The Hillman Avenger: Chrysler's world car Cortina-killer?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ก.ย. 2021
- General Motors famously designed their world car, the Chevette in the 1970s, but before this was Chrysler’s Hillman Avenger. Well, it was initially called the Hillman Avenger on its UK launch, but it seems like it had more names than I’ve had hot dinners! Ready for it? The Hillman Avenger was also known as the Chrysler Avenger, Chrysler Sunbeam, Talbot Avenger, Sunbeam Avenger, Dodge Avenger, Plymouth Cricket, Dodge 1800, Dodge Polara, no, not that one!, Dodge 1500, Sunbeam 1300 and, rather confusingly, the Volkswagen 1500! Why was a car that was so well received, with up-to-date styling get overlooked so quickly, and why wasn’t such a well put together car developed further over its 20-year life?
Music: "Higher Kiss" by "TrackTribe" from the TH-cam audio library.
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#bigcar - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
A very nostalgic video for me. When I was a teenager my Father asked me what car he should buy next, I said an Avenger Tiger .... and he did!! My Father was so cool I thought. Many years later at maybe aged 75 my Father was still driving and my sister insisted he buy a "small slow car he will be safe in" - he came home in a Sierra Cosworth. But this was just to annoy my sister and after a few days he changed it for something small and boring. Again my Father impressed me! I miss you Dad, you influenced my life so much. That Tiger was really great!
My Mother never knew what car my dad was going to come home in next. He only ever bought Ford's and BMC cars normally, though he did have a Vauxhall Cresta and a Singer Vogue estate, not for long though 😉 He ran a Lotus Cortina mkll for a little while, his last car before he died was a car he had owned some years, unusual! It was a 1965 Ford Zodiac automatic BUN808C he loved that car, l used to borrow it occasionally, and used it to take my girlfriend ( now my wife) out in it.
I had a tiger 1600cc. I had it modified for rallying & it produced 160bhp at the wheels.
Bought an Avenger Tiger in about 1982 for less than £1000 ran it for about six months and swapped it for an RS2000,wish I still had both.
Cool Dad
Brought home a Cosworth just to annoy 😂
I worked for many years at Ryton as a rectifier building Avengers. I must take issue about the dashboard. The one you showed is the hi-line with the tacho and oil pressure gauge. There was an inter and a lo-line with much simpler dashboards, linear speedo, no tacho, oil pressure light not gauge etc. If anybody happens to have Avenger build number 400,000 look behind the glove box as my name is written there in chalk !!!
Can't imagine Onslow and Daisy's front garden without it...although they drove a Cortina
Ha! Wraps up this story in a single image!
The avenger must have doubled up as the dogs kennel. The way Hyacinth ended up in the hedge ,after the dog made his presence known, was hilarious!!!
Here in Argentina it was even our Touring Car Champion from 1979 to 1983, with Dodge and VW badges 💜
And 1988, racing against Ford Sierras and Renault Fuegos
So that means… VW produced a Front Engine, Rear Wheel Drive sedan everybody!
@@Frank-mv1ce Sorry, only happened in Argentina, when VW buy the assets of Dodge here; the most seller of the Dodge models was the Dodge 1500 -the others where american-size Dodge Polara-Coronado and the pickups Dodge D100 and D200-, and the 1500 was the only model which VW carries on from Dodge. In Brazil didn't survive the takeover from VW.
@@mrsrmp Actually survived for the first year, 1981, when despite the Dodge logo, under the hood the plate said "Volkswagen Caminhoes" (Volkswagen Trucks). The main version is that VW discontinued it for being better, faster and more comfortable than their own branded Passat.
Skimped on rust proofing is an understatement. My 1974 Avenger rotted away in 6 years.
I had my Plymouth cricket for 14 years. It was a beauty!
My search for a Cricket continues.
I found one and am well into a restoration. Would love to see pictures of yours Kevin.
