The Plymouth Sunbeam, Hillman Avenger, and Alpine
The Hillman Avenger, Plymouth Sunbeam, and Alpine
Once again, is was often the way with Chrysler Europe cars, to look at the Sunbeam its history begins some years before its introduction, with the launch of the Hillman Avenger (later to become the Plymouth Cricket for the US market) in 1970. This was to be the last model launched by the old Rootes Group, all subsequent cars to be Chrysler Europe designs (which combined Rootes and the French Simca company). The Avenger proved to be quite successful (although the Cricket wasn't), although falling sales and draining large sums of cash to develop new front-wheel drive cars (the Simca 1100-based Alpine and Horizon) meant that Chrysler UK had a large cashflow problem by the mid-1970s, as did the parent company.
Britain's (at the time) largest independent car producer, British Leyland (combining Austin, Morris, Wolseley, Riley, MG, Triumph, Rover, Land Rover, Jaguar, Daimler and Leyland commercial vehicles), a company that had supposedly brought together the best British names in car production (but unfortunately spent half the time competing with each other), was also in dire financial straits by this time. The "Ryder Report", published by Don Ryder, detailed ways to make the company solvent again by using the British Government's cash, effectively nationalising the company (some successful car companies, such as Renault, are also state-owned). This report was later shown to be hopelessly inadequate, which projected sales being for too optimistic, but this has nothing to do with Chrysler!
Having seen this happen, Chrysler UK executives also approached the British government in 1975 with an ultimatum - give us aid or we close down our UK operations. At the time, the factories in Coventry, England and Linwood, Scotland employed thousands of workers, and election time was just around the corner, so the government's hands were tied - Chrysler got the cash. In the end, Chrysler UK was sold to Peugeot in 1978, but in the short term this cash injection meant that Chrysler could work on a small car project for the hotly-contested subcompact segment; cars from this class and the compact class make up the sales Top Ten here in Europe.
In the end, for reasons that have not become clear, it was decided that rear-wheel drive would be retained, odd as the larger Horizon and Alpine used front-wheel drive. Why they did not shorten the chassis of the Horizon I do not know, but they shortened the Avenger one instead. Possibly because it was cheaper; they could use up stocks of Avenger components, the car would be simpler, the parts were tried and trusted and hence more reliable, and (but more of this later) the new car could be made into a good rally machine.
Unveiling the Sunbeam
This project was one of the fastest ever seen for a new car at the time, taking only two years from green light to production. The new car, the Chrysler Sunbeam was released for sale in late 1977, a couple of months before the unveiling of the Horizon. But the two cars did not clash - the Horizon was always built with four doors and the Sunbeam with two. It was not long after the Sunbeam was launched that the Avenger two-door sedans were dropped, presumably because Sunbeams stole their sales. It did not matter by this stage as most cars in the Avenger's size and price class were four doors anyhow. The new car had crisp, angular styling, with the corporate front end, but with recessed headlights as opposed to the flush ones on Avenger, Horizon and Alpine. They may have been the old Hillman Avenger or Chrysler 180/2-litre ones. At the rear the car featured tail-lights similar to the Alpine, and an unusual hatchback arrangement, as effectively just the rear window glass hinged. This left a high sill to hurl shopping bags over which can't have been popular.
The cars were advertised heavily in the press, with singer Petula Clark inviting people to "put a Sunbeam into their life". Specification levels were high, with front disc brakes and electronic ignition across the range. Competing cars were the sophisticated front-wheel drive cars like the Ford Fiesta (imported into the U.S. from 1978 to 1980), Colt 1200/1400 (known as the Dodge Colt and Plymouth Scamp) and Fiat 127, as well as more direct rivals like the Opel Kadett and Vauxhall Chevette (European versions of GM's T-car seen in the U.S. as the Chevy Chevette), original rear-wheel drive Mazda 323 and Toyota Starlet, a smaller hatchback version of the Corolla of the time. It was with these cars that the Sunbeam best competed, being a bit bigger (and cruder) than the Fiesta, Colt and Fiat.
Engine choices were the Avenger 1300 and 1600cc units (in 81hp GLS form, the Sunbeam was pretty quick by the standards of the day), the old iron ohv jobs, and one other - the Hillman Imp's 928cc all-aluminum ohc. This had just 45hp, and competed at the bottom end of the market against the Mini and Fiesta 957cc with similar power. 4-speed manual transmission was standard, with a 4-speed Borg-Warner Type 45 automatic on the 1300 and 1600 optional. While not an instant sensation the car nevertheless got off to a good start, with many early buyers, my stepgrandfather (taking delivery of a 1.0LS in dark blue in late 1978) being one of them. One setback was a recall on the very first models; an industrial dispute meant poor supply of the electronic ignition, so standard ignition was fitted on the first few cars and corrected with the recall.
