Run Run Away » running gear » Anyone *ACTUALLY* Have A Cricket?
Anyone *ACTUALLY* Have A Cricket?
Question:
I had both a Sunbeam Alpine and Alpine GT (2 door coupe). Both made by Roots Group. OK, here’s one or you: Anybody ever had/seen a Hillman Imp???
No, but the family had a Husky back in the early 60’s. — "Say’n its so don’t make it so." Abe Lincoln "You can’t order inspiration" L. Riggle Davis
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Davis) writes: : : Does anyone actually own a Cricket? Considering I’ve never actually seen one, : and until last year, had never seen a picture of one, it’s gotta be a rarer : car. : That would have been about ‘72, ‘73 or ‘74??? : You’d be hard-pressed to find any anymore, which of course is the case for most small : inexpensive cars, especially of the 70’s. : Beg to differ on this one… I remember the Plymouth Cricket and Dodge Colt : being sister cars; not identical cars, but sister cars. This is Canada, though, : and the nameplates under which cars are sold and the different models imported : differed then and still differs occasionally today. No, the Cricket was a rebadged Rootes/Sunbeam/Hillman Avenger from England; the Colt was a rebadged Mistubishi Galant from Japan. Not sisters at all. The Plymouth Champ and Dodge Colt were identical. : Thinking way back to the 60’s, Chrysler’s imports were European (English?)… : the Simca and Sunbeam. I’m sitting here trying to remember if there was anything : between the demise of the Simca and the introduction of the Cricket/Colt… : seems to me there was. Anybody remember? :
There were British Crickets, but somewhere around ‘72 ? they went to Mitsubishi instead. I almost bought one but bought a Colt instead (big mistake). Jim
Response:
Although Chrysler was at the time invested in Mistubishi, Rootes, and Simca (France), I don’t think they ever sold any French products here.
Maybe not in the US, but I remember the odd Simca on the road and at a Dodge Dodge dealership in Ontario. The Colt was a typical Japanese econobox of the time, so it did fairly well. The Cricket was a typical English car, except even uglier, and did very poorly. I suspect that Chrysler’s plan was to give them both a try and see how they did, and I think they dropped the Cricket after the first year, eventually replacing it with the Arrow. I’ve forgotten where the Arrow came from. Was it Mitsubishi?
The Arrow was a Mitsubishi, ‘76-’79 I believe. I had a ‘78; my best friend had a ‘76; my mother had a ‘78 brand new. Not many left… surprisingly prominent in quarter mile racing… remember 3 or 4 of them at the Mopar Nationals in Columbus in ‘91, and one or two at a Mopar event in London, Ont. in ‘90. That’s more than you see on the road! In the latter days of my Arrow, when I was struggling to keep it alive, a good friend of mine was a mechanic at a Hyundai dealership. This would have been before Hyundai’s were imported into the US. In Canada, we had the Pony and Stellar models for (I believe) 3 or 4 years before the Excel was imported into the States. Lucky us, eh??? Anyhow, we discovered, accidently, that almost every engine and running gear component of a Pony could bolt right onto my Arrow! When he checked it out, he found that Hyundai had in fact gotten their products off the ground through some initial purchases from Mitsubishi. I sure helped me out. Hint hint. Just thought someone might find it interesting, or know more details.
Response:
I had both a Sunbeam Alpine and Alpine GT (2 door coupe). Both made by Roots Group. OK, here’s one or you: Anybody ever had/seen a Hillman Imp??? —
Response:
: Although Chrysler was at the time invested in : Mistubishi, Rootes, and Simca (France), I don’t think they ever sold any : French products here. Yes, Simcas were sold here — I have a brochure on the 1204. But they were not sold as Chryslers, and were sold through independent import dealers.
