They were the best running made in England (then in Scotland) ordinary car in the 1970s. Way more reliable than a BL, easier on fuel than a Ford. Anything made in the 70s from wherever had to be rustproofed. If Chrysler put PAS in them and bothered to underseal them they could have sold this 'mini' as an economical strongerbodied alternative to a Jap import.
I have a '75 Avenger 1300, it goes up the hills fine, handles better than a MKII Ford Escort and its rustproofed. It has never failed to start and gives about 35mpg. The American version I think were all low-compression engines b/c of the emissions laws so they were gutless. The Cricket was just too underpowered and they probabbly should have used the 1725cc engine used in the Hillman Hunter with low-compression and spent $20 rustproofing the bodies in the damn factory!
I remember the Pinto being advertized at $1.919. We had a Cricket back in the 1970s, It was underpowered for New england hills. Couldn't keep up with traffic going up hill
Wow, we had a 1971 Chrysler Newport. I remember my dad paid about $6,000 for it. In fact I saw one in the background that the Cricket was rolling past.
Another victim of bad timing and America's oil addiction. If only they had waited for the oil crisis to come around the thing could've gotten some good sales.
@clarko95 No it was a lousy car, it was a rebadged Hillman imported from England, they sold a lot of them initially but then they gained such a bad reputation for quality that sales tanked and people bought Japanese cars instead. Chrysler figured this out in short order and started importing Mitsubishi cars from Japan and rebadged them as Dodge Colts.
Cricket was advertised as "Chrysler-engineered, Chrysler-built" becaused it was made by Chrysler U.K. and sold there as the Rootes Hillman Avenger. The Dodge division would use the Avenger name years later for a mid-size performance coupe. Today's Dodge Avenger is a mid-size sedan that borrows design element from the full-size Charger.
@soco13466 This car was made by Hillman, which was Chryslers' UK division at the time. You are right that it was a POS, but it was Chrysler built. It was replaced the the Mitsubishi built Colt, which was a much better car.
@thatmuse76 yeah it was the Marina's contemporary. Marina was BL's take on the Cortina, avenger was Rootes group's attempt at the same thing. a basic RWD pushrod saloon
Those cars had Lucas ignition systems not dependable unless you wanted to break down on a dark road late at night with your best girl by your side. With a full moon and you hold her close and begin to tell that your not like other guys. And she says she knows as you begin to mutate into a wolf creature wih a long snout. As you rip her poodle skirt with your long claws you can thank Cricket.
LOL!! they call it a sub compact!! this was a medium size car in the UK- although if the US got the same engines we had, I reckon the cricket would be a bit out of its depth with the sort of distances over there. some nice looking old detroit dinosaurs there too. make mine a monaco or fury
@ayremaster5000 I've Google Earthed England. The old Detroit Iron wouldn't fit on many of the country roads there. My first car, a '67 Pontiac Catalina, was so big, it practically required a tugboat to get it out of harbor. But it was fast. 400CUI, that car didn't ask questions; it went like a bat outta hell. My second car was a '72 Camaro, 350 CUI.
@soco13466 Yeah it will fit but you got to be determined and pre-plan where you are going. I live in Wales, UK which has even poorer roads..my mate's got a '64 caddy fleetwood, about 19ft long and it won't fit in any standard parking spaces.
Oh man...my mom JUST told me she bought one of these! I can see why...kinda cute (for the day) & VERY affordable. She also said she's never considered buying Chrysler since as the Cricket 1) body wasn't even as strong as it's namesake's shell, & 2) she would've felt safer in strung-together tuna cans.
@RomanianChickLover Hey hey,, no Chevette bashing. they were great cars. Maybe not very dynamic to drive, but dependable. Thumbs up for TheChipmunkTwins.
@TheChipmunkTwins Cute? here in the UK in the 70's, that was a bad ass car, Plymouth Cricket in US, Hilman Avenger Tiger in Uk, prefer the Hunter and Vouge sedan styling, looklike a cooler Mk2 Cortina
@JohnnyBoi93xD : Yeah! I think it's adorable, and it may have been bad ass back in the day, whatever, here I'm in Canada and it's 2010. I think it's cute. Sorry if that offends you. It's kinda hard to believe that a car called Cricket, after the little hoppity bug, couldda been bad ass.
@daigle46 no offense taken, I find it funny how a car known here as the Hilman Avenger Tiger (Avenger was kl enough but they put tiger on for extra coolness), but i guess it coz our cars are like midgets to yours XD
The Hillman Avenger was a nice car. Sadly the factory is no more. Peugeot closed it a couple of years ago and moved production to Slovakia. Nice of them. It makes me want to puke.
i owned one a 1976 hillman avenger gls it had twin carbs 1600cc had 96 mph and this was an old secondhand cheap car when i perchased it in the late 80's..three pod dash very sporty..had her for seven years and payed £75 for her.wish i could buy her back reg- pho 599p
It was produced in Argentina for Chrysler and was named Dodge 1500. Later,in 1982, when Chrysler left the country it was produced by Volkswagen and renamed Volkswagen 1500. VW Produced it until 1990. a cuestion: Where is this commercial from? Thanks!
Weren't these the cars that stoners liked cos you could remove the cover at the centre of the steering wheel to hide your stash? You got to love the special features!
I had a Plymouth Cricket and loved it. I paid $995 for a used one. I could go from Benton Harbor, Michigan to Mt. Pleasant, Mich. on $4.00 worth of gasoline !!