My father worked for Rootes/Chrysler .... He bought home an Orange Avenger Tiger when I was 15 ..... He was my hero. (and a great dad)
This car was called Dodge 1800 in Brazil. It was later renamed Dodge Polara. It was produced from 1973 to 1981 when Volkswagen bought Chrysler's Brazilian operations. Brazilians used to call it "dodginho", a Portuguese diminutive for the name "Dodge" to differentiate it from other Dodge models manufactured here (Dart and Charger).
The Avenger was also built in Venezuela from CKD by Chrysler de Venezuela and was named the Hillman Arrow. As a kid growing up in Venezuela I remember seeing them frequently and liking the J-shaped rear lights.
I had two Avengers. Absolutely loved them. Still one of my favourite cars.
My Cricket had a front right Cinturato catastrophic blow-out at 65 mph. She tracked straight and true with three good tires and let me pull over with no panic!
possibly from "chirping" the tires. 🦗
I am so happy you've made this video, I have a 1974 Sunbeam Avenger that was originally sold with the 1600, but is currently equipped with the 1300, and its an amazing classic car you could easily daily drive (which i did for a while, my dad even dailied it in the winter). Surprisingly fairly rust free, but its the electrics that are awry. Greetings from Finland.
Oh my gosh, I remember that Plymouth Cricket commercial!
70s advertising was so innocent.
Kudos to you! Still the best channel for well-researched, no-BS, and interesting for the automotive historically inclined.
I should put that on my CV!
@@BigCar2 Should you be lookimg for a job please so so!
Well said my bro
My 1st car, the Hillman Avenger (1974 model) bought in 1987, paid £85 for it. I love it!
My first car was the bigger Chrysler Two Litre. I remember the number plate was "KKV 25V" and it cost me £695 in 1983 or 4.
My first car in 1979, was a used 'M' reg Hillman Avenger Sun Seeker. It was a great car. Thank You for this. It brings the great memories back
Ah, the good old Dodge 1500~ ❤️ With the 1.8 liter engine, it was quite sprightly.
I had a company Chrysler Avenger 1300 (XCK 621R) with the horizontal rear lights, but my mate had the earlier 1250 Hillman Avenger as a company car with the same company with the hockey-stick lights. Mine was a typical company car, thrashed mercilessly but never let me down, and I once did 600 miles in one day and it never missed a beat. It was so good that my then future father-in-law bought a new one in 1979, by this time the Talbot Avenger 1600, limited edition with a vinyl roof and 'sunburst' wheel trims, (ACU 372V). Very posh! They were a bit tinny but a very underrated car and a good workhorse.
This little car has a special place on my heart, I love it, it's reliable and pretty much undestructible, my dad had a estate version of the Avenger which he restored and now my brother owns it, still runs good also fun fact: The Argentinian Avenger and the units that were sold to Colombia in 1978 had complete windows without the little vents on the windows, front and rear, this made the car look more modern, even if it was just a bit, also there were GT-90 and GT-100 versions of the Dodge 1500, the first one with a 1.5 engine with 90 HP and the latter with a 1.8 engine pulling 105 HP and later a 120 HP version for it's last run in '77 and then in 1988 it received a 5 speed manual as an option to become standard in 1990.
This made me so happy.
Growing up my Dad had a 1973 Hillman Avenger in metallic brown with guaranteed to burn your legs vinyl seats.
It wasn't very reliable on occasion but I always like the look of it and am still nostalgic for them
Rob Field
It may interest you to know that there is no such color as Brown anywhere on the color spectrum/
Take a color spectrum color chary and you will not find it.
Does a rainbow have brown anywhere in the spectrum?
What people have been indoctrinated to call brown, is actually dark orange
and you have never noticed that.
I learnt to drive in an Avenger. I saw it as Escort/Marina sized rather than Cortina sized.
I loved my 1600 Chrysler Avenger (Blue with Black Vinyl roof) Rostyle Wheels, and my dad had a (Brown !) Talbot Horizon Thank you, thats brought back many good memories.
The Avenger was always unappreciated, and therefore underrated. I had an Avenger, and so did one of my good friends - well, technically our dads did. Growing up in Coventry, it was felt that our respective families wanted to get something built in the city, but our budgets didn't stretch far enough to get a Jag.