Response:
R. Parker) writes: Path:
news.rlcn.rl.af.mil!psinntp!psinntp!rutgers!netnews.upenn.edu!msuinfo!uwm.e du!ne ws.moneng.mei.com!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!news-feed-1.peachnet.edu!em ory!n ews.cc.emory.edu!lparker – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Newsgroups: rec.autos.makers.chrysler Organization: Emory University Lines: 43 NNTP-Posting-Host: larry-le0.cc.emory.edu X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] : : Does anyone actually own a Cricket? Considering I’ve never actually seen one, : and until last year, had never seen a picture of one, it’s gotta be a rarer : car. : That would have been about ‘72, ‘73 or ‘74??? : You’d be hard-pressed to find any anymore, which of course is the case for most small : inexpensive cars, especially of the 70’s. : I’ve actually seen more Arrows tubbed-out and fitted with V8’s burning up quarter miles : than I’ve seen on the road in recent years. : Possibly a competitor to the Cortina/VW/Japanese Imports? Still it’s kinda : strange considering they were importing Colts at the same time. : : I thought it was a beetle competitor at the time, was really pre Colt. : Beg to differ on this one… I remember the Plymouth Cricket and Dodge Colt : being sister cars; not identical cars, but sister cars. This is Canada, though, : and the nameplates under which cars are sold and the different models imported : differed then and still differs occasionally today. No, the Cricket was a rebadged Rootes/Sunbeam/Hillman Avenger from England; the Colt was a rebadged Mistubishi Galant from Japan. Not sisters at all. The Plymouth Champ and Dodge Colt were identical. : Thinking way back to the 60’s, Chrysler’s imports were European (English?)… : the Simca and Sunbeam. I’m sitting here trying to remember if there was anything : between the demise of the Simca and the introduction of the Cricket/Colt… : seems to me there was. Anybody remember? : Chrysler imported Sunbeams and Simcas, but always sold them through independent import dealers; they were never billed as Chryslers. But they did get phased out about the same time as the Cricket and Colt were introduced. : I may have some parts laying around. I recall taillight lenses : : Yeah, those ugly L-shaped things.
Response:
The Colt and the Cricket were introduced at the same time (‘71?). The Colt was made by Mitsubishi (their first car here), and the Cricket by the Rootes Group in England (their last). Rootes made Sunbeam, Hillman, and maybe one or two other makes. The Plymouth Cricket was actually a Hillman Avenger. Although Chrysler was at the time invested in Mistubishi, Rootes, and Simca (France), I don’t think they ever sold any French products here. They ended up selling both European companies to Peugeot (I think). The Colt was a typical Japanese econobox of the time, so it did fairly well. The Cricket was a typical English car, except even uglier, and did very poorly. I suspect that Chrysler’s plan was to give them both a try and see how they did, and I think they dropped the Cricket after the first year, eventually replacing it with the Arrow. I’ve forgotten where the Arrow came from. Was it Mitsubishi? I doubt that any Crickets are still running (in the U.S.), but would love to hear about it if there are. -Ron-
Response:
The Colt and the Cricket were introduced at the same time (‘71?). The Colt was made by Mitsubishi (their first car here), and the Cricket by the Rootes Group in England (their last). Rootes made Sunbeam, Hillman, and maybe one or two other makes. The Plymouth Cricket was actually a Hillman Avenger. Although Chrysler was at the time invested in Mistubishi, Rootes, and Simca (France), I don’t think they ever sold any French products here. They ended up selling both European companies to Peugeot (I think).
They did sell the Simca for a few years. The Colt was a typical Japanese econobox of the time, so it did fairly well. The Cricket was a typical English car, except even uglier, and did very poorly. I suspect that Chrysler’s plan was to give them both a try and see how they did, and I think they dropped the Cricket after the first year, eventually replacing it with the Arrow. I’ve forgotten where the Arrow came from. Was it Mitsubishi?
The Cricket was marketed for 4 years in the US and consumer reports rated it the best small car for 3 years of it’s importation. It sold about 20,000 units a year here. It had great room (I’m 6′ and have 5-6 inches clearance), 14 CU FT trunk space (spare was located below the floor of the trunk), but was under powered compared to it’s competition. Then the Brits went on strike, interupted the flow of new cars, and the US headquarters said no more! The Champ (76? -84) (rebadged Colt) was the replacement. The Arrow (79-83)was produced by Mitubishi along with the Sopparo (77-83). BTW, the dates are from J.C.Whitney… I can’t remember everything! I doubt that any Crickets are still running (in the U.S.), but would love to hear about it if there are.
