THE LOST CAR EMPIRE TODAY! - Who Owns Rootes Now? Hillman, Humber, Sunbeam and More!
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- In this video we explore one of the most incredible collapses of a major car company the Rootes Group which was once Britain's second largest car manufacturer. I give you a history of how this empire began and how it ended including the Hillman Minx, Hillman Avenger, Hillman Imp, Audax Cars, Singer Vogue, Singer Gazelle, Humber Hawk, Humber Sceptre and more!
We look at who owns the marques now chronicallying the history of their ownership.
I have credited where possible these works are transformative.
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The last Humber Sceptre was a variation on the 'Arrow' cars, not a rebadged Avenger. The Avenger started life as a Hillman, became a Chrysler, then a Talbot. It was also badged in the USA as a Plymouth and a Dodge, and was built in Argentina as a VW.
The Arrow Cars, e.g. the Hillman Hunter lived on in Iran as the Paykan (or maybe Peykan), originally sold as CKD kits, and the mechanicals were put into the Peugeot 405 body too.
Great and interesting video as always.
Sunbeam Rapier, Singer Vogue, good cars for the day.
Avenger was only sold as a Plymouth in North America. Dodge dealers sold a version of the Mitsubishi Colt Galant as the Dodge Colt.
The Avenger having its final run at the VW factory in Argentina, is the ironic end to an old story:
Immediately after World War 2, Lord William Rootes had the opportunity to purchase the Volkswagen company, but declined because he thought the Beetle was too noisy & had no future.
@@VincentLander And warranty claims for the Japanese cars were a tiny fraction of the British ones, leading to the latter quickly being phased out in favor of the Plymouth Arrow (Mitsubishi Lancer Celeste).
@@nlpnt In Canada (I'm Canadian), after the Avenger-based Cricket left the market, Plymouth dealers got their own version of the Colt, sold as the Cricket.
the 3 rules to failure in the British automotive industry:
1) buy-up a whole load of failing car manufacturers,
2) believe you can build a dominant car empire from other peoples failures,
3) help the government by taking money to secure jobs in deprived areas
I remember my Dad hit a kangaroo on the highway on the way to Adelaide in our 2 week old Mazda 626. We got a Hillman Hunter as a hire car for a week maybe and one exacly the same drove up next to us and were excited seeing the same car ... they were popular in Australia. I'd literally rather one now than these electronic plastic cvt nightmare cars around now!!
Yes as a kid collecting car numbers you could see what model was coming. Now they are all Tessie plastic clones. My mate had a Sunbeam Rapier, sadly it could not hold a candle to my Ford Cortina MK1 1500 GT. loved my Hellman Avenger I got later on. Had it for six years.
Treat yaself....😊. I got a 55 yr old Rover.... Gets more 'nods and waves' than any modern rubbish... 👍🏻
Watched from Old Harbour Jamaica🇯🇲 and we owned many Roots cars over the years. I still own an Imp .
MR. JAMAICA Mon, I too am a JAMAICAN living here in the U.S. and I too remember the many DODGE AVENGERS and HILLMAN HUNTERS et al We had 'back in the day'...
In high school, someone I knew had one of only maybe 3 HILLMAN HUNTER GLS that were brought in by MOTOR SALES Ltd in their Family...
ROOTES had a lot of Roots😉...
I like that "@kennedysingh3916"...and yes, XLNT Video🤙...
Gotta love an imp
Memories… My grandmother was John Panks -Director of Rootes North American operations - personal secretary. As a young child in the 1960s, I remember all the great brochures that were around my grandparents house. My father drove a Hillman Minx in the early 1960s, despite the fact that he was working for General Motors. I bought my first British roadster in the early 1980s; a 1967 Sunbeam Alpine. It was a fun car that was remarkably reliable.
As I got older I realized what an opportunity I missed by not talking to my grandmother about her memories of working for Rootes.
Rootes had very stylish cars in the 50's and 60's and i think are under appreciated today, Seeing classic car auctions, their cars look lovely. A huge mistake was to make the Imp at Linwood, Which i think was by Government interference, It could have really rivaled the mini but it was late to the road and did cost more. Sunbeam Tiger was a lovely two seater sports car and James Bond's first car. My favourite was the Hillman Hunter, Yes a bit boring but was quite advanced when made first and had a new lease of life after its demise here when Iran bought the tooling and produced them there right up until in the early 2000's. Rootes were an understated brand, Built good cars but like so many, Made mistakes and sadly died. Another great video Tom. 👍
Couldn't agree more and the Hillman Hunger is my favourite as well! Thank you.