Just a note on Gas Mileage: Did you know that now days Ford's WORST gas mileage car gets BETTER than their BEST gas mileage car back in 1974? Ford is just an example. Almost ALL car makers have this same statistic... except for Toyota, Honda. Who, btw have been getting near 40 for the last few decades all along with nearly no improvement. If we can do better in 30 years why haven't they?
saw 2 of thees my whole life andabout 1983. and the one had been repainted twice. found a grille for one of these in a salvage yard. bought it and hung it in my game room!!
indiffrent workmanship. dlearships did not want to sell because of low profit margins and service and parts very bad. imported 1971-1973. with most of the 73's being retitled 72's a wagon was offered in 1972-73. dodge colts outsold this 3 to 1.most people looking at colt or cricket were probably put into a dart or vailant/ duster by the dealers.
The commercial says Chrysler built. I thought these were imports. A guy I grew up with tried to steal one of these off a used car lot in 1973. He took the keys earlier from the dealer. He couldnt drive a stick and left it out in the middle of the lot. These cars were junk anyway
The Cricket was Chrysler built - problem was that it was at a factory in England Chrysler owned renowned for unrest with the workers and their unions!
If I'm not mistaken, these Plymouth Crickets were manufactured by Rootes Motor (owned by Chrysler) and sold as the Avenger in Europe. And you are correct about the union unrest. Unionism and government interference, coupled with cheap steel and wiring, destroyed the British auto industry, and I fear that GM is now headed down the exact same road.
your almost right ..these where made by Roots and sold as the HILLMAN AVENGER
it was an adequate car for it's day,but the one to go for is the Mk1 and Mk2 TIGER AVENGERS(they came in only two colours,RED and YELLOW!(the Mk 1 also came with "Tiger" stripes all over the bodywork)it had a hotted up engine!
the troble was it was made down to a price and looked it! the US version(Plymouth Cricket) had a detuned engine and was a bit gutless!the two door version only came out after 6 years!
The Tiger was a limited run model - however I'm surprised that it didn't come out in the Avenger 2-door bodyshell. As for the 2-door versions (which are rare species now) they came out in 1973, 3 years after the 4-door.
thanks joh2 old s0on your right..i hit the wrong key on my keyboard...small question..? why did they only give the 2 door version half a vinal roof covering? it looked silly!
I get the idea it was a styling gimmick! I encountered a 1974 Ford Capri II with a similar treatment (tan paint, with an yellow/orange vinyl roof), however the half-vinyl approach was done in a elliptical curve on the roof!
@CycolacFan Yeah, that would have been good!!! sadly they did try and sell US spec cars here in the '70s, ie AMC pacer, ambassador, various cadillacs, etc but import tax made a pacer as expensive as an XJ6 plus you had the godawful fuel economy. It's only recently that US makers have started making inroads into Europe, now they have sized their cars at a reasonable level, stopped fitting marshmallows for shock absorbers and made cars capable of double figure fuel consumption
@JohnnyBoi93xD The Singer Vogue, being a rebadged Hillman Super Minx (early) and Hillman Hunter (later models) was built in the same factory, at Ryton-on-Dunsmore near Coventry UK.
Yeah they had them in the US. Imported from one of Chrysler's UK companies. My great aunt had one. Found the paperwork from when she bought it, AC was almost a $700 option. Seems kinda silly for a car that only cost $1,915 base.
According to my parents $2000 was a lot of money in 1971. But New car prices today are still outrageous!! Well in away it was a lot of money back then you could but a new house one story ranch for about $50,0000. Today that will barley get you a fully loaded Cadillac Escalade for that price.
There was actually a Cricket on eBay not too long ago that may be the only example left in the U.S. that escaped the dreaded tin worm. I remember this commercial very well. Thanks for posting it!
Despite common prejudice, this car was widely successful-outside the US..it out sold many other cars for over 10 years overseas. Not a bad car. It just got a bad rap. I think the chrysler execs wanted to sell the bigger ones to the gas guzzling crowd and this was their way of competing with the subcompacts..sales figures are at about 40,000 in the u.s..the Metro is not looking so bad to many who once called it a p.o.s. small cars- good on gas
this car in the usa , was a giant piece of crap , sorry it was...... most were automatics..and they sold like 9 of them , they were gone by the time i was 15
they were the Hillman/Chrysler?talbot Avenger in Europe and were classed as an average sized family car, but were seen as being tiny in the US cause they liked their cars big!
Is it just me or was the music in this commercial scarily similar to the "Little House on the Prairie" theme? And I have never ever heard of this car!
Great Cars!! if well maintained- the key. The Hillman Avenger/ Plymouth Cricket was a solid uni-body saloon with great handling and their engines go on forever. Sold very well in Europe and UK and enjoyed a long production run there, even longer in Argentina and Brazil. It's a shame the rust and lack of support didn't keep them in the states longer.
nope not them, you mean the hillman hunter, the avenger was built up to 1989 in brazil & argentina under the dodge badge and strangly in the mid 80's they were badged as VW when VW took over dodge argentina
I recall the '71 Cuda was the only year with the quad headlights. Great car! I had a '71 Dodge Challenger that I loved. Unfortunately, it fell to pieces from the damages of the road salt used heavily in the northeastern states. The frame literally rotted away. Love those Mopars to this day.