A friend of mine bought out my collection of parts in 1990. I had at the time probably the second largest collection on the east coast. He has the largest, with several cars in his fleet and he maintains several in and around Boston. -Ron-
Glory, Glory Hallelujah! The Teacher hit me with a ruler. Ruler turned red, and the Teacher dropped dead! And that was the end of school! (an old playground song from my grade school)
Response:
: Had two in the family years ago, neat little vehicles but the bodies began : to sag and the doors wouldn’t close right. So much for unibody at that : time. Just because the unibody was bad on that london car (how good is a middle class london car?) doesn’t mean ALL old unibodies are bad, and that they are the reason for this car’s failure! I was reading in some rod magazine a while ago how somebody was tearing parts off his old T-bird or somthing like that (the first unibody car for one of the big three) and he could not get the thing to sag. He said it was SO REINFOCED he had about 60% of the body gone before it started to creak! Just so you don’t get burned when it’s important or somthing.
Response:
: : Does anyone actually own a Cricket? Considering I’ve never actually seen one, : and until last year, had never seen a picture of one, it’s gotta be a rarer : car. : That would have been about ‘72, ‘73 or ‘74??? : You’d be hard-pressed to find any anymore, which of course is the case for most small : inexpensive cars, especially of the 70’s. : I’ve actually seen more Arrows tubbed-out and fitted with V8’s burning up quarter miles : than I’ve seen on the road in recent years. : Possibly a competitor to the Cortina/VW/Japanese Imports? Still it’s kinda : strange considering they were importing Colts at the same time. : : I thought it was a beetle competitor at the time, was really pre Colt. : Beg to differ on this one… I remember the Plymouth Cricket and Dodge Colt : being sister cars; not identical cars, but sister cars. This is Canada, though, : and the nameplates under which cars are sold and the different models imported : differed then and still differs occasionally today. No, the Cricket was a rebadged Rootes/Sunbeam/Hillman Avenger from England; the Colt was a rebadged Mistubishi Galant from Japan. Not sisters at all. The Plymouth Champ and Dodge Colt were identical. : Thinking way back to the 60’s, Chrysler’s imports were European (English?)… : the Simca and Sunbeam. I’m sitting here trying to remember if there was anything : between the demise of the Simca and the introduction of the Cricket/Colt… : seems to me there was. Anybody remember? : Chrysler imported Sunbeams and Simcas, but always sold them through independent import dealers; they were never billed as Chryslers. But they did get phased out about the same time as the Cricket and Colt were introduced. : I may have some parts laying around. I recall taillight lenses : : Yeah, those ugly L-shaped things.
Response:
Does anyone actually own a Cricket? Considering I’ve never actually seen one, and until last year, had never seen a picture of one, it’s gotta be a rarer car.
Had two in the family years ago, neat little vehicles but the bodies began to sag and the doors wouldn’t close right. So much for unibody at that time. I understand it was available in a couple of configuirations – Coupe, Sedan, Wagon, and Rally. Yes? No? Maybe?
4 dr sedans with rally version, rally had twin carbs fancy exhuast. Possibly a competitor to the Cortina/VW/Japanese Imports? Still it’s kinda strange considering they were importing Colts at the same time.
I thought it was a beetle competitor at the time, was really pre Colt. I may have some parts laying around. I recall taillight lenses. — "Say’n its so don’t make it so." Abe Lincoln "If you follow the herd, you’d better watch your step."
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone actually own a Cricket? Considering I’ve never actually seen one, and until last year, had never seen a picture of one, it’s gotta be a rarer car. Had two in the family years ago, neat little vehicles but the bodies began to sag and the doors wouldn’t close right. So much for unibody at that time. I understand it was available in a couple of configuirations – Coupe, Sedan, Wagon, and Rally. Yes? No? Maybe? 4 dr sedans with rally version, rally had twin carbs fancy exhuast. Possibly a competitor to the Cortina/VW/Japanese Imports? Still it’s kinda strange considering they were importing Colts at the same time. I thought it was a beetle competitor at the time, was really pre Colt. I may have some parts laying around. I recall taillight lenses. — "Say’n its so don’t make it so." Abe Lincoln "If you follow the herd, you’d better watch your step."