I also appreciate the Sunbeam with high regard - your comment about this car being the automotive equivalent of a dependable housewife with a dirty secret was amusing. Taking that into mind, I reckon the Sunbeam Lotus would be a dependable housewife who would indulge in a bit of BDSM at the weekends. On forest roads.
don't dog it... flog it.
The Avenger was under-appreciated because Chrysler UK made zero effort to market it. Chrysler UK was biding its time for a government bail out (which it got in 1975) and a fire sale of its holdings to another company (which it achieved four years later).
These videos are so well put together and researched. I look forward to seeing that notification of a new one. No madness. No glitter or rubbish. Just an intelligent individual who can speak correctly telling like it is with dabs of humour a few pictures and video clips. What is not to like.
athefumen ✅ ✅
Didn't realize there were so few left, my dad just finished rebuilding a 2 door 1600 rally car and has a solid 4 door car in a shed here in Ireland.
The cars in the video is like a list of my family car history, Imps, Avenger saloons and estates, sunbeams and a horizon all in my early childhood memories.
The figures were wrong. There are about 300 left in the UK, the numbers are actually going up as they come out of retirement.
Yes, the Avengers sold well enough in Ireland. The Special Branch had them in a medium blue. A friend of mine bought a retired one at a Garda auction. He loved. I loved the design, especially the Mk1.
One of those Tiger models would be worth a tidy sum now, if any still exist.
@@NOWThatsRichy There are still a good few Tigers left and quite a few replicas. I see they show the back end of my Tiger in this video.
@@robertnutter4009 Hi Robert from another ASOC member. Did you see my video earlier in the year? th-cam.com/video/t4J-grV_CsQ/w-d-xo.html
I learnt to drive in a Dunstonian (Petts Wood, Orpington, UK) Driving School Sunbeam Hatchback in 1977. Recall it been very spacious & much bigger than my pals dads Fiesta & been very good on the 3 lane dual carriageway A2, Dartford & Bexley by-pass a bit of pre-motorway driving experience whilst waiting for the actual driving test which I passed first time.
Great video, now We are all Avenger aware it would be brilliant to look at in a bit more detail its rather underrated sibling - the Sunbeam Hatchback including Lotus variation.
It was a great car!!! I rallied it in Group One and it was far stronger and better than a Ford’s escort. It handled well and in the 1600cc version was fast. I miss it even today!! Thank you so much for posting
That's friggin awesome!
I passed my test and purchased an Imp. I then worked in the UAE and was amazed at how many Avengers were around in that part of the world. Back in the Uk in 1984 I purchased a 1970 1250cc Avenger which was well used and had rust patches all over and under but always got our family from A to B. I next went upmarket and bought a 1300cc version. Again the car was super reliable but the engine not as smooth as its smaller predecessor.
Happy childhood memories of trips away in the Avenger.
We had a Series 1 Chrysler Alpine and we loved it, it truly was a lovely motor! Never had an Avenger but I always thought they were a cool looking car. A bloke up the Road used to have an Avenger Tiger... Nice!
Marvellous cars.
Had several of them.
Indestructible!
Trying to get another one at present - wish me luck...
My first car (purchased 1984) was a 1972 Chrysler Avenger in gold, assembled by Todd Motor Co, in Wellington New Zealand. Was always more reliable than my mates Ford Cortinas! Thanks for the video, this bought back good memories!
I had a 1976 Hillman Avenger in bright green with black plastic seats, it was actually a very good car compared to what else was available at the time in similar price range.
“With its understated paint trim” There was nothing understated about the Lotus Sunbeam’s paint trim; it was black and silver or pale blue and dark blue, both of which were very eye-catching and stood out.
A very satisfying car to drive & to be a passenger in ! Pity the Lotus Sunbeam wasn't on sale in 1971 it would have given management at Ford something to think about!
And now, many years later, Chrysler and Peugeot belong to the same Stellantis Group, funny fact.
Here's hoping that one day they will resurrect some of the many legendary brands they own, like Talbot, Simca or Sunbeam.
