971 a significantly more modern experience than the Superminx.
The car in the TV advertisement is a 1972 on Hunter GLS, fitted with the four headlamp grille used on the luxury Humber Sceptre and Sunbeam Rapier coupe versions, as well as the 93 bhp engine from the Rapier H120. The Hunter got a new dash in early 1972, also seen in the advert’s GLS, complete with a plastic blanking plate where you could put a radio.
The Hunter lasted on to 1979, after the Peugeot takeover of Chrysler Europe, by which time it had been rather garishly facelifted again and was sold under the Chrysler Hunter nameplate, and adopted some quite desperate seat trim.
The Hunter went to have a long life in Iran, as the Paykan (Persian for Arrow) and garnered a strong and loyal following there, with production finally ending only in 2015.
By the end of the summer holidays in 1975, the Hunter was feeling a bit cramped in the back for three growing teenagers. The rust on the sills was getting worse. What would come next? Another Hunter was discounted by the size, so something a little larger was probably needed. Also, something without plastic seat trim would be nice. Fabric and velour covered seats had been seen in Yorkshire, and they were tempting.
Several other cars were assessed, albeit quite gently. I remember a conversation with Ken around a used Vauxhall Victor FD he had in stock – the bench seat appealed but the column shift and the Vauxhall rust reputation didn’t. A Ford salesman was contacted about a Cortina Mk 3. A trip was made to look at the then new Morris (or was it the Austin?) 1800 (the Princess) but the showroom impression was not good. For whatever reason, probably an instruction to actually finish homework, I wasn’t there but Dad would have been unmoved by the styling and was unimpressed by visible corrosion on a showroom car.
Ken was called. He was now a Chrysler Europe dealer, so could offer a wider range.
There was the Simca 1100 seen in the advertisement, clearly added to tempt back buyers lured away by the new generation of front wheel drive European cars, like the Citroen GS, Alfasud and Fiat 128, and even the Austin Allegro. Some aspects of the Simca would have appealed widely in the UK, such as the practical hatchback and spacious interior; others less so, including the slightly gawky styling, heavy steering and tappet rattling engines.
The car I found is in France, where the Simca 1100 was a best seller for many years. It’s a 1974 Simca 1100ti, the sporty derivative with a 1300cc engine and 82 bhp. This example has 135,000km on the clock and dates back to 1974, and has had some gentle modding over the years, with the wheels and steering wheel being the most obvious examples of this. Ken sold these, but although I can remember collecting brochures, I can’t remember ever seeing one in his showroom.
The Simca 1100 was sold as a counterpoint to the more conservative Hillman Avenger saloon.
The Avenger was the last Rootes car, in effect, albeit launched in 1970 after the Chrysler takeover, and promptly became company’s best seller in the home market.
It was sold across the world under various badges, including as the Sunbeam Avenger, Sunbeam 1300/1600, as the Plymouth Cricket in North America, and as the Dodge Polara and VW 1500/1800 in South America. It was a cautious, conventional rear drive saloon, and later an estate, with a four cylinder engines, four speed gearboxes and (in reality) four seats.
Dad had them as loan cars from Ken from time to time, and I think he quite liked them. Space was not that different from the Hunter, except in width, and the style and driving experience were more modern, with a decent rear suspension and more modern engines.
The car we see here is a 1975 Avenger 1300 Super, so smaller engine and mid level trim, with a recorded and evidence supported mileage of just 10,000. If you like Avengers, then you’ll be tempted.
Against a Morris Marina or a Vauxhall Viva, it was more than a valid and credible competitor. Ken always had a choice in the showroom and the forecourt.
Whilst I don’t remember seeing a Simca 1100 at Ken’s, I do remember seeing a Simca 1501 in his showroom, like the white car visible in the shot above. Dad was interested but not convinced.
The obvious thing, Ken suggested, was to get a Chrysler 180, not new but a Chrysler management car at less than a year old. Might be a little wait, said Ken, but much better value. Several weeks later, Ken called and offered Dad a 1975 Chrysler 2 Litre in what might be called sand. Or perhaps hearing aid beige, with a black vinyl roof. As a bonus for the beige, the interior was red – the woven woolly fabric covered seats, door cards, seat backs….. And I mean bright red, not a subtle maroon or burgundy.
The car addressed the space issue, with a considerably larger interior and much better seats. It brought others – the lack of power steering made it a struggle to park and in town, to the extent that Mum actively disliked driving it, the automatic gearbox required new habits that were not quick to acquire, and I suspect the fuel consumption was comparatively poor as well. The rear disc brakes, typically for the model, gave issues as well, with pads overheating due to not releasing fully. Still, on the open road, a comfy car with space and big boot, and in passenger experience a step up from the Hunter.