Launched as Hillman Avenger in UK, 1970, designed originally in the UK by Chrysler controlled Hillman, using 1.2, 1.3, 1.5 and 1.6 engines. There were two fast versions, the Avenger Tiger with 92hp and under 9 sec 0-60, and BRM rally cars with 200hp! UK 1976 rebadged as Chrysler, production transfered to, Scotland. Finally, 1981, rebadged as a Talbot... then car and factory scrapped. Continued to be made in South America as a VW 1500 until early 90s.
Rootes/ Hillman made, the Hillman Avenger Plymouth Cricket in the UK, under Chrysler UK. Mistiushi made the Colt, and the Canadian Cricket after 1974, a different car.
Chrysler may have rebadged a lot of Mitsubishis in their time, but the Avenger/Cricket had NOTHING to do with Mitsubishi (although in New Zealand the Avenger and certain Mitsubishis of the time did share the same assembly production line)...
I remember hearing only portions of this theme during Chrysler commercials from back then. Never have I heard this complete version. It is fer sure one of the most memorable and best tunes created for a car commercial. Love it! There are some other Chrysler ads here that play a piece of it, but nothing like this. Go to 80sTVthemes and you'll find a complete, though different version.
I sure hope that after this commercial was filmed that someone had enough sense and parked every one of these cars in a nice Arizona warehouse for the next 40-years. I'd love to see that 'time capsule' opened up 2011! I'd pay the high admission just to see these again. Those cars were some of the best looking and most muscular cars ever made. Shame that so few are left. Nice flashback. Thnx for the post!
Best friend had owned two of these in the late 80's when he first got married - took their honeymoon in that car. Put it through hell hill climbing and such. It was a good little car. Not much for packing full of people but we managed.
If the Cricket was released ONLY two years later, ONE WEEK into the oil crisis, it would have been a HIT!!! In fact, the Cricket would probably have survived today if it was timed like so. (By the way, how much is $1915 in 1971 worth today?)
I recall my foster dad had one... it kept falling apart, but he loved it just the same. Never knew till recently that these were related to Hillman Avengers.
They are practically extinct in the USA. I've seen one or two for sale on Ebay over the last 10 years where as you see Dodge Colts (Mitsubishi Lancers) much more often
Being before America's safety bumpers it looked almost identical to the Hillman Avenger, save for the side marker lights! - and due to America's headlamp regs, all Crickets regardless of trim had the quad round lights of the higher spec Avengers (which suited the car better) rather than the small rectangular units of the base Avenger models.
One thing surprising was the standard inclusion of front discs (a necessity) on the Cricket, yet the bigger Plymouths then mostly used 4 WHEEL DRUMS!
An interesting approach launching the Hillman Avenger to the American market!
...unfortunately Chrysler UK's labour relations were at a low, and build quality wasn't a patch on the Japanese - AND they DIDNT use underseal, particularly with salty roads! - hence why few are left! - Nevertheless, it was a good car - provided anti-rust measures and build issues were fixed...
We had both the Hillman Avenger and the smaller Mitsubishis here in New Zealand - Although there is the odd Avenger on the roads, it is FAR more common to see the smaller Mitsubishis (Lancer, Mirage, Celeste - all sold as Colt at different times), simply as they were more reliable (The design of the Mitsubishis made them better to assemble than the Avenger) and did not rust out.
Yes, it was a low cost car, but the Plymouth Cricket was actually an imported Hillman Avenger. Designed circa 1966 by the Rootes Group A.K.A Hillman and sold as an Avenger in England, Sunbeam in Europe by Chrysler UK. The car was imported and rebadged as a Cricket in the US and Canada for only 3 years. It did much better in England and the European markets.
Actually on the contrary the design is earlier and very much British, Roy Axxe of the Rootes group came up with the car in '63 but as Chrysler took over rootes it took some styling cues from detroit in 1966, you'll find the story if you google rootes uk. It's the last of the Rootes design and rootes built cars, they just badged it a Chrysler.
Looks like your correct, I am just surprised that the design took about five years from design concept to launch. The Avenger was introduced in February 1970. The Allpar website has a very interested design reveiw.
But at the same time, Chrysler Owned Roots and the people's paychecks came from Chrysler so indeed, Chrysler did have a claim that it was Chrysler Designed and Engineered.
Actually its more of a sponsership/production than an egineering job on Chrysler's part. There's some interesting literature on the Rootes Engieering developement and design which happened before the take over, much of my sources are from Roy Axe interviews ect. Most of the parts on my Cricket actually say Rootes Engineering.
I do however, give Chrysler and Chrysler UK a lot of credit for attempting to market it all over the world. I just wonder why they named it an Avenger in England and Sunmbeam in Europe and of all things a Cricket in the U.S. :-)
You have to remember the competition at the time for Chrysler in the USA, Ford Pinto, AMC Gremlin, Mercury Bobcat, Volkswagon Bug etc etc. All cute sounding names. A the time, Americans still drove extremely large cars. But all in All, Chrysler did own them, they did sell it for cash in 1980. I was a Chrysler Employee at the time working for one of the Largest Factory owned stores.
In 1971 in the USA, 99% of Americans had no idea what a BMW was. BMW would have had zero impact on american or british styling. Mercedes, they knew, Volvo too to some degree but most people in 1971 bought American. VW, Fiat, Renault, Toyota and Datsun were the players, not BMW
I Had a 71 Cricket would not run in the rain, what you saved in gas you spent in parts
geoshirey 6 months ago
They were the best running made in England (then in Scotland) ordinary car in the 1970s. Way more reliable than a BL, easier on fuel than a Ford. Anything made in the 70s from wherever had to be rustproofed. If Chrysler put PAS in them and bothered to underseal them they could have sold this 'mini' as an economical strongerbodied alternative to a Jap import.