Well, well! Here goes nothing… Being a former Cricket owner (bought my first when I was 12 and owned 12 total), I can probably answer any questions you may have. BTW, after Chrysler sold the british division, Talbert Motors bought the rights to the Cricket (Avenger in England). They produced it for another 6 years or so then sold the rights to Volkswagon in 1989. It is still produced in Argentina as the VW 1500, using the same motor and basic body style. They changed the taillights though… 
Body styles were 4 door sedan and 5 door wagon (‘72-’74 US). The Twin Carb option was sold from ‘72 on. It was more than carbs. It included a hotter cam, double roller timing chain, larger intake ports and valves, and a quasi-header cast-iron exhaust manifold. All cars came with Mcpherson strut/rack and pinion front suspensions, 4 link rears w/3.89 gears (rears and auto trannys made by Ford), solid lifter cams (typical British engineering), bucket seats, Lucas (gasp! Cough, cough..) electrics, Pirelli seat springs, Avon rubber suspension bushings, Armstrong struts (can’t remember the shock manufacturer off hand).. All sorts of info and trivia! Cricket P.S. The maximum number of people fit into a Cricket is 36 Glory, Glory Hallelujah! The Teacher hit me with a ruler. Ruler turned red, and the Teacher dropped dead! And that was the end of school! (an old playground song from my grade school)
Response:
Does anyone actually own a Cricket? Considering I’ve never actually seen one, and until last year, had never seen a picture of one, it’s gotta be a rarer car.
That would have been about ‘72, ‘73 or ‘74??? You’d be hard-pressed to find any anymore, which of course is the case for most small inexpensive cars, especially of the 70’s. I’ve actually seen more Arrows tubbed-out and fitted with V8’s burning up quarter miles than I’ve seen on the road in recent years. Possibly a competitor to the Cortina/VW/Japanese Imports? Still it’s kinda strange considering they were importing Colts at the same time. I thought it was a beetle competitor at the time, was really pre Colt.
Beg to differ on this one… I remember the Plymouth Cricket and Dodge Colt being sister cars; not identical cars, but sister cars. This is Canada, though, and the nameplates under which cars are sold and the different models imported differed then and still differs occasionally today. Thinking way back to the 60’s, Chrysler’s imports were European (English?)… the Simca and Sunbeam. I’m sitting here trying to remember if there was anything between the demise of the Simca and the introduction of the Cricket/Colt… seems to me there was. Anybody remember? I may have some parts laying around. I recall taillight lenses.
Yeah, those ugly L-shaped things.
Response:
: Does anyone actually own a Cricket? Considering I’ve never actually seen one, : and until last year, had never seen a picture of one, it’s gotta be a rarer : car. : I understand it was available in a couple of configuirations – Coupe, Sedan, : Wagon, and Rally. Yes? No? Maybe? : Possibly a competitor to the Cortina/VW/Japanese Imports? Still it’s kinda : strange considering they were importing Colts at the same time. : Just curious…… : -Andy Yes, in 1971 Dodge starting importing the Japanese Colt and Plymouth began importing the British Cricket, made by Chrysler-owned Sunbeam/Rootes. It came as a 4-door sedan, with a 1.5 L ohv IL-4, in 1-bbl. and dual 1-bbl. carburetor versions. In 1972, a 4-door wagon was added. The line was dropped after 1973. Rusting was a major, major problem, quality control was poor, and the car was really underpowered, especially compared to the Colt. The British model was named Avenger, BTW.