A great video, thank you. I rememver the following from my school days in Lancashire: the school chaplain had a new Humber Super Snipe in 1963, my maths teacher a Singer Gazelle, and an aunt had a 1965 white Sunger Chamois, which like many others had cylinder head gasket problems. An uncle had a,Hiklman Husky van and another uncle had two Hillman Minx's. A potato distributor in Hull used to have what was belived to be the largest collection of Humber Super Snipe Limiusines and Saloons in the world. The collection was broken up about five years ago.
Thank you again, keep up the good work.
Wow, what a brilliant story.
My Mum and Dad bought a Hillman Avenger and Imp at Rootes in Maidstone Kent in the 70s,happy memories,cheers fella 👍
Good to hear Alan!
I remember the Plymouth Cricket being a rebadged for the United States.
Coventry City began as Singers FC, as they were the works football team. So a little bit of Singers still exists.
A number of Hunter, Vogue (badged Sunbeam in Ireland), Avengers in the family and extended family. Imps too. A neighbour used to rally Imps in the 60s and ‘70s. Incidentally, one correction @10:22 - the Sceptre was based m on the Hunter, not the Avenger as stated. Anyway, Tom - a huuuuge undertaking to compress something like the convoluted Rootes history into 12 minutes! Bravo, young man ! ! 👍
I appreciate it and your insight and corrections are always helpful :)
I've love a Delorean history vid Tom. Love the channel, cheers
My first car was a 1973 Hillman Hunter 1725 super, bought with memories of my mum taking me to school in a arrow range Minx and my Grandfathers Hunter GLS , with the Holbay engine and twin Webber carbs it was probably as good as a Lotus Cortina , wish i had one now.
My late dad's first car was a Sunbeam Talbot. He and my late mum owned a Humber Sceptre many years before I was born. They also had a Talbot Horizon when I was young.
I had a hillman hunter royal it was 2 tone white with a gold coloured roof black leather seats it was automatic drove it everywhere it was a great car drove it to Melbourne and back to Sydney never broke down.
Only once got petrol at Benalla water was in the petrol drove 5km broke down racv. Got me going again, he said you got petrol at this petrol station ⛽️ I said yes I was his 7th customer. He drained the tank clean up the su and fuel pump gave me full tank of fuel at another garage also got money back from the garage that had water in his storage tank. God bless the men and women who work with the road service what ever state you are in.
I was lucky enough to meet Günter H. in the 80s. He is the owner of " Alpine Tiger Center " in Germany. Back then I often went there with my Tr 6. He also had a Sunbeam Tiger, which is very rare in Germany. It was a great pleasure to run errands in this car. The sound of the V8 and the beautiful shape of the car were already striking back then. Unfortunately, at some point I sold my beloved Triumph and the contact fell apart...It was one of the best times of my life...By the way...the " Alpine Tiger Cenre " is still there...maybe I'll drive by again.
I bought a 'used' Talbot Matra Rancho in the early 1980's. With its fibreglass body I thought it would last for ever. Turns out that only the back was fibreglass. The rest of the bodywork was based on a Simca van built from cheap European steel. With 100,000 on the clock already combined with damp British weather its already badly rusted underside did not last long. I still loved that quirky six-seater, three-door car though.
Thanks Tom, that was very interesting.
In 1966 I was a young Australian working in London, and wanted to buy a duty-free car and take it back to Australia. The Mini cost £445 (plus £15 for a heater), the Imp about £480, and the Fiat 850 only £360 (with a heater and reclining seats). The Fiat was wonderful, although in 25,000 miles two head gaskets blew.
And a cousin had an Australian-made Imp with endess problems.