Paddy075 6 months ago
I have a '75 Avenger 1300, it goes up the hills fine, handles better than a MKII Ford Escort and its rustproofed. It has never failed to start and gives about 35mpg. The American version I think were all low-compression engines b/c of the emissions laws so they were gutless. The Cricket was just too underpowered and they probabbly should have used the 1725cc engine used in the Hillman Hunter with low-compression and spent $20 rustproofing the bodies in the damn factory!
Paddy075 6 months ago
song???
comandohazzard 6 months ago
I remember the Pinto being advertized at $1.919. We had a Cricket back in the 1970s, It was underpowered for New england hills. Couldn't keep up with traffic going up hill
rick6393 7 months ago
YOW the most amazing thing was the price. Less than $2000?!? M Y, HOW THE DOLLAR HAS FALLEN.
seven7arrows 8 months ago
And 2 hours later, the Cricket was probably half rusted-through.
Pretty detailed price description (don't normally hear the part about tax, license, etc., not being included).
ChristianTVArchive 8 months ago
Wow, we had a 1971 Chrysler Newport. I remember my dad paid about $6,000 for it. In fact I saw one in the background that the Cricket was rolling past.
ridgerunner721601 1 year ago
Another victim of bad timing and America's oil addiction. If only they had waited for the oil crisis to come around the thing could've gotten some good sales.
clarko95 1 year ago
@clarko95 No it was a lousy car, it was a rebadged Hillman imported from England, they sold a lot of them initially but then they gained such a bad reputation for quality that sales tanked and people bought Japanese cars instead. Chrysler figured this out in short order and started importing Mitsubishi cars from Japan and rebadged them as Dodge Colts.
OlegKostoglatov 10 months ago
I had one. Definitely the worst car ever built in history.
richh2009 1 year ago
Cricket was advertised as "Chrysler-engineered, Chrysler-built" becaused it was made by Chrysler U.K. and sold there as the Rootes Hillman Avenger. The Dodge division would use the Avenger name years later for a mid-size performance coupe. Today's Dodge Avenger is a mid-size sedan that borrows design element from the full-size Charger.
johneddy98033 1 year ago
Yes, in our country it was made like Dodge/WV 1500/1800, but I believe the original is Morris Marina, and looks like a little Chevy Nova/70 .
charlesnorte 1 year ago
Lil' Cricket, comin' through and left as fast as it came in. LOL
TheLizardKing1967 1 year ago
Comment removed
jakesaintsrow123 9 months ago
That car wasn't built by Chrysler! It was one of the first of the Japanese cars with an American nameplate. And it was a true POS.
soco13466 1 year ago
@soco13466
Strange; I had a friend that had one and he THRASHED that thing and had no problems...
Napalmdog 1 year ago
@soco13466 This car was made by Hillman, which was Chryslers' UK division at the time. You are right that it was a POS, but it was Chrysler built. It was replaced the the Mitsubishi built Colt, which was a much better car.
Tullathon 1 year ago
but does it come with a HEMI ?
UNLIMITEDMACKEY 1 year ago
@UNLIMITEDMACKEY That little POS cricket, you would be lucky if it came with an engine, let alone a hemi. That car was a work of nast.
Lesrevesdhiver 1 year ago
I know it is based on a Hillman, but it looks an awful lot like a Morris Marina.
thatmuse76 1 year ago
@thatmuse76 yeah it was the Marina's contemporary. Marina was BL's take on the Cortina, avenger was Rootes group's attempt at the same thing. a basic RWD pushrod saloon
mrspivvy 1 year ago
Those cars had Lucas ignition systems not dependable unless you wanted to break down on a dark road late at night with your best girl by your side. With a full moon and you hold her close and begin to tell that your not like other guys. And she says she knows as you begin to mutate into a wolf creature wih a long snout. As you rip her poodle skirt with your long claws you can thank Cricket.
danosly 1 year ago
@danosly Poodle skirt? That was in the 50's, I think. This car was in the 70's. Don't mix Elvis with Pink Floyd, eh?
soco13466 1 year ago
Kind of look like a BMW from the front.
presidentbren 1 year ago
Cutest car I've seen on YouTube for some time.
MattTheSaiyan 1 year ago
LOL!! they call it a sub compact!! this was a medium size car in the UK- although if the US got the same engines we had, I reckon the cricket would be a bit out of its depth with the sort of distances over there. some nice looking old detroit dinosaurs there too. make mine a monaco or fury
ayremaster5000 1 year ago
@ayremaster5000 I've Google Earthed England. The old Detroit Iron wouldn't fit on many of the country roads there. My first car, a '67 Pontiac Catalina, was so big, it practically required a tugboat to get it out of harbor. But it was fast. 400CUI, that car didn't ask questions; it went like a bat outta hell. My second car was a '72 Camaro, 350 CUI.
soco13466 1 year ago
@soco13466 Yeah it will fit but you got to be determined and pre-plan where you are going. I live in Wales, UK which has even poorer roads..my mate's got a '64 caddy fleetwood, about 19ft long and it won't fit in any standard parking spaces.
mrspivvy 1 year ago
@mrspivvy It's much easier to drive a small car in the USA than to drive a large one in a small country, with roads designed centuries ago.
soco13466 1 year ago
@soco13466 yeah I'm sure it is. back in the early 70's when gas was cheap a little compact would have cost pennies to run too
mrspivvy 1 year ago
never seen one they all must have rusted away lol
wolfzero85 1 year ago
Oh man...my mom JUST told me she bought one of these! I can see why...kinda cute (for the day) & VERY affordable. She also said she's never considered buying Chrysler since as the Cricket 1) body wasn't even as strong as it's namesake's shell, & 2) she would've felt safer in strung-together tuna cans.