Response:
Does anyone actually own a Cricket? Considering I’ve never actually seen one, and until last year, had never seen a picture of one, it’s gotta be a rarer car. I understand it was available in a couple of configuirations – Coupe, Sedan, Wagon, and Rally. Yes? No? Maybe? Possibly a competitor to the Cortina/VW/Japanese Imports? Still it’s kinda strange considering they were importing Colts at the same time. Just curious…… -Andy
Response:
Does anyone actually own a Cricket? Considering I’ve never actually seen one, and until last year, had never seen a picture of one, it’s gotta be a rarer car. I understand it was available in a couple of configuirations – Coupe, Sedan, Wagon, and Rally. Yes? No? Maybe? Possibly a competitor to the Cortina/VW/Japanese Imports? Still it’s kinda strange considering they were importing Colts at the same time. Just curious…… -Andy
Response:
: Does anyone actually own a Cricket? Considering I’ve never actually seen one, : and until last year, had never seen a picture of one, it’s gotta be a rarer : car. : I understand it was available in a couple of configuirations – Coupe, Sedan, : Wagon, and Rally. Yes? No? Maybe? : Possibly a competitor to the Cortina/VW/Japanese Imports? Still it’s kinda : strange considering they were importing Colts at the same time. : Just curious…… : -Andy Yes, in 1971 Dodge starting importing the Japanese Colt and Plymouth began importing the British Cricket, made by Chrysler-owned Sunbeam/Rootes. It came as a 4-door sedan, with a 1.5 L ohv IL-4, in 1-bbl. and dual 1-bbl. carburetor versions. In 1972, a 4-door wagon was added. The line was dropped after 1973. Rusting was a major, major problem, quality control was poor, and the car was really underpowered, especially compared to the Colt. The British model was named Avenger, BTW.
Response:
Does anyone actually own a Cricket? Considering I’ve never actually seen one, and until last year, had never seen a picture of one, it’s gotta be a rarer car.
That would have been about ‘72, ‘73 or ‘74??? You’d be hard-pressed to find any anymore, which of course is the case for most small inexpensive cars, especially of the 70’s. I’ve actually seen more Arrows tubbed-out and fitted with V8’s burning up quarter miles than I’ve seen on the road in recent years. Possibly a competitor to the Cortina/VW/Japanese Imports? Still it’s kinda strange considering they were importing Colts at the same time. I thought it was a beetle competitor at the time, was really pre Colt.
Beg to differ on this one… I remember the Plymouth Cricket and Dodge Colt being sister cars; not identical cars, but sister cars. This is Canada, though, and the nameplates under which cars are sold and the different models imported differed then and still differs occasionally today. Thinking way back to the 60’s, Chrysler’s imports were European (English?)… the Simca and Sunbeam. I’m sitting here trying to remember if there was anything between the demise of the Simca and the introduction of the Cricket/Colt… seems to me there was. Anybody remember? I may have some parts laying around. I recall taillight lenses.
Yeah, those ugly L-shaped things.
Response:
Does anyone actually own a Cricket? Considering I’ve never actually seen one, and until last year, had never seen a picture of one, it’s gotta be a rarer car.
Had two in the family years ago, neat little vehicles but the bodies began to sag and the doors wouldn’t close right. So much for unibody at that time. I understand it was available in a couple of configuirations – Coupe, Sedan, Wagon, and Rally. Yes? No? Maybe?
4 dr sedans with rally version, rally had twin carbs fancy exhuast. Possibly a competitor to the Cortina/VW/Japanese Imports? Still it’s kinda strange considering they were importing Colts at the same time.
I thought it was a beetle competitor at the time, was really pre Colt. I may have some parts laying around. I recall taillight lenses. — "Say’n its so don’t make it so." Abe Lincoln "If you follow the herd, you’d better watch your step."
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Does anyone actually own a Cricket? Considering I’ve never actually seen one, and until last year, had never seen a picture of one, it’s gotta be a rarer car. Had two in the family years ago, neat little vehicles but the bodies began to sag and the doors wouldn’t close right. So much for unibody at that time. I understand it was available in a couple of configuirations – Coupe, Sedan, Wagon, and Rally. Yes? No? Maybe? 4 dr sedans with rally version, rally had twin carbs fancy exhuast. Possibly a competitor to the Cortina/VW/Japanese Imports? Still it’s kinda strange considering they were importing Colts at the same time. I thought it was a beetle competitor at the time, was really pre Colt. I may have some parts laying around. I recall taillight lenses. — "Say’n its so don’t make it so." Abe Lincoln "If you follow the herd, you’d better watch your step."
