1972 Hillman Avenger 1500 Super Top Hat, one of only four left on British roads
When the Rootes Group unveiled the Avenger in February 1970 its cinema commercials optimistically hinted at a connection with the adventures of Steed and Mrs. Peel in The Avengers – although the reality was that the average fleet or private buyer was more interested in an alternative to the Ford Escort or the Vauxhall Viva than glamour per se. Upon its launch, Autocar regarded the Avenger as a “good sensible family car with a lot to be said in its favour”.
Development of the Rootes “B-car” commenced in 1963 and it was intended to bridge the gap between the Hillman Imp and the “Arrow” saloon range (most famously, the Hillman Hunter). 1,248cc or 1,489cc units comprised the initial engine choices, and the trim levels ranged from the entry-level De Luxe to the Super and the GL, with its quad headlights denoting the driver’s middle-managerial status.
The Estate and the 108mph Tiger, with its twin-choke Weber 40 carburettors and Sundance Yellow paint finish, made their bows in 1972.
Four years later the Hillman name was dropped in favour of Chrysler badging and in 1979, following the PSA takeover of Chrysler UK, the range was re-branded as Talbot.
The introduction of the Avenger virtually coincided with the replacement of the Rootes corporate identity by Chrysler UK and the parent company envisaged the Avenger as a “world car”. US customers were offered the Plymouth Cricket and Chrysler Brazil made the Dodge 1800/Polara between 1972 and 1981.
Production of the Argentinian-built Avengers continued until as recently as 1990. The later models were badged as the VW 1500 following the sale of Chrysler-Argentina to Volkswagen.
In the home market, the various badge alterations did not assist sales prospects and nor did a lack of funds to update the styling, despite an advertising campaign featuring Bruce Forsyth. By the time production ended in 1981, the Talbot Avenger looked about as contemporary as a repeated episode of The Persuaders!.
The number of roadworthy examples of all types of Avenger has declined to 185, making Chris Reed’s 1974 model Super Estate one of Britain’s most exclusive cars. The Grasshopper Green Avenger caused a minor sensation at the 2015 Hagerty Festival of the Unexceptional, as it instantly evoked memories of a time when ‘Crimplene for Men’ was the height of fashion.
Michael Wall’s fleet of Hillmans includes an even rarer Avenger in the form of the limited edition Top Hat. The “car buy of the year” was launched in 1972 and combined circa £976-worth of 1500 Super fitted with £110 worth of extras; automatic transmission, wing mirrors, a heated rear window “for safety and convenience”, a “battery-saving alternator”, electric blue paint and a white vinyl roof.
GNR 649L was registered on January 1st in 1973 and Wall thinks “there are probably four, perhaps five, Top Hats still on the road. They were not as popular as Chrysler hoped”.
However, an undaunted Chrysler UK unveiled the equally exclusive Sunseeker by the end of the year. This was no mere De Luxe, as there was a radio, “sports wheels”, a paint finish that lent it a resemblance to a Lyons Maid iced-lolly and carpeting that was positively “lush”.
The sales material also listed “side repeater flashers” as a further inducement to visit your local dealer, although even in the early 1970s comparatively few people would have been mesmerised by such a feature. Only one Sunseeker is believed to remain in use.
The vivid blue Top Hat now causes a minor sensation wherever it roams as “even many enthusiasts have not heard of the Top Hat”. Wall thinks his Avenger was “originally owned by a disabled ex-serviceman who needed a car with automatic gears. I came by it approximately eight years ago, and it was a bit of a wreck, having not been on the road for 20-plus years.”
The renovation process took Wall “about three years to do in my spare time. There are probably four, perhaps five, Top Hats still on the road; they were not as popular as Chrysler hoped”.
Their image was one of (moderate) go but “at that time, automatic transmission was mainly associated with older drivers. The Borg Warner gearbox is well suited to the engine and the Top Hat is still a good town car, but in the early 1970s many people regarded them as underpowered”.
Today the Hillman seems so inextricably associated with the “uber-1970s” that it is easy to forget that it debuted at a time of £sd and black & white Pathe newsreels. The Avenger hails from a time when a car “designed by computer” was a novelty and when Tupperware’s “Golden High Line Managers” drove tangerine metallic-coloured Supers and GLs – and when the brochure for the Top Hat extolled the virtues of its “wide rear-window shelf and a glove compartment”.
The Avenger and Sunbeam Owners’ Club: https://www.asoc.co.uk/home
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