great video! fascinating history, i love the Rootes marque and my dear old dad had a few Rootes products when i was a child, first off he had a Hillman Super Minx, a wonderful two tone car, then he had a Hillman Hunter(i recall a head gasket blowing on the M6 once) and finally he had a Hillman Avenger, all wonderful cars which i have great memories of, i think that Rootes was arguably the best of all the volume manufacturers in the UK, it was truly a golden era the post war period and it is so sad to see how the marque just seemed to disappear, the Imp debacle was crucial, a better car than the Mini in so many ways, it should have been a roaring success but alas it wasn't and its failure contributed hugely to the eventual demise of Rootes
Even at a mere 50 years old: Rootes/Chrysler and Talbot were a major brand in my childhood. My first best mate's mum had a Hillman Imp that would consistently overheat to the point where she was in ecstasy to receive one of the 1st MK3 Escorts to be seen in our home town of Wolverhampton . My mum would constantly drive me to school in different Chrysler and Talbot Avengers that were sales reps cars at the end of their leases where my dad was a manager. I loved the Avenger's styling throughout its entire history, but my mum would constantly moan that they were utter shite. Then further into the 80's my auntie turns up in a Talbot Horizon, which to me almost defines all chunky 80's styling of the era. Needless to say the Horizon very quickly rusted and fell apart within a few terms at school (didn't they all 🤣). But maybe solely because of styling or nostalgia, I am left with an 80's Talbot fetish (which I am currently seeking psychiatric help for 🤪). And one day dream of owning the brand's ultimate Unicorn.....A RHD 2.6SX Talbot Tagora..... GOD help me! ..I mean there must be a helpline or something for this kind of perversion!!! Great video Tom, keep em coming pls.
we all have fetishes
learn to embrace yours!
I worked with a guy that served his time at Hillman. He was on the test track with a Commer van, a requirement for local councils, police etc was that it did 50MPH. He said they did everything in their power but couldn't manage it so they just altered all the speedos. While this was going on a little car kept zipping past them, a prototype Imp. I've had a Hunter and a few Imps and if another comes along I'll probably have another.
My aunt had a Hillman, but I'm not sure which one. I do know she said it was her favourite car!
I'm pretty sure I saw you outside the loo in the British Motor Museum at Sunday's Rustival. I was going to say hi but you'd gone by the time I came out. So here's a belated hi! Great show, will likely do it again next year. It's nice to have a show where my MKIV Polo is welcome!
Great video, very concisely presented.
The "Arrow" Hillman Hunter won the London-Sydney marathon at the hands of Andrew Cowan - a feat repeated when the commemorative rally was run many years later.
Andrew Cowan did win again (1977) but it was in a Mercedes-Benz.
The Hunter did compete again (1993) but finished in 67th place.
A friend of mine had a replica of the London-Sydney winning Hunter and we test drove it through Switzerland, will never forget it!
There is a mistake in your video: Exactly 11:11 “Hillman’s final act would be in 1981, after that the Avanger would be badged as a Chrysler.”
No, that was long after the Peugeot take over. I am not sure when it was, sometime 1979 or 1980 that the company belonged to Peugeot but the new name was just decided: “Talbot”, which in itself was clever as Talbot had roots in both France and UK. But the new Talbot logo was not decided yet, plus they had some Chrysler logos still lying around. In those few months the cars had the Chrysler penta-star logo on the front grill, but the Talbot writing on the bonnet. But again, that was way before 1981 and the name Hillman died even before that.
ANOTHER EXCITING QUESTION: Do we believe Talbot (or anything Rootes) could still exist today?
I say YES! Not as Rootes or Chrysler, but certainly as Talbot!
Because even as a Peugeot fan I say Peugeot has done unforgivable mistakes!
1) The Talbot Express was a variant of the Peugeot J5 and Citroen C25, only sold in UK until 1994, but it could have carried on based on the Peugeot Boxer, Citroen Jumper.
2) The Peugeot 309 does not fit into Peugeot model numbers. It should have been the replacement to the Talbot Horizon and was originally called the Talbot Arizona. That it shared many parts of the 205 was no problem in my eyes. It would have made more sense to keep calling it a Talbot rather than the 309, and that was the original intention.
3) The Talbot Samba Mk2. That is not remembered, it never came. Probably the main problem of Peugeot was in-house competition with Talbots sold through Peugeot dealers. The luxury Peugeot 604 already had a hard life against the slightly smaller but newer Peugeot 505, and now the Talbot Tagora came alongside it. Same the Talbot Samba was a freshened up Peugeot 104, sitting next to each other nobody would buy a 104 any more. But this led to a clever idea: The Talbot Samba Mk2 was still badge engineered, but it was based on the Citroen AX, which stood at different dealers! If someone wanted something above the 205 it would have been the Arizona, below the 205 it would have been the Samba2
All this may only have secured Talbot for a few years, BUT:
4) Matra was there too. They had the probably first SUV in history in form of the Talbot Rancho. As a successor of the Rancho Matra developped the Talbot Espace, the World’s first MPV. What an amazingly innovative partner! But Peugeot said: “MPV is rubbish, bin it, if Renault wants to have it, they can have it for free”. And so the Renault Espace became a huge success that years later Peugeot went into 806/807, when the Espace was a Talbot in the first place!