Well, well! Here goes nothing… Being a former Cricket owner (bought my first when I was 12 and owned 12 total), I can probably answer any questions you may have. BTW, after Chrysler sold the british division, Talbert Motors bought the rights to the Cricket (Avenger in England). They produced it for another 6 years or so then sold the rights to Volkswagon in 1989. It is still produced in Argentina as the VW 1500, using the same motor and basic body style. They changed the taillights though… Body styles were 4 door sedan and 5 door wagon (‘72-’74 US). The Twin Carb option was sold from ‘72 on. It was more than carbs. It included a hotter cam, double roller timing chain, larger intake ports and valves, and a quasi-header cast-iron exhaust manifold. All cars came with Mcpherson strut/rack and pinion front suspensions, 4 link rears w/3.89 gears (rears and auto trannys made by Ford), solid lifter cams (typical British engineering), bucket seats, Lucas (gasp! Cough, cough..) electrics, Pirelli seat springs, Avon rubber suspension bushings, Armstrong struts (can’t remember the shock manufacturer off hand).. All sorts of info and trivia! Cricket P.S. The maximum number of people fit into a Cricket is 36 Glory, Glory Hallelujah! The Teacher hit me with a ruler. Ruler turned red, and the Teacher dropped dead! And that was the end of school! (an old playground song from my grade school)
Response:
: Had two in the family years ago, neat little vehicles but the bodies began : to sag and the doors wouldn’t close right. So much for unibody at that : time. Just because the unibody was bad on that london car (how good is a middle class london car?) doesn’t mean ALL old unibodies are bad, and that they are the reason for this car’s failure! I was reading in some rod magazine a while ago how somebody was tearing parts off his old T-bird or somthing like that (the first unibody car for one of the big three) and he could not get the thing to sag. He said it was SO REINFOCED he had about 60% of the body gone before it started to creak! Just so you don’t get burned when it’s important or somthing.
Response:
: : Does anyone actually own a Cricket? Considering I’ve never actually seen one, : and until last year, had never seen a picture of one, it’s gotta be a rarer : car. : That would have been about ‘72, ‘73 or ‘74??? : You’d be hard-pressed to find any anymore, which of course is the case for most small : inexpensive cars, especially of the 70’s. : I’ve actually seen more Arrows tubbed-out and fitted with V8’s burning up quarter miles : than I’ve seen on the road in recent years. : Possibly a competitor to the Cortina/VW/Japanese Imports? Still it’s kinda : strange considering they were importing Colts at the same time. : : I thought it was a beetle competitor at the time, was really pre Colt. : Beg to differ on this one… I remember the Plymouth Cricket and Dodge Colt : being sister cars; not identical cars, but sister cars. This is Canada, though, : and the nameplates under which cars are sold and the different models imported : differed then and still differs occasionally today. No, the Cricket was a rebadged Rootes/Sunbeam/Hillman Avenger from England; the Colt was a rebadged Mistubishi Galant from Japan. Not sisters at all. The Plymouth Champ and Dodge Colt were identical. : Thinking way back to the 60’s, Chrysler’s imports were European (English?)… : the Simca and Sunbeam. I’m sitting here trying to remember if there was anything : between the demise of the Simca and the introduction of the Cricket/Colt… : seems to me there was. Anybody remember? : Chrysler imported Sunbeams and Simcas, but always sold them through independent import dealers; they were never billed as Chryslers. But they did get phased out about the same time as the Cricket and Colt were introduced. : I may have some parts laying around. I recall taillight lenses : : Yeah, those ugly L-shaped things.
Response:
The Colt and the Cricket were introduced at the same time (‘71?). The Colt was made by Mitsubishi (their first car here), and the Cricket by the Rootes Group in England (their last). Rootes made Sunbeam, Hillman, and maybe one or two other makes. The Plymouth Cricket was actually a Hillman Avenger. Although Chrysler was at the time invested in Mistubishi, Rootes, and Simca (France), I don’t think they ever sold any French products here. They ended up selling both European companies to Peugeot (I think).