Mick Radcliffe wrote: “The automatic transmission available on the 1.3 and 1.6 liter Chrysler Sunbeam was not the 3-speed Torqueflite, but the 4-speed Borg-Warner Type 45 (built in Letchworth, Hertfordshire) which Chrysler UK adopted from the early 1970s onwards in all of its RWD cars, replacing the ubiquitous 3-speed Type 35. The only European models to use the Torqueflite were the larger Chrysler 160/180/2 Litre range.”
Sporty Sunbeams and other rally cars
The next stage in the Sunbeam's career was the release of a pair of sporty models. The first, the Ti, was nothing more than a stripped-out base model with alloy wheels, big spoilers and a 1600c version of the Avenger Tiger engine (with twin 2bbl Weber carbs) giving 100hp, 0-60 in 9 seconds and 106mph for those who could stand the noise, harsh suspension and poor fuel economy. The second car, the Sunbeam-Lotus, was rather special, and a little history on the British rally scene of the time is in order...
During the 1970s the rally car was the Ford Escort RS1600/1800/2000. Despite attempts from Saab (96 and 99 Turbo), Lancia (Stratos, the most successful), Fiat (131 Abarth), Opel (Kadett GT/E and Ascona) and the Japanese the car won rallies the world over (briefly used by the most famous U.S. rally driver of the time, John Buffum). In the days before 4wd and the all-conquering Audi Quattro (which still failed to beat the number of championship wins attained by the Escort), the combination of powerful and reliable Cosworth-Ford 16-valve engine, solid rear-wheel drive handling and utter simplicity and reliability meant that it was unbeatable. However, on the national circuit at least, the Vauxhall Chevette HS (with 2.3 16-valve engine, and shorter, more nimble body) of 1977 began to challenge the Escort seriously. Des O'Dell, the Competitions Manager at Chrysler UK, was looking for suitable replacements for the cheap, simple Avenger Tiger and sophisticated Avenger BRM. The Sunbeam Ti fitted the first bill. For the second he approached Lotus with a view of using their new 2.0-liter slant four engine (fitted to the "new wave" Elite, Eclat and Esprit) to the Sunbeam. The resultant prototype was fast but lacked reliability, leading to an engine failure. Lotus fitted a 2.2-liter version and both companies never looked back.
The road-going Sunbeam Lotus was released in April 1979, featuring a 160hp version of the 2.2-liter Lotus engine, alloy wheels, 5-speed ZF gearbox, and a distinctive black-with-silver-stripe colour scheme. However, apart from the colour scheme the car's exterior and interior were very low-key, the opposite of the much less powerful Ti. The rally car, with up to 240hp on tap, began notching up minor British victories. It was not until Talbot (as the takeover had by then occurred) recruited the gifted young Finland-born Henri Toivenen (who would tragically lose his life 7 years later driving for Lancia after a spell at Opel) to drive the car in the 1980 World Rally Championship. Henri gained enough points (including winning the final round, Britain's RAC) to win the championship for Talbot. In 1981, after Saab had decided to quit rallying, Talbot hired Stig Blomquist as their main driver, but had no real success. By this stage the Audi Quattro had arrived on the scene, and the place in the spotlight for rear-wheel drive cars was (almost) over. Almost, but not quite - Ari Vatanen won the 1981 Driver's Championship in the Ford Escort, and Walter Rohrl won in 1983 with an Opel Ascona. Coincidentally, during that time he had Toivenen and Vatanen as Opel team-mates.
End of the Sunbeam
After this peak, the Sunbeam range went into decline. The cars were getting a reputation for rust, and other manufacturers had released more spohisticated front-wheel drive models in competition. In 1981 the last major update was made - new bumpers and (finally) flush headlights. Later that same year the Linwood, Scotland plant closed, taking the Sunbeam to the grave. A couple of hundred thousand cars over 4 years was pretty good, all told, and the Sunbeam had done its job. 2308 Sunbeam Lotus models had also been built - the last 150 were held until 1983, when they were consecutively customised and sold by a company called Avon. By the time of the restyle, other colours were available for the Sunbeam Lotus, silver and metallic blue with black stripe.
The Alpine
Development of the Alpine has been covered by my main Chrysler Europe story, so you'll know that it evolved out of the Simca 1100. It was launched in late 1975 in Europe and in early 1976 in the UK. The first cars were imported from the Poissy, France Simca factory and from the end of 1976 (after Avenger production was moved to Scotland) it was assembled in Coventry, England.