Vauxhall and opel also.
Or Hillman and Humber
@Riki 9653 why the old sunbeams were great sports cars totally unrelated to the sunbeam hatch
Plus Dodge......so expect a Dodge Polara Hellcat soon.
Sold here in the United States from 1971-'73 as the Plymouth Cricket.
my sister bought new plymouth cricket worst car ever if it got below 40 degrees f wouldt start if it rained wouldnt start three years later plymouth dealer wouldnt even take in trade carbs were biggest issue
I used to have the Lego dragster you have over your right shoulder on the shelf.
It was the second vehicle one could build from the set, the first being a 2 seater with the rear mounted engine. This set taught me about rack n pinion steering, suspension geometry, piston/crankshaft rotation and gearbox systems.
Started my love affair with motor vehicles.
Ironically, at the time my Dad got me this set in the early '80s, he was driving a Hillman Avenger.
Lego Technic used to be utterly brilliant didn't it?! I had a few sets from the mid to late 80s to very early 90s.
It's a shame the way it's gone now with current kits pretty much bring made up of a lot of bespoke parts. The first one I had was a little blue go kart with that very cool rack and pinion steering and a single piston engine... brilliant!
I lusted after the two Technic car chassis sets they released in that era. My #854 go kart is on display on a shelf upstairs, though!
Lotus Sunbeam, now that was a heck of a thing in its day :)
Yeah, great, underrated hot hatch classic, sad that despite being so good and even winning the WRC it had such a short life span and is now extremely rare.
Great episode, I've been waiting for this release. Thanks for all your hard work.
You're welcome!
Ah, so that's the car you see in every movie from the 70-s but never know the model name! :)
Great story. There's still a lot of car dealerships in Linwood. My next car (Seat Leon) has been ordered from there. I have driven under the (still visible) Talbot signed railway bridge. Remember the cars (Talbot, Simca, Hillman) from my childhood in the 1980's.
My father bought one of these brand new in 1973. It was the GL model in metallic pea green! It broke down on his way home from the showroom and he was so angry he got his money back the same day. He returned to Fords and never had any more problems.
That has to be a hard sell, even for the best salesman in the world! I did something similar once with a Peugeot but it wasn't new. I stopped to put diesel in it and under the halogens you could clearly see two hues of blue. I drove it straight back and got all my money back. The backside had been stoved in and repaired even though I specifically asked if it had suffered any crash damage. Car dealers eh? About as much use as a one legged man in an arse kicking contest.
I had two Avengers, both lovely cars, and in my opinion a better car than the Cortina.
Heresy Sir!!! Nothing beats a MkIII Cortina.
Ah, but WHICH Cortina?
🤪
My poor Dad had a Cortina , whilst all he wanted was a Jag!!! 🤠
The original Cortina had Soul !!! Woooo!
That's why its still on the Race Tracks !!!
We had a Plymouth Cricket in the early 1980's. I still remember those J taillights. It was a fun little car.
We had a Hillman Avenger sedan and then a Chrysler Avenger wagon. Two of the best cars my family ever owned. Decently reliable for the time and surprisingly peppy
Avengers made great rally cars - I used to hear my father talk of a BRM Avenger that was tested in the mid 70s - I had I do believe a 16v head but Ford had already stolen a march with the BDA ! Under funded and late the project was shelved ! Instead of stalks the Hillman Avenger had huge round switches for wipers and lights - the wiper switch had a plunger pump to put water on the screen - One of the forgotten greats - Thanks a mill for the memories!!
Interesting story as ever, my dad had a K reg Blue Avenger when I was little in the 70’s, 1.5GL, twin headlights and the 4 clocks on the dashboard. I remember it rusting and he got it re-sprayed in Tahiti blue. He always said it was the best car he ever had.
A really good history lesson about the Avenger and the other Hillman/Talbot models
I ll always know it as the Hillman Avenger .I remember the 1st time I saw the advert, always wanted the Tiger .
