The Hillman Avenger is a five-passenger, front-engine, rear-drive B-segment/subcompact car, originally engineered and manufactured by the Rootes Group in the UK and marketed globally[6] from 1970–1978 in two- or four-door sedan and five-door wagon body styles.

[8] The Avenger became one of the first automobiles to use computer-aided design (CAD) in the engineering of its unibody,[9][10] and it was the one of the first cars to address growing safety requirements, featuring a rigid passenger compartment with a front crumple zone, strengthened windshield glass, and heavily padded instrument panel.

The Avenger would ultimately spawn a host of global badge engineered variants, including prominently a North American variant marketed for model years 1971–1973, the Plymouth Cricket; by Chrysler Brazil for 1971–1980 as the Dodge 1800 (notably in a two-door body style)[12] and later as the Dodge Polara — by Volkswagen Argentina as the VW 1800.

The Avenger used conventional unibody construction and a 4-cylinder all-iron overhead valve engine in 1250 or 1500 capacities driving a coil spring suspended live axle at the rear wheels.

In October 1970, the Avenger GT was added to the range featuring a twin-carburettor 1500 cc engine, four-speed manual or three-speed automatic transmission (also optional on the 1500 DL, Super and GL).

The GT featured twin round headlights, door stripes and "dustbin lid" wheel covers, similar to on various 1970s Datsuns and Toyotas.

A basic fleet Avenger was added to the range in February 1972 with either 1250 or 1500 cc engines (the latter available with the automatic transmission option), only a driver sun visor and a single speed heater blower.

[citation needed] In March 1972, the five-door estate versions were introduced, in DL and Super trim levels, both available with either 1250 or 1500 cc engines and using the same specifications as the saloon.

Avenger Super (four-door) cars were modified by the Chrysler Competitions Centre under Des O'Dell and the Tiger model was launched in March 1972.

Modifications included the 1500 GT engine with an improved cylinder head with enlarged valves, twin Weber carburetors and a compression ratio of 9.4:1.

The top of the former "hockey-sticks" had metal plates in their place, whilst the fuel cap was moved from the rear to the right hand side of the car.

The Sunbeam was afforded a minor facelift in Autumn 1980 with revised headlights and grille now featuring the round Talbot logo.

The name was also used on Jeep's first electric model to be marketed in Australia in 2024[20] Chrysler Corporation had repeatedly announced it would enter the North American small car market in the early 1970s to compete with Chevrolet Vega, Ford Pinto and AMC Gremlin, by developing and manufacturing its own domestic small car, known as its Project R-429[21] — subsequently delaying the project again and again.

[25] Results were dismal,[26][27] and in late 1969, Chrysler announced it would henceforth market its Rootes and Simca products from its Chrysler-Plymouth Division.

The Cricket, and the Colt marketed simultaneously at Dodge dealerships, were both seen in the industry as stop-gap measures until Chrysler could design a small car to be manufactured domestically.

The Cricket would subsequently receive a seat-belt warning light system (activated by a weight of 20lb or greater on a front seat) for 1972, as well as large rubber-tipped over-riders in compliance with bumper impact standards.

[11] With a 1971 US base price of $1915, standard features included chair-height seating, pivoting front vent windows, rear windows that rolled down completely, flow-through ventilation with rear pillar extractors, recessed exterior door handles and flush interior door handles, radial tires, rubber mat passenger floor covering, spare tire mounted beneath the flat trunk floor, power front disc brakes, child proof rear door locks, 12.2 cu.ft.

), full-width dashboard padding, two-speed fan for flow through ventilation with upper level dash vents, impact absorbing steering wheel, horn control mounted at the end of the turn signal lever, electro-dip anti-corrosion treatment, acrylic enamel paint over two primer layers in nine colors, bolt-on front fenders and a 31.75 foot turning radius.

[36][37] Optional equipment included a three-speed automatic transmission ($178), air conditioning ($338), fully transistorized AM radio, flush retracting fender-mounted antenna, white sidewall tires, twin carburetor and a Decor Package which included dual horns, center console with rear ash tray,glove box light and lock, cigarette lighter, oil pressure and the alternator gauges, front door storage pockets, day/night adjustable mirror, rear seat arm rests, color-keyed carpeting, window chrome moldings, dual paint stripes on the sides, bumper guards, wheel covers, courtesy lights, dimmable instrument panel lighting, rear door courtesy light switch and upgraded upholstery available in five colors: blue, olive, tan, vellum and black.

A press release on 23 February 1972 announced a station wagon, to be introduced in early spring, 1972,[11] with its formal introduction at the 1972 Chicago Auto Show.

[11][32] Despite its market strengths (multi-link rear suspension, strong ride and handling, four-door configuration, standard radial tires, chair-height seating, flow through ventilation, safety innovations and economical performance — in many regards on par with its Beetle/Vega/Pinto/Gremlin competitors — the Cricket's reliability and dealer network became points of criticism.

[11] With slow sales and stiff competition, re-engineering the Cricket to meet 1974 U.S. safety, bumper and emissions standards seemed like a poor investment.

[32] The Cricket was effectively discontinued after Plymouth dealers sold the last remaining 1972 models, shortly into Calendar Year 1973 — just prior to the gas crisis of 1973, which resulted in a sharp increase in demand for economical cars.

In 1966, the corporation had set up a separate Simca-Rootes Division with its own dealership to exclusively handle the Simca 1204 and any products imported from Rootes.

At a time when the concepts of captive imports and badge engineering were new, the Simca-Rootes dealers had to argue in court that the Cricket was in fact a Rootes product.

Details such as the rearview mirrors and doorhandles were replaced by squared-off units in black plastic, rather than the earlier chromed filigrane ones.

Styling was completely different from the British built Avengers (which only arrived four months later), with the bodywork from the A-pillar back being unique.

Todd's of Petone and, later, Porirua also sold Chrysler Australia and Mitsubishi products and their assembly lines both at the original Petone plant (dating from the mid-1930s) and the new purpose-built plant opened in Porirua in 1974 were notable for the variety of models coming down the twin final assembly lines at any one time—vehicles sharing the trim lines with the Avenger on a daily shift might include the Hillman Hunter, Chrysler Valiant and Alpine hatchback, Mitsubishi Galant, Mirage and Lancer, as well as the Datsun 180B (due to Todd Motors for a time having a contract to build those as Nissan's other contractor at the time, Campbell Motor Industries, did not have enough capacity).

The TC was effectively replaced in 1973 by the more upmarket Avenger Alpine, another local special loosely based on the UK 'GL' (four headlights, four-round-dials dashboard instead of a rectangular instrument cluster (though early cars had a blanked-off space instead of the rev counter standardised later), better trim, twin carburettors and vinyl roof), initially with the twin-carburettor 1.5 L engine (changed to a 1.6 L from 1973, later changed again to a single-carb unit and also available for the first time with automatic transmission, the Borg Warner 45 four-speed unit).

The 'base' 1.3 GL sedan was a very popular entry level B-category model for rental car company Avis right up to the Avenger's demise in 1980.