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The Plymouth Cricket was a Subcompact Automobile sold by the Plymouth division of Chrysler Corporation in the American market from 1971 to 1973. The car was a Captive Import , simply a Rebadged version of the British Hillman Avenger , and was built in England by Chrysler's UK subsidiary (formerly the Rootes Group ). The Avenger itself was a rear-wheel drive Small Family Car originally manufactured under the Hillman marque by the Rootes Group between 1970 and 1976, and made by Chrysler Europe from 1976 to 1981 under the Chrysler and Talbot marques. During its 11-year production run, the Avenger came in various guises and badges. It was initially produced at Rootes' plant in Ryton-on-Dunsmore , England but was later assembled at the company's Linwood facility near Glasgow , Scotland . HILLMAN AVENGER/PLYMOUTH CRICKET DEVELOPMENT Introduced in February 1970, the Avenger was significant as it was the first and last car to be developed by Rootes after the Chrysler takeover in 1967. Stylistically, the Plymouth Cricket / Hillman Avenger was undoubtedly very much in tune with its time; the American-influenced "Coke Bottle" waistline and semi-fastback rear-end being a contemporary styling cue, they also featured unusual hockey stick "L" shaped rear light clusters. From an Engineering perspective it was rather conventional, using a 4-cylinder all-iron Overhead Valve Engine in 1250 or 1500 capacities driving a coil spring suspended live axle at the rear wheels. Unlike any previous Rootes design, there were no Badge-engineered Humber or Singer versions in the UK market. In Europe, the Avenger was immediately highly praised by the press for its good handling characteristics and generally good overall competence on the road and it was considered a significantly better car to drive than rivals like the Morris Marina. One of the main aims of the Hillman Avenger design was to create a car with excellent road manners and light weight. Both of these objectives were achieved very well, the road tests of the time sung the praises of the lightweight car with unusually good handling, via a tight Suspension and Rack And Pinion Steering . The car built with an independant rear coil suspension rather than the older Leaf Spring design. Computer aided design was applied to the body shell construction which resulted in not only reduced weight but an immensely strong cabin, this being one of the first cars in the world utilising Computers for design. The Avenger/Cricket was the first British production car to be fitted with a plastic grille to save weight. Plymouth made a few changes to the Avenger to make it become the Cricket. Only the 4-door sedan and 5-door wagon were ever offered, due to the 2-door Avenger being unavailable at that time. The 1500cc engine was offered, the 1250 obviously a little underpowered for US tastes, probably due to the high sales of power-sapping automatics. Front disc brakes were standardised; these were originally optional in the UK. The single carb/manual choke was standard. In 1972 forward, the single carb/auto choke, dual carb, and air conditioning were options. Due to American federal laws regarding headlight design, all Cricket models, regardless of trim level, used the round four headlight grille of the 'GL' and 'GT' model Avengers. 1971-1973 PLYMOUTH CRICKET IN THE U.S. The Plymouth Cricket was not successful in the U.S. due to poor marketing, and a lack of interest in economical imports within the Chrysler division. Customers also complained about rust and maintenance issues. American Chrysler-Plymouth dealers were not equipped to service the British Cricket import, so customer support for the car was lacking in the States. Officially, the Cricket was offered in the USA between 1971 and 1973, and makes for an interesting case study in how not to market an imported Sub-compact in the USA. British Leyland committed the same crime with its Austin Marina. Consequently, the attempt to take the Avenger to America as the Plymouth Cricket was aborted after only two years, and Chrysler's lack of interest in the former Rootes products was further reflected in its development of the Simca -designed Alpine/Solara and Horizon ranges instead. The Hillman Avenger/Cricket ''sold successfully throughout Europe for over 10 years'', and even became a choice for rally car drivers during that time. The Cricket was discontinued midway through the 1973 model year, paradoxically, just as the Gas Crisis Of 1973 began to increase demand for small cars sharply, and Dodge began to see real success with its similarly-sized Dodge Colt , built by Mitsubishi Motors . The Cricket name lived on in Canada though, as Chrysler Canada replaced the British-built Cricket with a rebadged Dodge Colt in mid 1973 model year. The Cricket's version of the Colt GT was called the Cricket Formula S. For the 1975 model year, the Plymouth Cricket was rebadged as the Plymouth Colt. Thus began Chrysler Canada's dual marketing system, selling the Colt as both a Dodge and a Plymouth. The later Plymouth Arrow was similarly sold as a Dodge Arrow. The last British-built Crickets were actually imported into the USA in the later part of 1972 but were sold until mid-1973 as "1973" models. This was because US safety and Emission Laws became effective based on the calendar year the car was manufactured in or imported in, NOT the model year. Chrysler used this loop hole to continue selling what were essentially 1972 cars through 1973 as 1973 models. PLYMOUTH CRICKET FACTS The Avenger/Cricket was one of the first cars to be computer aided in design. Race car Driver Scott Harvey was known to have rallied a Plymouth Cricket to win the Press on Regardless Rally of 1972. The Avenger/Cricket was one of the first production cars to feature a low weight plastic grille
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