SeekerKC 1 year ago
Yhey put the decimal in the wrong place it should be $19.15
danosly 1 year ago
chevette? man you should be ashamed of yourself lol!!
RomanianChickLover 1 year ago
@RomanianChickLover Hey hey,, no Chevette bashing. they were great cars. Maybe not very dynamic to drive, but dependable. Thumbs up for TheChipmunkTwins.
acadianfever 1 year ago
SOOOOO CUUUUUTTEEE!!!
I have a 84 chevette but the cricket's so cute too!!
TheChipmunkTwins 1 year ago
@TheChipmunkTwins Cute? here in the UK in the 70's, that was a bad ass car, Plymouth Cricket in US, Hilman Avenger Tiger in Uk, prefer the Hunter and Vouge sedan styling, looklike a cooler Mk2 Cortina
JohnnyBoi93xD 1 year ago
@JohnnyBoi93xD : Yeah! I think it's adorable, and it may have been bad ass back in the day, whatever, here I'm in Canada and it's 2010. I think it's cute. Sorry if that offends you. It's kinda hard to believe that a car called Cricket, after the little hoppity bug, couldda been bad ass.
daigle46 1 year ago
@daigle46 us/ canadia gave it a gay name LOL it suited Tiger more
JohnnyBoi93xD 1 year ago
@daigle46 no offense taken, I find it funny how a car known here as the Hilman Avenger Tiger (Avenger was kl enough but they put tiger on for extra coolness), but i guess it coz our cars are like midgets to yours XD
JohnnyBoi93xD 1 year ago
Chrysler made sick cars back in the day.
The only good thing they make nowadays is the Dodge Viper and Ram series.
Rsimon859 2 years ago
my aunt is very sick
marshalllucky 2 years ago
The Hillman Avenger was a nice car. Sadly the factory is no more. Peugeot closed it a couple of years ago and moved production to Slovakia. Nice of them. It makes me want to puke.
Isochest 2 years ago
i owned one a 1976 hillman avenger gls it had twin carbs 1600cc had 96 mph and this was an old secondhand cheap car when i perchased it in the late 80's..three pod dash very sporty..had her for seven years and payed £75 for her.wish i could buy her back reg- pho 599p
farr64 2 years ago
It was produced in Argentina for Chrysler and was named Dodge 1500. Later,in 1982, when Chrysler left the country it was produced by Volkswagen and renamed Volkswagen 1500. VW Produced it until 1990. a cuestion: Where is this commercial from? Thanks!
FalconGhia 2 years ago
That is a cool looking car...
12345678927269 2 years ago
That would have been a sedan...luxery size...in Europe in 1973...
12345678927269 2 years ago
Certainly the Avenger had an upmarket GLS model in Europe, however dimensionally it was the size of a Ford Escort and Toyota Corolla of the time.
However, Chrysler did offer the Simca 180 in Europe, which looked incredibly similar to the Avenger, yet was a larger car.
joh2 2 years ago
このころのアメ車って片方しかミラーなかったのかな？
raffine1976 2 years ago
Weren't these the cars that stoners liked cos you could remove the cover at the centre of the steering wheel to hide your stash? You got to love the special features!
barrybas 2 years ago
@barrybas yes, correct
ayremaster5000 1 year ago
I had a Plymouth Cricket and loved it. I paid $995 for a used one. I could go from Benton Harbor, Michigan to Mt. Pleasant, Mich. on $4.00 worth of gasoline !!
2011Steve 2 years ago
Just a note on Gas Mileage: Did you know that now days Ford's WORST gas mileage car gets BETTER than their BEST gas mileage car back in 1974? Ford is just an example. Almost ALL car makers have this same statistic... except for Toyota, Honda. Who, btw have been getting near 40 for the last few decades all along with nearly no improvement. If we can do better in 30 years why haven't they?
StuPadazzo 2 years ago
Look who wants a bailout now...
clarkbell 2 years ago
saw 2 of thees my whole life andabout 1983. and the one had been repainted twice. found a grille for one of these in a salvage yard. bought it and hung it in my game room!!
tokyofreaky 2 years ago
indiffrent workmanship. dlearships did not want to sell because of low profit margins and service and parts very bad. imported 1971-1973. with most of the 73's being retitled 72's a wagon was offered in 1972-73. dodge colts outsold this 3 to 1.most people looking at colt or cricket were probably put into a dart or vailant/ duster by the dealers.
tokyofreaky 2 years ago
The commercial says Chrysler built. I thought these were imports. A guy I grew up with tried to steal one of these off a used car lot in 1973. He took the keys earlier from the dealer. He couldnt drive a stick and left it out in the middle of the lot. These cars were junk anyway
oldclips 2 years ago
The Cricket was Chrysler built - problem was that it was at a factory in England Chrysler owned renowned for unrest with the workers and their unions!
joh2 2 years ago
If I'm not mistaken, these Plymouth Crickets were manufactured by Rootes Motor (owned by Chrysler) and sold as the Avenger in Europe. And you are correct about the union unrest. Unionism and government interference, coupled with cheap steel and wiring, destroyed the British auto industry, and I fear that GM is now headed down the exact same road.
