AROnline » Hillman

Gallery : Rootes dealers and factories

Keith Adams — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:48:35 +0000

Keith Adams Thanks to Shahin of the PaykanHunter website (and regular of Autoshite), who put in some serious hours scanning a selection of amazing transparencies, we now have further insight into how the Rootes Group dealerships in the UK looked – and what you were faced with as a potential Hillman or Chrysler customer. [...]

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Marques : Hillman

Keith Adams — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 20:06:23 +0000

Hillman started out as a small scale cycle manufacturer, and built some interesting cars, but it did not survive the 1920s without being bought-out. In the end, it was Rootes brothers that did the deed, before carving out an extremely successful car producing business for themselves… Hillman became the dominant marque in the Rootes Group, [...]

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Tested : Marina vs Avenger

Matthew Hayward — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 19:58:43 +0000

Too close to call? Two doyens of the British family car market slug it out in the first of a new series of road tests… First published in Classic Car Weekly in August 2005, KEITH ADAMS pitted the Hillman Avenger against its arch rival from Cowley, the Morris Marina. It was a close call… Introduction [...]

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Hillman Avenger : Avenger production in New Zealand

Matthew Hayward — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 19:21:47 +0000

Avengers in New Zealand To celebrate the opening of Todd Motor’s Todd Park car plant at Porirua, Wellington, the December 1974 issue of NZ Motor World ran a large feature of Todds and their operations. Within the feature was a full page glossy colour spread of a car on their production lines, a yellow Hillman [...]

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Hillman Avenger : Hillman Avenger in production

Matthew Hayward — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:53:46 +0000

Ryton’s finest The Avenger was originally built at a new assembly line at the newly expanded Ryton plant, near Coventry. Ryton was essentially an assembly operation, because the bodies and pressed panels were shipped by rail from the Linwood plant in Scotland and the engine/gearbox assemblies came from the company’s Stoke plant. This was actually [...]

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Hillman Avenger : Avengers in New Zealand

Matthew Hayward — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:36:48 +0000

B Car down under The Avenger was also assembled in New Zealand, and proved a minor hit on the Kiwi market. Andy Thompson and Shannon Stevenson take up its story. A large number of Avengers were sold in New Zealand. That is why there are still many of them and other British cars of that [...]

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Hillman Avenger : Sunbeam Avenger

Matthew Hayward — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:30:24 +0000

The Avenger was marketed in the European mainland as a Sunbeam Avenger, here are some images… Sunbeam Avenger Estate Pictures kindly supplied by Hervé Le Guernic and Julian Marsh

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Hillman Avenger : Brazilian Avengers

Matthew Hayward — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 21:06:08 +0000

Undoubtedly, the most stylish Avenger derivatives were the Brazilian ones… The Polara looked almost like a two-door Coupe, such was its roofline. Andy Thompson charts its evolution. The Avenger was also made by Chrysler do Brasil from 1971 to 1980 as the Dodge 1500 (and 1800) and later as the Dodge Polara augmenting the Dart [...]

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Hillman Avenger : Argentinean Avengers

Matthew Hayward — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 20:31:20 +0000

In Argentina, the Avenger carved itself a solid image as a reliable car for the middle classes. Andy Thompson tells its story… Five years after being conceived in 1966 as part of the Hillman Avenger programme, South American production of the Avenger began in Argentina in August 1971 as the Dodge 1500. Made by Chrysler-Fevre [...]

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Hillman Avenger : Plymouth Cricket

Matthew Hayward — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:16:54 +0000

The Stateside Avenger The B Car was developed by Rootes using Chrysler’s money; it was only a matter of time before the parent company in the USA decided to import it into the USA. As a result, Chrysler sold the Linwood-built Avenger in the most demanding of markets under its Plymouth brand. Sadly poor quality [...]

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Hillman Avenger : Avenger R429 Coupé

Matthew Hayward — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 20:39:52 +0000

Ryton’s Capri Whitley designed a Coupé version of the Avenger, which would have topped the range and gone head to head with the ultra-successful Ford Capri and Opel Manta. It bears a striking resemblance to BL’s Condor project, under development at the same time. Sadly, it was not to be… Colour pictures supplied by Roy [...]

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Hillman Avenger : Projects and prototypes

Matthew Hayward — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 21:27:46 +0000

A brave new style The New B Car would prove to be a departure from the last all-Rootes model to precede it, the Hunter. The main difference was the emergence of a Detroit style and a more youthful direction. Much time and effort went into ensuring that the car was exactly what the company’s customers [...]

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The cars : Hillman Avenger

Matthew Hayward — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 19:09:53 +0000

Detroit meets Ryton According to former Rootes Group styling Director, Roy Axe, the first formal thoughts on the makeup of the Avenger were recorded for appraisal in January 1963. The idea had been to produce a replacement for the Hillman Minx, which at the time, was Rootes’ best selling car. However, the Arrow project was [...]

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Hillman Hunter : The Swallow project

Matthew Hayward — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 20:13:02 +0000

Conceived as an advanced replacement for the Audax range and created with the same set of goals as the Imp, the Swallow could have been the Rootes Group’s swansong… Sadly, it did not progress very far. Hindsight suggests that this might be no bad thing, as rear engined family cars were rapidly becoming a thing [...]

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The cars : Hillman Hunter/Rootes Arrows

Matthew Hayward — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 20:10:43 +0000

The Arrow range was conceived as a smart-suited replacement for the Audax range of Minx/Supermix models and their badge-engineered counterparts. Some have called this the last Rootes car, although the Avenger has equal claim to that title. Launched in 1966/67, the new range of cars came in several guises, from the Hillman Minx at the [...]

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Hillman Hunter : Arrow projects and prototypes

Matthew Hayward — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 19:17:26 +0000

The Arrow range was conceived to be a conventional replacement for the Audax Rootes cars – and as such, was designed in Hillman, Humber and Singer versions. The early styling schemes resembled an enlarged Imp, but these were soon revised into a plainer and more classical looking saloon. Quarter-scale models Full-scale proposals Late in 1963, [...]

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Hillman Hunter : Sunbeam Rapier

Matthew Hayward — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 18:49:43 +0000

In design Roy Axe’s designs feature heavily on this website, and it was his Sunbeam Rapier that saw him rise to prominence… April 1964 May 1964 Full size clay, January 1965 Refinement, March 1965 Production version Roy Axe’s coupe makes an appearance at the 1968 London motor show, and immediately proves popular, even if comparisons [...]

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Hillman Hunter : Arrow variations

Matthew Hayward — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 18:21:20 +0000

The Rootes Group were a prime proponent of the art of badge engineering; take a basic car and apply several marque names to it in order to cover several market sectors, whilst keeping a wide range of customers happy. Here is a gallery of the different Arrows sold during its lifetime… Chrysler Hunter 1976-1979 After [...]

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Hillman Hunter : Paykan

Matthew Hayward — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 17:53:04 +0000

Enduring legend After several unsuccessful attempts to make FIAT automobiles, the most serious step towards production of automobiles was taken by establishment of Iran National Factories (Iran khodro, public joint stock company) and presentation of Paykan passenger car on 17 August 1962. Iran National was commissioned to manufacture the latest model of HILLMAN under the [...]

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Hillman Imp : Rootes Asp

Matthew Hayward — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 16:40:51 +0000

The sporting version of the Imp looks as promising today as it did back during the 1960s. A lack of money would spell its end… Rootes’ engineers knew that the Imp chassis was capable of handling more power, and decided to work on a sporting variant. Using the existing all alloy ohc engine (tuned somewhat), [...]

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