They did sell the Simca for a few years. The Colt was a typical Japanese econobox of the time, so it did fairly well. The Cricket was a typical English car, except even uglier, and did very poorly. I suspect that Chrysler’s plan was to give them both a try and see how they did, and I think they dropped the Cricket after the first year, eventually replacing it with the Arrow. I’ve forgotten where the Arrow came from. Was it Mitsubishi?
The Cricket was marketed for 4 years in the US and consumer reports rated it the best small car for 3 years of it’s importation. It sold about 20,000 units a year here. It had great room (I’m 6′ and have 5-6 inches clearance), 14 CU FT trunk space (spare was located below the floor of the trunk), but was under powered compared to it’s competition. Then the Brits went on strike, interupted the flow of new cars, and the US headquarters said no more! The Champ (76? -84) (rebadged Colt) was the replacement. The Arrow (79-83)was produced by Mitubishi along with the Sopparo (77-83). BTW, the dates are from J.C.Whitney… I can’t remember everything! I doubt that any Crickets are still running (in the U.S.), but would love to hear about it if there are.
A friend of mine bought out my collection of parts in 1990. I had at the time probably the second largest collection on the east coast. He has the largest, with several cars in his fleet and he maintains several in and around Boston. -Ron-
Glory, Glory Hallelujah! The Teacher hit me with a ruler. Ruler turned red, and the Teacher dropped dead! And that was the end of school! (an old playground song from my grade school)
Response:
The Colt and the Cricket were introduced at the same time (‘71?). The Colt was made by Mitsubishi (their first car here), and the Cricket by the Rootes Group in England (their last). Rootes made Sunbeam, Hillman, and maybe one or two other makes. The Plymouth Cricket was actually a Hillman Avenger. Although Chrysler was at the time invested in Mistubishi, Rootes, and Simca (France), I don’t think they ever sold any French products here. They ended up selling both European companies to Peugeot (I think). The Colt was a typical Japanese econobox of the time, so it did fairly well. The Cricket was a typical English car, except even uglier, and did very poorly. I suspect that Chrysler’s plan was to give them both a try and see how they did, and I think they dropped the Cricket after the first year, eventually replacing it with the Arrow. I’ve forgotten where the Arrow came from. Was it Mitsubishi? I doubt that any Crickets are still running (in the U.S.), but would love to hear about it if there are. -Ron-
Response:
Although Chrysler was at the time invested in Mistubishi, Rootes, and Simca (France), I don’t think they ever sold any French products here.
Maybe not in the US, but I remember the odd Simca on the road and at a Dodge Dodge dealership in Ontario. The Colt was a typical Japanese econobox of the time, so it did fairly well. The Cricket was a typical English car, except even uglier, and did very poorly. I suspect that Chrysler’s plan was to give them both a try and see how they did, and I think they dropped the Cricket after the first year, eventually replacing it with the Arrow. I’ve forgotten where the Arrow came from. Was it Mitsubishi?
The Arrow was a Mitsubishi, ‘76-’79 I believe. I had a ‘78; my best friend had a ‘76; my mother had a ‘78 brand new. Not many left… surprisingly prominent in quarter mile racing… remember 3 or 4 of them at the Mopar Nationals in Columbus in ‘91, and one or two at a Mopar event in London, Ont. in ‘90. That’s more than you see on the road! In the latter days of my Arrow, when I was struggling to keep it alive, a good friend of mine was a mechanic at a Hyundai dealership. This would have been before Hyundai’s were imported into the US. In Canada, we had the Pony and Stellar models for (I believe) 3 or 4 years before the Excel was imported into the States. Lucky us, eh??? Anyhow, we discovered, accidently, that almost every engine and running gear component of a Pony could bolt right onto my Arrow! When he checked it out, he found that Hyundai had in fact gotten their products off the ground through some initial purchases from Mitsubishi. I sure helped me out. Hint hint. Just thought someone might find it interesting, or know more details.