70Kenny 2 years ago
your almost right ..these where made by Roots and sold as the HILLMAN AVENGER
it was an adequate car for it's day,but the one to go for is the Mk1 and Mk2 TIGER AVENGERS(they came in only two colours,RED and YELLOW!(the Mk 1 also came with "Tiger" stripes all over the bodywork)it had a hotted up engine!
the troble was it was made down to a price and looked it! the US version(Plymouth Cricket) had a detuned engine and was a bit gutless!the two door version only came out after 6 years!
grahamkeithtodd 2 years ago
The Tiger was a limited run model - however I'm surprised that it didn't come out in the Avenger 2-door bodyshell. As for the 2-door versions (which are rare species now) they came out in 1973, 3 years after the 4-door.
joh2 2 years ago
thanks joh2 old s0on your right..i hit the wrong key on my keyboard...small question..? why did they only give the 2 door version half a vinal roof covering? it looked silly!
grahamkeithtodd 2 years ago
I get the idea it was a styling gimmick! I encountered a 1974 Ford Capri II with a similar treatment (tan paint, with an yellow/orange vinyl roof), however the half-vinyl approach was done in a elliptical curve on the roof!
joh2 2 years ago
Wow too bad you don't see these here in america anymore!
CarCrazy12804 3 years ago
Eh, volvo 140/160 had 4-wheel power disc brakes stadard alredy in 1967... US cars sould be fast mucle cars or pickup trucks and nothing eles.
timdelfin 3 years ago
awesome i used to own one of theese but i totalled it 20 years ago...
folgers69 3 years ago
Mmm, Hillman Avenger, was there a hot vesion available equivilent to the sporty Avener Tiger?
Shame it didn't work the other way round, I'll love to see British TV advertising introducing the Duster, Demon, Superbee etc to the UK
CycolacFan 3 years ago
@CycolacFan Yeah, that would have been good!!! sadly they did try and sell US spec cars here in the '70s, ie AMC pacer, ambassador, various cadillacs, etc but import tax made a pacer as expensive as an XJ6 plus you had the godawful fuel economy. It's only recently that US makers have started making inroads into Europe, now they have sized their cars at a reasonable level, stopped fitting marshmallows for shock absorbers and made cars capable of double figure fuel consumption
mrspivvy 1 year ago
This commercial is a fraud and the Cricket was junk engineered in Scotland.
txmcxlx 3 years ago
The facelifted Chrysler/Talbot ones were Scottish - this model was made in England...
joh2 2 years ago
@joh2 any idea on where the Singer Vouges were built as my dad has 1, would b kl to know
JohnnyBoi93xD 1 year ago
@JohnnyBoi93xD The Singer Vogue, being a rebadged Hillman Super Minx (early) and Hillman Hunter (later models) was built in the same factory, at Ryton-on-Dunsmore near Coventry UK.
joh2 1 year ago
@joh2 kl, i guess only Imps were made in Glasgow
JohnnyBoi93xD 1 year ago
@JohnnyBoi93xD yes they were, at the Linwood plant. Avengers were a coventry product
mrspivvy 1 year ago
@mrspivvy Linwood also built Avengers and the Chrysler Sunbeam hatchback, up until its closure in 1981.
The only part of the plant still standing is the main admin block, which is now a business centre.
newforestroadwarrior 1 year ago
I owned one. I brought it brand new. It was my first car. I had a lot of service problems with it. It was constantly in the shop.
Rbigraff 3 years ago
Unfortunately my father said the same about a 1980 Chrysler/Talbot Avenger that he had - other than that it was a good car...
joh2 3 years ago
When you turned the key all you heard was crickets.
riidinghard 3 years ago
never heard of this car was it released in the US
chinasherry1961 3 years ago
Yeah they had them in the US. Imported from one of Chrysler's UK companies. My great aunt had one. Found the paperwork from when she bought it, AC was almost a $700 option. Seems kinda silly for a car that only cost $1,915 base.
LynolsOffice 3 years ago
A/C in an Avenger?
joh2 3 years ago
One of the differences the Plymouth version had along with a larger engine was optional A/C.
LynolsOffice 3 years ago
If only you could get a new car for $2000 today...
akmusica 3 years ago
According to my parents $2000 was a lot of money in 1971. But New car prices today are still outrageous!! Well in away it was a lot of money back then you could but a new house one story ranch for about $50,0000. Today that will barley get you a fully loaded Cadillac Escalade for that price.
jimmy82022000 3 years ago
an incredible machine ;)
28jul1821 3 years ago
That was such a piece of junk. When we lived in England, we had a Hillman Avenger. It was CRAP!
Sharkey9883 3 years ago
Cool, I remember that one! Hey, does anyone have the 70's Arrow commercial with the "me and my arrow" song? Was it Plymouth that made that arrow?
Bob
galaxyflyer1 3 years ago
There was actually a Cricket on eBay not too long ago that may be the only example left in the U.S. that escaped the dreaded tin worm. I remember this commercial very well. Thanks for posting it!