The car I found is in France, the initial home of the 180 and 2 Litre. A 1973 car, with just 22000Km on the clock and looking to being in excellent condition, and a registration plate that shows the international reach of Curbside Classic. The 2 Litre was Chrysler Europe’s flagship in the early 1970s, aimed at the Ford Granada, Opel Rekord, Citroen CX, Peugeot 505 and Fiat 132. All the luxuries Chrysler had then, and it looked a mini-Brougham inside and out. All the luxuries Chrysler had then, but not electric windows, central locking or intermittent wipers. Or power steering.
It’s long time since I’ve seen a 2 Litre, in any condition, but like this….it all comes back. The first car I moved under my sole control.
But in 1978, Ken’s branding started to change again. Peugeot had bought Chrysler Europe. By 1979, Dad was car shopping again and Ken was now preparing to be a Peugeot-Talbot dealer. So, what happened?
Stay tuned.
I still say the British had a knack for naming cars which has never been replicated. Despite the cars being awful even by the standards of the day, I’d be sorely tempted to buy one just by the names. Hillman Imp has it all over Gremlin, Sunbeam Rapier, Tiger, and Arrow? Who wouldn’t want to drive a Sunbeam Tiger? Even the Cortina has a nice ring to it. I’d much rather drive a Chevrolet Minx than Spark.
Interesting observation about the naming. While I agree about the names, they usually weren’t very accurate. There was little that was minx-like about a Minx. Imp and Tiger were better fits. And speaking of fit, that crooked radio blanking plate in the interior shot of the Hunter GLS jumped out at me. Ouch!
The Minx may have been minx-like back in the thirties, when they first used the name.
My personal favorite has to be the Humber Snipe/Super Snipe. Being a car nut, I was aware they existed.
A somewhat common trope in rural areas of the US is for country folk to offer to take city slickers snipe hunting, just to show that city folk didn’t know everything.
Upon moving to the country in my late 20s, a stereotypical rural fellow tried to set me up for that gag. But because I was aware of the Humber, I asked why we would go hunting for a British bird that didn’t exist in the US.
It would have been cool to have had “a Ken”. Unfortunately, my mother kept cars long enough that she never had a long-term relationship with a salesman. The closest we came was Shorty Weber at Collins Oldsmobile in Fort Wayne. Shorty was one of those old-school salesmen who kept sending birthday and Christmas cards and Mom went back to him once on a rare 2 year trade when she was desperately in need of 4 doors. But he couldn’t get the 4 door Cutlass Supreme she wanted, so it was off to a new salesman at another dealer.
I suspect this post didn’t quite feature the Chrysler’s you were expecting 🙂
Study question from the 10th paragraph: Can one say “second-hand” for “used” cars if the ones you buy are usually at least third-hand? Asking for a friend, yes, that’s it, a friend.
Perhaps at that point they become “gently pre-owned” in industry parlance 🙂
My friend will start using that term.
What a great trip down Memory Lane with a few turns and twists! Ken sounds like quite the man, I thought we had perhaps found one (ours was Bruce) whom we bought a Honda Minivan from and checked out multiple cars with for a few years but then when it came time to buy our Highlander Bruce was less than helpful for some reason so we took that elsewhere and haven’t returned.
I’ve come to like the Simca 1100 late in life, as a boy living somewhat near the French border they were seemingly everywhere and I too viewed them as a bit odd(off)-looking. But now? They are very interesting to me and I know there is still a metallic blue Majorette one in my old box’o’cars that the kids used to play with at Grandma’s house.
This and the BL ad post were really great, something good to come out of the lockdown era. Looking forward to seeing more, but still not willing to place a fiver on the odds of your Dad ending up with a Talbot Tagora.
Well……..🤔 I know how this ends! You might be surprised!
Of course the Hillman Hunter had its’ “15 seconds of fame” when it won the 1968 London Sydney Marathon ( surprising everyone – even Rootes Group !).
The Hillman Avenger shocked the entire rallying world when Andrew Cowan who drove the marathon winning Hunter thrashed the all conquering Ford Escorts in New Zeraland true it had the long nose diff head from South Africa the winning Hunter also sported no other market got but still the fame did get a double 15 mins.
It had 15 STOLEN seconds! that race was won by a Citroen DS, which crashed by sabotage just a few hours from the end, don’t you know?
The co-driver of the big Cit still actually believes that, apparently. Only problem is, the guy in the civilian Cooper S coming the other way finally gave an interview in 2016, and pointed out exactly how and why that could not possibly be true.
So yes, the Hunter got the 15 seconds it was due. The rest, well, that’s racing.
Paul had a post a while back about car design influenced by the Corvair, and that Imp surely is a 3/4-scale Corvair if I’ve ever seen one!
I don’t think I knew they had an opening rear window. Seems almost superfluous just to get at the rear parcel shelf, especially in a country known for rain. It’s just begging to leak.
I always thought it was cool (in an abstract kind of way) that they had a rear-engined hatchback.
Like you Roger, my dad was mainly a Rootes car driver. Humber Hawk, several Minxes, a very early Hunter automatic and two Avengers. He even said he had a 1930s Hillman of some sort but this this was before my time. All his cars were bought second hand – just like my first car, a Hillman Avenger.
