Resulting from joining the development efforts of Rootes Group and Simca, the car was produced from 1970 to 1975 in Poissy, France, and later in Chrysler's subsidiary Barreiros' factory in Spain.

[5] The replacement for the car was developed by Chrysler Europe under the codename C9 and was finally launched by PSA as the even more ill-fated Talbot Tagora.

[6] Although Chrysler gradually took financial control of both Simca and Rootes Group during the 1960s, there was little effort to coordinate the operations of both automakers.

The plan was to market the car under three brands - the base version as Hillman, a 2.0-litre as Sunbeam 2000, and atop the range a Humber Hawk with a 2.5 L engine.

[citation needed] Other design propositions included the use of De Dion tubes for rear suspension (like in the competing Rover P6), as well as a five-speed gearbox (which would still be an advanced feature at that time).

The car would not use a V6 engine, as the displacement-based puissance fiscale tax system in France would make the costs prohibitive, but rather four-cylinder units of more modest specifications.

Initial designs were inspired by contemporary American Chryslers, with twin headlamps and a light bar in the rear.

[7] In 1970, however, Chrysler reviewed the programme once again and decided to trim it down to just one version, to be built in Simca's Poissy factory in France, for all markets.

[citation needed] The responsibility for the programme was then passed to Simca (where it became known internally as "Simca 1800"), who gave the car a different front end with rectangular single front lamps, as well as stripping the interior of some features proposed by the Rootes Group team, such as genuine wood and leather and air conditioning.

[citation needed] The production cars also received a more conventional coil sprung rear live axle and MacPherson struts in the front and a four-speed manual transmission (with an option of a three-speed automatic).

The 2.0 L model (marketed as "Chrysler 2 litre") joined the lineup for 1973, unveiled at the Amsterdam Auto Show in February that year.

[7] A Chrysler 180 saloon was tested by the British Motor magazine in April 1971, a few months after the model's UK launch.

The overall tone of the road test, written at a time when new models were generally greeted with uncritical enthusiasm by UK motoring journalists, is summed up in its description of the Chrysler 180 as a "very pleasing car that only just falls short of being a luxury sporting saloon".

[10] Chrysler decided to move the assembly lines from the Poissy factory to the Villaverde plant of its Spanish subsidiary, Barreiros.

While the petroleum 2.0 Litre model was replaced by a 180 automatic version, the diesel engine had to be modified for 1978 to avoid increased taxation.

While the first two digits in this model naming system stood for the base engine's displacement (1.6 L in the case of the Chrysler 160), the latter two represented the French fiscal class in which the car slotted.

[14] In the British market the car's chances against rivals, such as the successful Rover SD1, were also hampered by the lack of engines larger than the 2.0 L, as the competitors offered six- or even eight-cylinder units, being unhampered by the French tax regulations.

Chrysler did not make available an upmarket model with features as power windows or central locking, even though they were all available in the smaller Simca 1307, launched around the time when the 180 was in mid-cycle.