Jaydublus 3 years ago
always liked these , they were kinda rare , and they really sucked bad , but cool all the same
otterhead45 3 years ago
Despite common prejudice, this car was widely successful-outside the US..it out sold many other cars for over 10 years overseas. Not a bad car. It just got a bad rap. I think the chrysler execs wanted to sell the bigger ones to the gas guzzling crowd and this was their way of competing with the subcompacts..sales figures are at about 40,000 in the u.s..the Metro is not looking so bad to many who once called it a p.o.s. small cars- good on gas
redyeller 3 years ago
this car in the usa , was a giant piece of crap , sorry it was...... most were automatics..and they sold like 9 of them , they were gone by the time i was 15
otterhead44 3 years ago
TO ElectroGhost10 , i totaly agree with u, todays cars has a borring disign, in the 70s was it mutch beter
sneyder69 3 years ago
Older compact cars were still stylish compared with the garbage designs of today; Smart Car comes to mind.
ElectroGhost10 3 years ago
they were the Hillman/Chrysler?talbot Avenger in Europe and were classed as an average sized family car, but were seen as being tiny in the US cause they liked their cars big!
mickeymoose76 3 years ago
Is it just me or was the music in this commercial scarily similar to the "Little House on the Prairie" theme? And I have never ever heard of this car!
sonnyr1985 4 years ago
LOL you crack me up. Actually Little House came out 3 years later so they would have copied the Cricket. It is catchy!
freeballer81 3 years ago
Great Cars!! if well maintained- the key. The Hillman Avenger/ Plymouth Cricket was a solid uni-body saloon with great handling and their engines go on forever. Sold very well in Europe and UK and enjoyed a long production run there, even longer in Argentina and Brazil. It's a shame the rust and lack of support didn't keep them in the states longer.
72mechanic 4 years ago
Ha!!
Those piles of shit were made in Iran up until recently....they called them Peykan
ChrisDetroit 4 years ago
nope not them, you mean the hillman hunter, the avenger was built up to 1989 in brazil & argentina under the dodge badge and strangly in the mid 80's they were badged as VW when VW took over dodge argentina
dminalba 4 years ago 7
er not quite ChrisDetroit old son...the Peykan was based on the hillman "ARROW" cars(hillman minx,sunbeam sceptre)
the hillman avenger was a different car altogether!
grahamkeithtodd 2 years ago
i have a '71 cuda like the one at :19 lol!
heavymetalchickab666 4 years ago
I recall the '71 Cuda was the only year with the quad headlights. Great car! I had a '71 Dodge Challenger that I loved. Unfortunately, it fell to pieces from the damages of the road salt used heavily in the northeastern states. The frame literally rotted away. Love those Mopars to this day.
jupitr2 4 years ago
Launched as Hillman Avenger in UK, 1970, designed originally in the UK by Chrysler controlled Hillman, using 1.2, 1.3, 1.5 and 1.6 engines. There were two fast versions, the Avenger Tiger with 92hp and under 9 sec 0-60, and BRM rally cars with 200hp! UK 1976 rebadged as Chrysler, production transfered to, Scotland. Finally, 1981, rebadged as a Talbot... then car and factory scrapped. Continued to be made in South America as a VW 1500 until early 90s.
dcanmore 4 years ago
A rebadged Hillman Avenger from the UK...
montrosepatriot 4 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Which is in turn a rebadged Mitsubishi, actually.
ChomuSclavus 4 years ago
Rootes/ Hillman made, the Hillman Avenger Plymouth Cricket in the UK, under Chrysler UK. Mistiushi made the Colt, and the Canadian Cricket after 1974, a different car.
rnossa 4 years ago
that's funny, I've competed buying parts off ebay with you!
massieko 3 years ago
probably! -small world for us..
rnossa 3 years ago
Chrysler may have rebadged a lot of Mitsubishis in their time, but the Avenger/Cricket had NOTHING to do with Mitsubishi (although in New Zealand the Avenger and certain Mitsubishis of the time did share the same assembly production line)...
joh2 3 years ago
Has anyone tried doing a "Street-Spot" with the Cricket? I assume it would be easier to do it with a Cricket than with my old Plymouth Voyager.
Vearrow 4 years ago
I REALLY love that "Coming Through" song. On what other videos will I find it? Or is there a clean audio file of it somewhere else on the Web?
ChomuSclavus 4 years ago 2
Really is a cute tune!
jimmy82022000 4 years ago 2
I remember hearing only portions of this theme during Chrysler commercials from back then. Never have I heard this complete version. It is fer sure one of the most memorable and best tunes created for a car commercial. Love it! There are some other Chrysler ads here that play a piece of it, but nothing like this. Go to 80sTVthemes and you'll find a complete, though different version.
jupitr2 4 years ago
They used it in Australia too, particularly on the Chrysler Valiant "Hey Charger!" adverts...
joh2 2 years ago
Screw the Cricket!.....I want one of those beefy babies in the background!
boogiewoman303 4 years ago
Lol, I suspect the smallest engined one would have at least twice the Cricket's engine capacity!
joh2 2 years ago
I sure hope that after this commercial was filmed that someone had enough sense and parked every one of these cars in a nice Arizona warehouse for the next 40-years. I'd love to see that 'time capsule' opened up 2011! I'd pay the high admission just to see these again. Those cars were some of the best looking and most muscular cars ever made. Shame that so few are left. Nice flashback. Thnx for the post!
jupitr2 4 years ago 10
Best friend had owned two of these in the late 80's when he first got married - took their honeymoon in that car. Put it through hell hill climbing and such. It was a good little car. Not much for packing full of people but we managed.
kfirmedia 4 years ago 2
Chrysler Cricket..*chirp chirp*!
I'm impressed how much this car looks like a forerunner of popular 1980's compacts.
funkmike 4 years ago 3
These cars don't even exist anymore.
gnws6 4 years ago 2
I have never seen one of these Ever.