Response:
I had both a Sunbeam Alpine and Alpine GT (2 door coupe). Both made by Roots Group. OK, here’s one or you: Anybody ever had/seen a Hillman Imp??? —
Response:
: Although Chrysler was at the time invested in : Mistubishi, Rootes, and Simca (France), I don’t think they ever sold any : French products here. Yes, Simcas were sold here — I have a brochure on the 1204. But they were not sold as Chryslers, and were sold through independent import dealers.
Response:
R. Parker) writes: Path:
news.rlcn.rl.af.mil!psinntp!psinntp!rutgers!netnews.upenn.edu!msuinfo!uwm.e du!ne ws.moneng.mei.com!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!news-feed-1.peachnet.edu!em ory!n ews.cc.emory.edu!lparker – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Newsgroups: rec.autos.makers.chrysler Organization: Emory University Lines: 43 NNTP-Posting-Host: larry-le0.cc.emory.edu X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] : : Does anyone actually own a Cricket? Considering I’ve never actually seen one, : and until last year, had never seen a picture of one, it’s gotta be a rarer : car. : That would have been about ‘72, ‘73 or ‘74??? : You’d be hard-pressed to find any anymore, which of course is the case for most small : inexpensive cars, especially of the 70’s. : I’ve actually seen more Arrows tubbed-out and fitted with V8’s burning up quarter miles : than I’ve seen on the road in recent years. : Possibly a competitor to the Cortina/VW/Japanese Imports? Still it’s kinda : strange considering they were importing Colts at the same time. : : I thought it was a beetle competitor at the time, was really pre Colt. : Beg to differ on this one… I remember the Plymouth Cricket and Dodge Colt : being sister cars; not identical cars, but sister cars. This is Canada, though, : and the nameplates under which cars are sold and the different models imported : differed then and still differs occasionally today. No, the Cricket was a rebadged Rootes/Sunbeam/Hillman Avenger from England; the Colt was a rebadged Mistubishi Galant from Japan. Not sisters at all. The Plymouth Champ and Dodge Colt were identical. : Thinking way back to the 60’s, Chrysler’s imports were European (English?)… : the Simca and Sunbeam. I’m sitting here trying to remember if there was anything : between the demise of the Simca and the introduction of the Cricket/Colt… : seems to me there was. Anybody remember? : Chrysler imported Sunbeams and Simcas, but always sold them through independent import dealers; they were never billed as Chryslers. But they did get phased out about the same time as the Cricket and Colt were introduced. : I may have some parts laying around. I recall taillight lenses : : Yeah, those ugly L-shaped things.
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Davis) writes: : : Does anyone actually own a Cricket? Considering I’ve never actually seen one, : and until last year, had never seen a picture of one, it’s gotta be a rarer : car. : That would have been about ‘72, ‘73 or ‘74??? : You’d be hard-pressed to find any anymore, which of course is the case for most small : inexpensive cars, especially of the 70’s. : Beg to differ on this one… I remember the Plymouth Cricket and Dodge Colt : being sister cars; not identical cars, but sister cars. This is Canada, though, : and the nameplates under which cars are sold and the different models imported : differed then and still differs occasionally today. No, the Cricket was a rebadged Rootes/Sunbeam/Hillman Avenger from England; the Colt was a rebadged Mistubishi Galant from Japan. Not sisters at all. The Plymouth Champ and Dodge Colt were identical. : Thinking way back to the 60’s, Chrysler’s imports were European (English?)… : the Simca and Sunbeam. I’m sitting here trying to remember if there was anything : between the demise of the Simca and the introduction of the Cricket/Colt… : seems to me there was. Anybody remember? :
There were British Crickets, but somewhere around ‘72 ? they went to Mitsubishi instead. I almost bought one but bought a Colt instead (big mistake). Jim
Response:
I had both a Sunbeam Alpine and Alpine GT (2 door coupe). Both made by Roots Group. OK, here’s one or you: Anybody ever had/seen a Hillman Imp???
No, but the family had a Husky back in the early 60’s. — "Say’n its so don’t make it so." Abe Lincoln "You can’t order inspiration" L. Riggle Davis