Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[john-saab]

So far my new project has attracted SO many comments ranging from bad to worse.....i really can't put my finger on why people hate this car so much...even those who have never driven one have tales about how unreliable...rusty...etc etc they are.



As you can see its had a bump at the rear...but i have been offered a new bumper and the panel could be pulled out.
Its quite solid and looks like it was on the road recently....another without a V5

[Old-Nail]

Uugggh!...you just made me shudder, Uuuggh!

[62rebel]

is it just me, john, or have you noticed that the new Subaru looks an awful lot like an old Saab?

[andycars]

My first car at 17 was a 1973 1250 DL Avenger and I enjoyed it immensely! I cut my "mechanical" teeth on it by changing the clutch, doing a decoke, repairing the petrol tank, dynamo, fitting accessories, etc.
Although the interiors are quite low-spec, they are great to drive, handle well, are comfortable, economical to run and easy to work on. Parts are also reasonably priced (there was a new wing on E-Bay for about £40 at the moment - may be still on there!).
I don't think they rusted any worse than their contemporary Fords, Vauxhalls, BL's, etc.
Hope you enjoy restoring and driving your car!
Andrew

[giggles]

My folks had 2 red ones when I was little, I don't really remember much about them apart from burning my legs in the summer on the hot black vinyl seats.

Good luck with your Avenger and keep us posted.

[Scotty]

Personally I liked the Avengers - and they were no worse than their rivals, most of them also rusted, wouldn't start, bits fell off, etc, etc as well.

The issue with Hillman / Chrysler was the build quality (as was the case with the other British manufacturers to be frank), the work forces didn't give a s**t, the management struggled to keep quality control at a level where, for example the panel gaps were uniform, and on and on.

I was an apprentice in Linwood, near Glasgow building Hunters and Imps and believe me when I tell you how they actually managed to get vehicles off the production line was a minor miracle! And I don't imagine it would be any different in the English plants either.

I have a small claim to fame in that when I was working my notice (even at 18 I could see how useless this job was going to be) I ended up in the drawing office and "assisted" the designer create the tail-lamp style for the Avenger Estate - that was an interesting job.

Nowadays if you think about how many Avengers you see at shows you'll realise its a fairly rare vehicle, especially the Avenger Tigers - so in a round-about way because they were so bad you could have got yourself a real future star.

[Rick]

Not sure about Avengers! I remember one as a kid in our road, I think it was silver from new, perhaps something to do with the Jubilee year (1977)? very few 70s cars float my boat - Avengers, Hunters, Cortinas, Vivas all much of a muchness for me, although I agree none are common now

There was a ropey looking Avenger Tiger (or a bog standard one that looked like a Tiger) in Shropshire parked next to a wall, but lately its not been visible so either the owner has sold it, scrapped it, or hidden it away

RJ
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[alfanut]

Go for it John. I had one in the seventies when it was still fairly new, kept it for a few years, then sold it to a friend who also ran it for a few years. When he sold it, it had done 125,000 miles and nothing major had ever gone wrong with it.
Ok, they haven't got much character, in fact they haven't got any, which may be why they haven't attracted a following, but they were well screwed together by the standards of the day, were roomy and comfortable and handled well. Compare the suspension to that of the Marina, which was pretty dreadful, and you will see that they were quite well-engineered.

Geoff

[bob2]

Hi john-saab, its something I've been passing through myself lately with the restoration of my hillman hunter, same comments as you get!!!
Can't understand why its like that really cause when I drove it a couple of times and for short trips I found the ride really comfortable and its got a very good turning angle, keeping in mind its not a small car either.

Well and that reminds me I haven't added pics of it sprayed, infact I haven't yet taken any pic of it in its new coat of paint!!

To say the truth its not that appealing to me either but if I hadn't saved it it would have ended up either in the scrap heap or sold for scrap metal!!
Couldn't bear it ending up that way especially since its almost 40 years old and managed to survive and is still road worthy (well till October 2007 that is)!!

[Thief]

I used to have a '73 Avenger 1500 back in the mid 80's.
Great car - never missed a beat and only had to fit a water pump all the time I owned it. It was originally owned by a bloke I worked with who used to be stationed in Germany in the Army and bought it back with him, hence the 'V' reg plate. I was the second owner!

It's still on the DVLA website but the Date of Liability is 01/09/1986.

[Rick]

A very clean Avenger pulled up outside the local garage yesterday in the rain, it was a metallic greeny colour with black vinyl roof. Looked like it was in good nick!

R
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[old gto]

That looks a lot like an Opel Kadette I had years ago. It was a station wagon, with left hand drive for us Yanks. Great little car!

[Uncle Joe]

Wasnt the Hillman avenger imported to the US around 1972 or so, and sold as a Plymouth Cricket?

UJ

[Thief]

UJ,
You should find all the answers at http://www.rootes-chrysler.co.uk/hill-ave.html

[UKdave2002]

I had a 1600 Avenger in the mid 80’s it was about 12 years old and succumbed to tin worm, I kept it but bought an insurance write off a 1600 Talbot Sunbeam (Top of the range GLS no less!) from a local breaker; Car Transplants. The Sunbeam only had light panel damage on the drivers side, it had been spun and hit a wall side on, so the body work was quite easy to sort, the reason it was written off was that as it spun 180 degree it trashed the gearbox and diff, not a issue if you have a Avenger to savage for parts!

The only problem I had was that Chrysler had changed the hand brake fittings on the rear drums, and being a lazy teenager I couldn’t be bothered to swap the parts round, so I used the Avenger handbrake cables which were far too long and had to be re routed in a big arc ! they worked fine but always made the MOT man tut!.

I kept that Sunbeam for a few years, it just never went wrong brilliant car. If I had to pick a more modern classic; the Lotus Sunbeam would be on my wish list.

Dave