Lumotaku 4 years ago
It looks very similar to the Datsun "Bluebird"
jimmy82022000 4 years ago
yeah they do, I have one, a 75 though so it's the Mitsubishi style rather than the British style
massieko 3 years ago
how rare are these?
I think I can barely remember this commercial on tv back then.....wow cool stuff
TonyBeazley 4 years ago
If the Cricket was released ONLY two years later, ONE WEEK into the oil crisis, it would have been a HIT!!! In fact, the Cricket would probably have survived today if it was timed like so. (By the way, how much is $1915 in 1971 worth today?)
ChomuSclavus 4 years ago 2
Thus the bane of Chrysler during the '70s. They seemed to be either too far ahead or too far behind their time.
WVECSpirit 4 years ago 2
Roughly $10,000.
brentjohnpalmer 2 years ago
I recall my foster dad had one... it kept falling apart, but he loved it just the same. Never knew till recently that these were related to Hillman Avengers.
mmmmna 4 years ago
The final British version was the Talbot Avenger (under Peugeot ownership), but production ended under VW ownership in Brazil.
504gld 4 years ago 3
They are practically extinct in the USA. I've seen one or two for sale on Ebay over the last 10 years where as you see Dodge Colts (Mitsubishi Lancers) much more often
OsbornTramain 4 years ago 3
Being before America's safety bumpers it looked almost identical to the Hillman Avenger, save for the side marker lights! - and due to America's headlamp regs, all Crickets regardless of trim had the quad round lights of the higher spec Avengers (which suited the car better) rather than the small rectangular units of the base Avenger models.
One thing surprising was the standard inclusion of front discs (a necessity) on the Cricket, yet the bigger Plymouths then mostly used 4 WHEEL DRUMS!
joh2 4 years ago 2
An interesting approach launching the Hillman Avenger to the American market!
...unfortunately Chrysler UK's labour relations were at a low, and build quality wasn't a patch on the Japanese - AND they DIDNT use underseal, particularly with salty roads! - hence why few are left! - Nevertheless, it was a good car - provided anti-rust measures and build issues were fixed...
joh2 4 years ago
Dodge dealers got a completely different small captive import, the Colt, made by Mitsubishi in Japan.
By the early '80s, 10-year-old Colts were an everyday sight but Crickets had disappeared.
nlpnt 4 years ago 3
We had both the Hillman Avenger and the smaller Mitsubishis here in New Zealand - Although there is the odd Avenger on the roads, it is FAR more common to see the smaller Mitsubishis (Lancer, Mirage, Celeste - all sold as Colt at different times), simply as they were more reliable (The design of the Mitsubishis made them better to assemble than the Avenger) and did not rust out.
joh2 4 years ago
Yes, it was a low cost car, but the Plymouth Cricket was actually an imported Hillman Avenger. Designed circa 1966 by the Rootes Group A.K.A Hillman and sold as an Avenger in England, Sunbeam in Europe by Chrysler UK. The car was imported and rebadged as a Cricket in the US and Canada for only 3 years. It did much better in England and the European markets.
rnossa 4 years ago
I think the design is later the 66. It has a destinct early 70's Chrysler Corp. appearence
Drivermatic 4 years ago
Actually on the contrary the design is earlier and very much British, Roy Axxe of the Rootes group came up with the car in '63 but as Chrysler took over rootes it took some styling cues from detroit in 1966, you'll find the story if you google rootes uk. It's the last of the Rootes design and rootes built cars, they just badged it a Chrysler.
rnossa 4 years ago
Looks like your correct, I am just surprised that the design took about five years from design concept to launch. The Avenger was introduced in February 1970. The Allpar website has a very interested design reveiw.
Drivermatic 4 years ago
But at the same time, Chrysler Owned Roots and the people's paychecks came from Chrysler so indeed, Chrysler did have a claim that it was Chrysler Designed and Engineered.
OsbornTramain 4 years ago
Actually its more of a sponsership/production than an egineering job on Chrysler's part. There's some interesting literature on the Rootes Engieering developement and design which happened before the take over, much of my sources are from Roy Axe interviews ect. Most of the parts on my Cricket actually say Rootes Engineering.
rnossa 4 years ago
I do however, give Chrysler and Chrysler UK a lot of credit for attempting to market it all over the world. I just wonder why they named it an Avenger in England and Sunmbeam in Europe and of all things a Cricket in the U.S. :-)
rnossa 4 years ago
You have to remember the competition at the time for Chrysler in the USA, Ford Pinto, AMC Gremlin, Mercury Bobcat, Volkswagon Bug etc etc. All cute sounding names. A the time, Americans still drove extremely large cars. But all in All, Chrysler did own them, they did sell it for cash in 1980. I was a Chrysler Employee at the time working for one of the Largest Factory owned stores.
OsbornTramain 4 years ago 3
Yes, that's interesting. a very valid point; it was about the compact marketing of the day..
rnossa 4 years ago
... And New Zealand, where they they assembled the Avenger themselves, and apparently put them together better than their British counterparts!
brentjohnpalmer 2 years ago
I don't remember this one but it looks like they were trying to make a cheap BMWish looking car.
snarkdetriomphe 4 years ago
In 1971 in the USA, 99% of Americans had no idea what a BMW was. BMW would have had zero impact on american or british styling. Mercedes, they knew, Volvo too to some degree but most people in 1971 bought American. VW, Fiat, Renault, Toyota and Datsun were the players, not BMW
OsbornTramain 4 years ago