My undergrad years '67 through '71...I had a Sunbeam Arrow...you referenced as a Hillman Hunter...the car was an absolute disaster with Lucas electricals...after 4 years Chrysler had abandoned it with no parts availability. By 1972, it was junked.
Я хоть и не все понимаю, но репортажи Ваши мне нравятся. Успехов Вам !
Good cars. Strong and easy to maintain. I had 1600 ls, estate, reg wuo 65v.
I had a Chrysler Two Litre - KKV 25V
I owned one of these cars in the late 90's. I bought it for $50 and it was already on its last legs and I ended up getting rid of it at a car auction, where surprisingly someone bought it. But my impressions were that it was a well built car, but the engine was worn out when I got it, although to its credit it did run and got me from A to B while I saved up for something better.
My old man said it was the best five hundred quid he ever spent. We had HLG 644K for almost 10 years, just kept going. When it finally died (I think it virtually rusted in half) it still had the piece of chewing gum covering the hole in the radiator the AA man put there several years before.
Another great Big Car video. We had a Hillman Hunter when I was a kid. I love how these cars live on in different parts of the world in Argentina.
Very informative, I was only 7 years old but do recollect Chrysler Cricket here in the states. These early 1970’s cars were first cars for many when I was in High School during OPEC driven gas crisis. My first car was a 1972 Ford Pinto which had the 2.0 liter engine sourced from Europe. Amazing they still built the Avenger 20 years later in Argentina badged as as a VW.
Lots of memories there I served my apprentice time on these,Hunters.Commer vans and Valiants. The cars assembled in NZ were very poor in terms of build accuracy and finish, still they proved to be a better car than the Hunter which deteriorated very quickly with head gasket failure etc. The cars that were brought in from the UK were a much better product. As an interesting aside I remember we had a lady who would bring her car in every 1-2 weeks chugging and running very poorly and we couldn't figure out what was going on as the carbuerettor was set right, timing valves etc which we checked after a clearing road test it would be purring nicely (again) this went on for about two months until our foreman ask the lady what her starting of the car regime included, now the Choke control was located in the steering wheel cover on these cars. So the lady announced that her starting procedure was to Pull Out the Handbag holder and start the car and off she would Lowell as you can imagine he had problems keeping a straight face !! Moral of story installed Handag hole and off she went. Regards Chris
I wonder if the wife on "Father knows best", a TV series in the late 50s starring Robert Young, was her sister.
Between 1979 and 1987 I had 3 Avengers in succession - a 1600GL estate, a Tiger, and finally a Talbot-badged 1.6GLS estate that was undergoing Tiger upgrades when a drunk driver ran into the back of it and wrote it off.
Very under-developed and very under-rated.
I taught my first wife to drive in the 1600GL estate, and when we got the Tiger we used to race to grab the keys - the one who got there first drove the car on that trip.
Very interesting video, but here in the U.K. there were infact three different dash layouts initially. The DL had a strip speedo, The Super had a different design dash but still used the strip speedo, and the GL had the four round pod style dash, one being a blank, unless you purchased the optional rev counter (standard on the later GT and Tiger Mk2 models) There are also a lot more than 30 Avengers left in the U.K. I myself had four immaculate Avengers on the road recently, including the Tiger that you picture the rear of in the video.
One of the first cars I owned after passing my test in 1982, great car with a sweet gearbox.
The Cricket was a great all rounder.... I'll see myself out.
@Capt Shiny If memory serves, thier was a appeal from Hillman.
The VW 1500 oddly reminds me of a Bristol Blenheim from the rear.
What?, a Blenheim is an a famous plane...I'am owner a plane!!
Well researched and delivered as usual! - I was a 17 year old cleaner and delivery driver at a large London Chrysler dealer in the mid ''70s. It's true the Avenger had a horrendously plasticky interior - mind you so did most Japanese cars - the difference was the Avenger plastics were cheap, squeaky and badly fitted and most plastic parts still had the "burr" from the mould on them - the workers hadn't bothered taking that off. . The automatic shift lever would have shamed a McDonalds give-away toy . The low point was seeing a very posh, elderly couple (think of a retired judge and his wife) down sizing their beautiful Silver Birch Rover P5B for an Avenger "Sundance" automatic special edition - I so wanted to shout "Don't do it!".