My dad did not keep his cars too long though. Rootes were his dependable choice.
By 1979 there was something newer on the Horizon. (Though my guess is a Solara).
There are definitely compact Dodge Dart overtones to the greenhouse of the Hunter/
Arrow, although being later it has slightly curved windows.
Where and by who European cars made by American based companies were designed is interesting. Some done in the US, some done in Europe involving some designers from the home office, maybe some done by Europeans who were looking at US designs. One way or another a lot of Ford, GM, and then Chrysler European cars looked like shrunken versions of their American company’s cars, or included various styling cues first seen on American cars.
And then some cars like the Volvo 544 (pre-shoebox Ford) or late 50’s Humber Super Snipe Series II (1955 Chevy) are basically shrunken American designs by different companies.
Of course today designers in any design studio anywhere are pretty international, and also for example super American identified cars like Jeep Renegades are then made in Italy on an Italian platform, so it’s a different world.
Chrysler blending with Rootes began a lot earlier in NZ, Todd motors assembled both Rootes and Chrysler products going back before WW2 but each brand name had its own dealer network, which is why the Minx was rebadged as a small Humber here too,
After a Ford,Triumph 2 Vauxhalls and a Bedford van all died from various maladies I went the Rootes route with a 1961 3B Humber 80,( Hillman Minx for those non NZ readers) it proved very reliable solidly made and endlessly thrashable on gravel roads for far longer than anything else plus in this country the Humber 80 did have a motorsport pedigree they had good handling for the times and a very tuneable engine,
Hunters are still moderately common for old cars here there are far more survivors than you’d expect and lots of them in beater condition still on the roads,
Avengers sold well here but are slightly scarcer mostly due to the unique engines nothing else from the Rootes range is the same and parts can be hard to get,
I owned an Australian Centura which is the 180/200 fited with a Valiant hemi six mine was the upscale GLX with plush interior vinyl top 245 cube engine and 4 speed a fast comfy open road car but not popular with Aussies no Valiants really were yet they were some of the best Aussie built cars you could buy,
I’m thinking of getting a Hunter for my next classic the 59 Minx is up for sale though Ive only offerd it to one guy so far but he is keen.
Seeing that old English white Hunter is giving me incredible flashbacks to my childhood. My oldest brother had one almost identical to this in 1979 and I can remember the smell of slightly musty interior and the rusty edges of the front wings as if it was yesterday. I also remember getting my back getting burnt by welding slag when my other brother was cutting a Hillman Hunter into scrap in our driveway and I was too close.
Thanks for this article but those alloys on the 1100 Ti came as standard with the foglights under the bumper. The Ti was quite a hit and boosted sales like the R16 TX did for Renault, it rejuvenated the model range .
My best mate had a Simca (1000) Rallye 1 in bright orange and he bought a set in a scrapyard, his Rallye 1 looked like a million $ when he fitted them. These were made by Dunlop if I remember correctly.
What I know about the 160/180 / 2 litres is they were developed and designed by Chrysler UK, the engine was developed in France.
A really lovely piece, Mr Paws The Other. Quite evocative.
Quite amusing to hear of your mum complaining about heavy steering in the 180. Try one with a Chrysler Centura badge and 4 litres of solid iron straight six squished over the front axle. To misuse a Crocodile Dundee quote, “That’s not heavy steering – THAT’S heavy steering!” And notoriously, they were indeed so.
Most enjoyable, sir, and thankyou for it.
I went from a very clapped out VJ Valiant wagon with the usual broken front chassis rail into a 4.0 Centura it didnt feel all that heavy compared to the wagon, yeah power steering would have been nice but if you dont try to steer with the car stationary its not a problem.
Not guilty sir! Our kid this one, and it’s a nice memory lane in crazy times!
Simca 1100 was the original new European front wheel drive car, introduced in 1967.
But maybe not in the UK
The Avenger actually handled well. Ca. 1971 Road & Track tested it (along with the Mitsubishi-sourced Dodge Colt) in its Plymouth Cricket guise. They said the spartan interior didn’t make a great first impression, but handling and braking were good: “British understatement or something, but the Cricket’s strong points are revealed under duress.”
In his book The Designers L. J. K. Setright said the Avenger’s suspension was designed by Jack Channer, who had previously been at Bristol. Pretty good pedigree!
I’ve long since reached the point in my life where my needs are too complex for a car salesman to make me happy.
Yes the Avenger was a better drivers car than the vague Japanese effort, I drove both when they were quite young cars
I remember all these cars, even the reg numbers, but not crucial points about missing badges, but I don’t remember borrowed Avengers. I do remember Ken, and his sidekick the chief mechanic who could fix anything, even on an Imp, and how hurt Dad was when the garage changed hands and the new owners insisted he pay for his service before he got his car back – no more 6 weeks credit!
I did have a Ken for several years (4 cars worth), called Kim, but then she sold her soul and went off to sell Audis