The Alpine was much unlike any other UK Chrysler car that had gone before; it was front-wheel drive, and a hatchback, similar to the Simcas of years before. Previous to this, Chrysler UK products (inhereted from the Rootes Group) had been rear-wheel drive conventional sedans. As such the Alpine did not replace either the existing Hunter or Avenger. It was closest in size and price to the Hunter, but Chrysler UK did not worry about lost sales as the Hunter tooling was about to be sold off to the Iranians!
Early adverts trumped the Alpine as the "first 7-day-a-week car", explaining its hatchback versatility. Remember that the best-selling cars in the segment at the time (Ford Cortina, Avenger, Vauxhall Cavalier, Morris Marina) were sedans, and people were only beginning to warm to the "hatchback revolution" that has now taken over Europe while (strangely?) the Americans are unmoved. It would take the mighty Ford to replace its Cortina with the hatchback Sierra (and firstly regret it as sales plummeted and allowed the new front-wheel drive Cavalier, part of GM's J-Car program, to become a true rival) to convert them. At the time only the Austin Maxi and Renault 16, both old designs, were hatchbacks. Things really picked up when the Alpine was awarded the Car Of The Year award in 1976.
The initial choices of engine and trim were 1294cc LS and 1442cc GL models. Both engines were stretched Simca 1100 motors, and became well-known for their roughness. Both cars featured electronic ignition, soft comfy seats in the French tradition, torsion bar suspension and only 4-speed manual gearboxes. The LS could reach 94mph and the GL 102, not bad considering the size of car they had to move around; other cars in the segment, such as Ford's Cortina, had engine sizes ranging from 1.3 to 2.3 liters. Each was also praised for its ride, but the heavy steering (no power assistance), a legacy of front-wheel drive, was criticised.
In late 1977 a luxury model, the 1442cc GLS, was launched. This featured headlamp wash-wipe, head rests, electric windows and radio. However, the price was high, especially when one could buy a 2.3 Cortina Ghia which lacked electric windows but had a larger engine, vinyl roof and sunroof for the same price. GLS models therefore made up only a small percentage of sales. In 1978 the LS was launched with the larger 1442cc engine as a result of customer requests. By this stage sales in the UK were about 30,000 a year, respectable but well down on what Chrysler UK had expected. The car was, depending on which way you looked at it, under-engined or overpriced and oversized.
Peugeot and the Solara
Of course at the end of 1978 Peugeot took over Chrysler Europe, but the Chrysler-planned update of the Alpine took place in early 1980. A couple of months before, however, another Chrysler-planned model was unveiled, a sedan version of the Alpine named Solara. This was built partly to take over from the dying 180/2-Litre (the Tagora replacement of which, which looked like an elongated, widened Solara which had lost the little elegance the Solara had) and to boost sales of the Alpine/Solara line, capitalising on the British preference for sedans. A new engine also featured, a 1580cc version of the 1442cc. This engine had more torque, and was initially only available with the (legacy of Chrysler) TorqueFlite 3-speed in the top model, the SX. Again overpriced, the SX also had a trip computer, alloy wheels, electric windows and vinyl top. The models mirrored those in the new Alpine range: 1.3 and 1.5LS, 1.5GL, 1.6GLS and 1.6SX. After a while the 1.5 was dropped, as it was pointless with the 1.6 there.
However, the Solara did little to boost sales, especially after the advent of the new Vauxhall Cavalier and Ford Sierra in 1982, two cars which held a stronghold on the intermediate sector (the majority of which are sold as company cars). After 1984 the range was thinned to just two 1.6 sedans and hatchbacks, named the Minx and Rapier. Both had power steering (at last!), stereo radio/cassette and 5-speed gearbox, with the Rapier having electric windows, two-tone metallic paint and alloy wheels. After 1985, these cars died out of neglect. Unfortunately another car that was a vicitm of its own mediocrity.
Hillman Avenger / Sunbeam Comments and Feedback
abyss@compulink.gr writes:
I read your interesting page about the Hillman Avengers and I liked it. I just want to inform you the here in Greece many Avengers have survived till today, even though most old cars have disappeared from the roads, due to a government plan to give initiative to old car owners to replace them with newer and more environmental - friendly cars.
Here in Greece the Avengers were branded just like in Scandinavia, as "Sunbeam 1250/1300/1500/1600".
Visit a page dedicated to Des O'Dell, ex-Director of the Peugeot Talbot competitions department - click here.