Really interesting story - far more so than the car in the story. Oddly, I'd always assumed that the Avenger was and Escort competitor - never saw it being pitched at the Cortina. An Avenger I was ever in screamed CHEAP from everything that could be touched. I had the impression too that less metal was used and had been stretched as thinly as possible to make a larger car. While the styling stood out initially it was more interesting than desirable and eventually, merely inoffensive. A car that nobody loves and nobody hates will alway sell - on price - to somebody without much interest in cars - that was pretty much what most of routes line up seemed to be. Make a list and any Rootes model would be somewhere in the middle of your choices - never at the bottom but never at the top.
I never knew of the VW badged version - perhaps they'd prefer it if nobody did.
Keep them coming - always look forward to a new - Big Car
I had one of these for a few months as a work vehicle and I had some of the worst motoring experiences in my life , it was cheap and downright dangerous. Something better did come to replace it : The Lada .
People in North America felt the same way about Chrysler's product lineup in the 1970s. I doubt that anyone fell passionately in love with a Plymouth Volaré. They wanted cheap transportation that got them from points A to B.
"So what's the name of the car?"
Chrysler: *Yakko inhales*
I had the 73 Avenger GLS 1500 twin carb, I sold it for a MK 4 2.0 Cortina, that was a big mistake, the Avenger was far quicker and handling was better... Wish I had kept it...
I had a 1500 with twin headlights ( my 3rd car I think....1st was a fiat 500 2nd hillman hunter 3rd then was the avenger ...lovely car....but next was my mk3 pinto 1.6 cortina this was superior in every way.......
I think the 1973 1500cc GLS model is my favourite Avenger, even more than the Tiger. I have got both, with the GLS being in it's beautiful original colour of Violet (met) not the matching mauve seats though.
@@robertnutter4009 Vinyl roof?
Avenger 1500 HC 0-60 13.4 secs, 0.858 Tonne, 72hp
Cortina 2 ltr Pinto 0-60 12.5 secs, 1.06 Tonne, 101hp
The same Pintos that dominated rallying.
I had two and I loved them both. They looked good and they went quite well for the time. My favourite was the 1500 GLS with the quad lights.
My Father had a 1974 Avenger 1300cc 4 door in Orange. He fitted spotlights n fog lights, air horns and a tow-bar. We went on holiday to Cornwall from Newcastle towing an old caravan grossly overloaded. It overheated on the way home on the A1. The radiator had a pin hole on the bottom due to a stone chip.. When it cooled, he put a self tapping screw, wrapped in tape in the hole and we headed home. Every 30 - 40 miles we stopped to refill the radiator.
My dad had a beige Avenger in the late 70s / early 80s and I never really appreciated its styling until recently. My grandpa had a bright orange one with black, half vinyl seats which took the skin off your legs in the summer 🤣
NB the hunter was also sold as a Hillman Minx, i think with more basic trim less powerful engine. It also spawned the Sunbeam Rapier which in its day was quite good looking. In a way. We got an avenger when it was launched however my dad didn’t click with it. The final straw was when a bolt fell off the steering column when he was thumping down the M6.
My very first car was a 10 year old 1971 Avenger in green - PCW 879 J - long gone - tidy cars - always liked the estates myself.
My first car was a 14 year old 1972 Avenger in boring Safari Beige. These days I drive a 49 year old 1972 Avenger (not the same one though).
Highlight of my fortnight!!
Brings back memories of my Dad's Hillman Hunter estate, sitting in the boot with my sister for a trip to Barry Island..... those where the days!!
Good to see you are keeping up your contractual obligations and reminding us all again about the Unions, 😆
I have to talk about the unions. It's in my union contract... 😀
💎 Production Mr. Big Car 👏, thx.
The Avenger engine was appreciated by many for its durability and easy to mantain.
It was a "square" engine, stroke/bore ratio=1 or close.
