In its 13-year production run, its UK market contemporaries included the Ford Cortina, Vauxhall Victor, Austin/Morris 1800, and Morris Marina.

New parts were largely based on tried and tested Rootes components, using a new but strong 5-bearing version of the well-proven 1725 cc overhead valve petrol engine as a starting point which varied in output from 66 to 88 bhp (49 to 66 kW) (in the Humber Sceptre[5]).

This engine was further uprated by specialists Holbay, employing two Weber 40DCOE carburettors to produce 107 bhp (80 kW) for the Sunbeam Rapier H120 and Hillman Hunter GLS.

Particular attention was paid to weight and cost to bring the vehicle in line with its natural competitors, including the Mark 2 Ford Cortina.

For the first time in a Rootes car MacPherson strut suspension featured at the front, with a conventional live axle mounted on leaf springs at the rear.

The Hunter was lighter than its predecessor and the wheel-base of the new car was actually 2+1⁄2 inches (6.4 cm) shorter than that of the old, but the length of the passenger cabin was nonetheless increased by moving the engine and the toe-board forwards.

[7] Hitherto this possibility had been offered only as a kit for retro-fitting: it was stated that the factory fitted servo-assistance, at a domestic market price slightly below £13, would be cheaper for customers.

[7] A mild facelift in 1970 gave new grilles to the various Hunter trim levels, and some derivatives gained a (then) more fashionable dashboard, exchanging wood for plastic, but the car remained fundamentally the same throughout its life.

A more detailed facelift for 1972 brought a new all-plastic dashboard with deeply hooded round dials (earlier versions had either a strip speedometer or round dials in a flat dashboard for more expensive models like the Vogue), new steering wheel, plastic instead of metal air cleaner, reshaped squarer headlamps in a new grille and some engine tuning changes.

[8] Following the Hillman Avenger's move to Linwood in 1976, the very last European Hunters were assembled in the Santry plant, Shanowen Road, Ireland from "complete knock down" (CKD) kits until production ended in 1979 – but no evidence exists to suggest that the Talbot badge was applied to any production Hunter following Chrysler Europe's 1978 takeover by Peugeot, and the application of that badge to other Chrysler models sold on or after 1 August 1979.

As Rootes looked to rationalise the number of platforms and the total engineering cost of their vehicle line-up during the 1960s, they kept alive the many names of the companies they had purchased to maintain product differentiation in the market place.

As such, the Arrow was simultaneously aimed at several slightly different market segments, using a range of brand and model names during the car's 13-year production run.

It featured a twin Zenith Stromberg CD150 carburettor version of the 1725 engine developing 94 bhp (70 kW) and Ro-Style wheels.

in 1972 came the Hillman Hunter GLS with a specially tuned twin-Weber-carburettor engine (by Holbay) shared with the Sunbeam Rapier H120 model, as well as close-ratio gearbox and quad headlights.

This was largely based on the Hunter Super and equipped with overdrive, radio, vinyl roof, Rostyle wheels and a special half cloth upholstery as standard.

The sportiest Sunbeam was the Rapier H120 model, though this shared its specially tuned Holbay engine with the Hillman Hunter GLS.

[16] It featured a built-in roof rack and a carpeted loading floor protected by metal strips and illuminated by an additional interior light.

[17] The Super version also featured an aluminium-head engine and viscous fan coupling along with reclining seats, a vinyl-covered roof and "simulated wood treatment" for the facia and door sills.

Also, the appearance of the rear of the car was changed with a flush trim panel under the boot lid and new twin-lens tail lights.

The Hustler was powered by the Rootes Group 1725cc engine, equipped with alloy head and twin Stromberg side-draught carburettors.

Inside, the car was trimmed in the same "buffalo grain" textured vinyl, which also was to be found in the VG series luxury Valiant, the Regal 770.

Chrysler Australia then closed the former Rootes factory, focusing Australian production at its Tonsley Park plant in Adelaide.

For 1970, it added a silver rear trim panel and a 'by Chrysler' boot lid badge to the Hunter saloon and introduced the estate although this had a lower specification than the saloon – an iron head 1725 cc engine, no automatic option, simpler dashboard trim (no locking glovebox), interior door pull handles instead of armrests (sedans had them on the three passenger doors), painted rather than bright metal door window frame trim and fixed rather than opening front quarter-lights.

Initially the cars were offered with tan, red, blue or black upholstery with the dash painted to match but after a few months, Todd's switched to a new type of vinyl with different colours and texture for their Avenger, Hunter and Valiant lines, the blue option was dropped and the dashboards reverted to black paint.

By now the equivalent Super model in the UK had seen its specification reduced to the iron head engine, no bumper over-riders, less exterior bright metal detailing and fixed front quarterlights — so the New Zealand version was unique.

The range's first major facelift for 1972 brought an uprated motor with new carburettor and ignition tuning, re-profiled camshaft and a plastic air cleaner housing (these models were always harder to keep in tune than their predecessors), smaller, squarer headlamps, a new dashboard with deeply hooded round dials (the Hunters had strip speedometers previously), high-backed front seats, and a revised silver trim panel surrounding the tail lights.

The far more modern, better equipped Mitsubishis were pricier, and the Hunter still had its fans and lingered on until 1979, when it was discontinued in the UK and Todd's built the last Chrysler-badged version anywhere.

[1] The Dodge Husky is different from the Iranian Paykan pickup model; it has a thicker B-pillar and retains the saloon's character lines along the side panels.

This deal was similar to one in South Africa, where Hunters were once built with locally-made Peugeot 404 engines (from which the 504 units evolved) to meet strict local-content laws applicable in the late 1960s.

The Bardo 1600i, the pick-up version of the Paykan, continued to be the sole remaining Arrow variant until the final car rolled off the Teheran Assembly line in May 2015.