👍
@bigcar great content. Loved it. My father worked at Chrysler in Venezuela during the 70's. There it was called a Hillman Arrow and in '73 it won the manufacturer's championship Vs the Renault R16 and Fiat 124's. I learned how to drive on one of these. Like this car so much I recently bought an Avenger Tiger which now sits in my garage in Miami.
This is an excellent overview and much needed. I was brought up around these in the 1970s and 1980s when my dad ran a large service and body shop department in a well known Rootes-Chrysler dealership. The early Hillman Avengers were well built and sweet although the post 1973 cars were faster and more flexible particularly in 80BHP GLS form. The post 1976 Chryslers (and there was even a 1981 Talbot Avenger) were old hat, harsher and uncompetitive but still sold well to traditional buyers in 1300 and lower powered 69 BHP 1600 form. Unfortunately, these Linwood cars were badly built and often arrived at dealerships with water leaks and sometimes, with twisted bodyshells. That said, the Avenger in all it forms deserves a second chance and it is good to see a renewed interest.
Thank you! Great nostalgia trip for me, My first car after passing my test was a Hillman Avenger 1.5 auto in Blue with a white vinyl roof. Lovely old bus, made it past 100,000 miles, with a top and bottom engine overhaul in 1978. Great content, keep up the great work 👍
This is the Big Car video I've been waiting for!
I had a couple of 1300DL Avengers in 1974-77. They certainly handled very well due to its trailing link / coil rear suspension - so much better than the Marina. The engine was a bit of a rough old nail. My job required me to travel the whole UK on 59bhp and it was OK but you had to be very careful on motorways. Continuous motorway use at an indicated 75mph would burn out exhaust valves quite quickly. It happened to me twice. Below that, you were OK. It was reliable but the paint on the first one (white) chipped easily. Second one (orange) was better but that may have been down to the '76 drought baking the paint on better. Drum brakes all around on my entry level beasts. Not too bad but alarming when backing out of a ford that was too deep and twin leading shoes at the front became twin trailing shoes swimming in water.
I did 110k miles between them and filled them up so many times I still remember their reg. numbers and use them as passwords.
I still have the burnt exhaust valve souvenired from my Sunbeam!
My father had a brown Dodge branded 1971 Hillman Avenger GL in Jamaica, the damn thing was tough and durable as they come. It did have its share of electro mechanical problems (points and condensers/head gasket issues) which improved when he swapped the old 1250cc for a 1600cc engine that gave quite noticeable better performance.
The first car I remember my dad owning. Aqua blue estate. I was happy when he got a Capri.
A magical vehicle ... sorely missed.
My first car was indeed a mk 4 cortina but a close mate had an avenger.Our rivalry stood firm.
My mate had a Capri and I had an Avenger. He was suitably impressed with the Avenger's handling. I still drive one today.
I had an Hillman Avenger 1600GT in the early 80's , with Twin Webers it was fast for the time . It had the horizontal speedo and was a great car :)
My Dad had an Avenger in the mid 70's.....I loved driving in it....It felt more exciting than a normal family car of the day and a bit sporty in style at least. When my Dad replaced it with a Triumph 1500 a couple of years later I was sorely disappointed.
I've owned 2 Avengers, a 1250 basic and a 1500 top line auto wagon. I was booked for doing 93 mph on the M62. Not bad for a car with a top speed of 81. My father offered a straight swap of his 2.0 litre Cortina GXL wagon for my 1500 wagon. I'd driven his car, so I said no. On a twisty B road his car was no match for my auto wagon, even with stiffened suspension. They were awesome handling vehicles.
In Portugal it was the Sunbeam 1300. Beautiful.
I just had to wait for some dry humour and that names list at the beginning of the video to like it! (In Argentina where I live it was called Dodge 1500, and we also had the Volkswagen 1500, so I know the list was accurate, but also sa to know we got the boring rectangular tail lights)
Love your research but the way you narrate your videos and wirte your scripts is what really makes me come back for more!
My Uncle George had an Avenger and I thought it was the coolest car I'd ever seen!!
Sky blue with a black vinyl roof - it drove like a dream - happy memories.
My Dad had an estate version for a few weeks. My main memories are of a clack sound closing the doors and admiring the passing road seen between the base of the rear doors and body!
These were a great looking car pre and post facelift! I look forward to settling down to watch this video shortly!
My family had two Avengers (and a Hillman Hunter in between). A red K registration Hillman Avenger and a white W registration Chrysler Avenger. Bloody good, solid and reliable cars.
Might not be the case now but Hillman Hunters were made in Iran for decades. A friend of my Father In Law kept his one under covers at my Father in laws yard. It was white and like a new car. Which is was - imported from Iran - Right Hand Drive.
Reminds me of 1974 shortages in US. Fortunately I had a Mustang with German V-6 that had good mileage and could gradually fill tank with $5 per car allowed.
My first car was a 1976 Hillman Avenger estate. It was virtually indestructable mechanically but like many 70s cars it rusted badly.
Thanks a lot for this documentary. Here at Colombia, of course, we`d them on our mountain and rough roads, very nice performers for the typical Colombian topography. Chrysler Colmotores ran production from 1973 to early 1978, sold as Dodge 1500, the very first line up, followed by the 1977/1978 Dodge Polara, with the front facelift of the British 1977 model you showed here. Engines, the 1.5 liter 4 inline for the 1973/1976 Dodge 1.500, and later, 1.8 liter 4 inline with a Holley up placed carburator fitted on the Polara units. The basic and only gear box offered was the 4 speed manual, one of the best gear boxes in the local industry, according to a Colmotores plant technician. By the way one of my favourite small car of the 70's era assembled here. The best marketing selling move and very succesfull as well, was the Joe Chitwood car show, held at the former "Ricardo Mejia MotorWay", in early 1976, a stunt car sport performance. So cool as well as the car. Thanks again for bringing back memories.
My uncle had a brand new maroon 1500GL back in the 70's. I always felt, even though I was a kid at the time, that it was quite sporty for what it was even though it had that weird circular design pattern on the space where the tachometer should have been, or maybe it was the way my uncle drove it! Interesting video, many thanks.
Just one correction: the Beetle has never been produced in Argentina, but in Brazil. And it never made it to Argentina, except for some private importers from Germany. Their place was taken by the Citroën 2cv, the Fiat 600, the Renault 4 and 6, among others. In the late 1970s, VW tried to enter Argentina as a Brazilian franchise and bought the Chrysler factory, which basically produced models of American origin, in addition to the Avenger. VW, a brand still unknown in Argentina, first started importing Brazilian beetles and then making the T1 combi. It was there that they decided to continue production of the beloved Avenger -or Dodge 1500- for a few years, when it was replaced by the 4-door sedan version of the VW Gol, here called Gacel, as early as the '80s. I love your videos and your simple and relaxed way of communicating. Greetings from Argentina.
I saw a few coments from fellow argentinians. The Dodge 1500 was (is) a very special car, comfortable, relyable, beautiful and economic. My father had 3: first a Dodge 1500, then a Dodge 1500 (by Volkswagen) 1.8, and finally a Volkswagen 1500 in wich I learned to drive.
Had a rusty Avenger and a couple of Sunbeams. All handled well, and the Sunbeams at least had easily replaceable panels.
One thing that's overlooked is the Avenger was deliberately designed for ease of servicing and aimed at fleet buyers for that reason.
Well I'm going to say it: I am really impressed with this Avenger. I think it is really an outstanding car, and Fords and Opels have nothing on it aesthetically. I believe this to be one of the most underrated cars ever. Maybe the post-modern approch at the beginning of the eighties was its killer
Good memories here my dad had 2 avengers, a 1969 gl 1500cc and a 1975 dl with the 1600 cc both cars were very reliable, i sort of remember tho him changing the 69 because it was getting rusty…however the 75 was kept until it was 20 years old it had rust in parts but was still very solid and was seen locally for a few years after dad sold it.
I like the avenger and all the other cars in this video I remember them all very well.