The Renault Espace was originally designed as the Talbot Espace! Had Peugeot not been so dumb, Talbot could have become pioneers now. Everything that Peugeot struggles with giving double-zeros as 2008, 3008, could have been marketed as Talbot, while Peugeot keeps their usual numbers. If you check the 1st generation 2008, in the roof line it has even hints of the Talbot Rancho!
Final fun-note: How did the double-zero numbers even start?
Even though this is more the French Simca arm of Chrysler Europe, Simca’s smallest car (basically opposite to the Hillman Imp) was depending on engine the Simca 1004, 1005, 1006. Remember the Peugeot 1007 with its sliding doors? This car was often laughed about, but it was something different, just like the Rancho and Espace. This car was developped at the former Simca-Chrysler-Talbot plant Poissy as the Peugeot Sesamé concept people loved it. Peugeot wanted to launch it as the 007, because it is smaller than the 106/107, but there was a copyright issue with James Bond. The designers in Poissy then came up with the idea: “If you can’t call it the 007, we have done the 1004, 1005 & 1006, why not call it the 1007?” This was done with right that reasoning and it was the first Peugeot with a 00-number.
Yes, in the end people laughed about the 1007. But imagine the 1007, the 309, the Express, the AX-based Samba2 would have come as Talbots with the World looking more and more into SUVs….
I don’t claim I am right, it is just visions, basically. But the ideas that were there, I could well see Talbot being striving now and conservative Peugeot struggling.
Cars from the UK always seemed a decade older than they actually were. The war ended the UK actually behind mainland Europe where everything was to be new and reconsidered while in UK everything was to be same same and losses were covered by take overs to keep the brands afloat...
My father had a Humber Super Snipe, and I learned on a 1963 Hillman Minx. Later I had a Hillman Super Minx, and a 1966 Sunbeam Alpine 1725. They were all good cars, and would love to own a Sunbeam Tiger. I remember competing with Peter Haper's rallycross Hillman Imp.
We had a Hillman Imp. It was pretty awful. I liked the fact that the rear screen opened, so you could transport huge items with them sticking out the back over the engine. We had to permanently carry a big concrete breeze block in the front boot to help balance the cars weight.
My very first car (following the rite of passage moped at 16, and Honda CB125S motorcyclewas) a 'Rootes', 1963 Hillman Minx 1600, purchased for £35, when I was 17 (1974). Turned out to be the only Rootes car I ever had, the following years mostly being Ford, with a few Vauxhalls, a couple of Rovers, Minivan, Toyota Hiace camper, a BMW, a Hyundai, and previous to my current car, a Nissan Qashqai. This was replaced 4 weeks a go with a (new) Toyota RAV4 GR Sport PHEV. A lot of cars, a lot of miles, a lot of (sigh..) years!
Thanks Tom for another excellent presentation.
Some trivia: in your video, Australian actor Ray Barrett appears in one of the Hillman Hunter TV commercials.
He also starred in the Leyland P76 promotional film “The Carmakers”
My father in law had a Hillman Hunter, and it was okay at the time. I had a Singer Chamois. The pressings for the Hunter all went to Turkey, then Iran, and it was built there for several years after it was deleted in GB.
One of my first cars was a 1970 Hillman Arrow, which had quite good performance, comfort, and handling, for a 1500, that is -70 mph was its' top speed.
I also had a Mk.I Super Snipe, which I frankensteined Citroen CX suspension, and a Chrysler Hemi 265 into, but that was quite some years ago. I must say, I thoroughly recommend this combination- with 300+ bhp, the Humber was a great car.
In Argentina the Hillman Avenger was made by Chrysler and sold as Dodge 1500. It was a big sales success. When Chrysler sold their shares to the dealerships, and later bought by Volkswagen, it was badged as VW 1500, and continue the production, untill 1990.
Owned a few. OVS119N was an Avenger Sunseeker- a two door, in orange with a half vinyl roof in white. Perfectly good car. I've had six or seven Alpines and three Tigers- one of which I still have. I liked Rootes.
Living in Coventry not far from the factory you could always see a Routes vehicle somewhere around town..but then.??..how could such a big company fail so badly.. you could see the decline coming.....such a shame. Many thanks Dave from Coventry..
Hey up tom thanks this is a really interesting and well done video
I really think that PSA could have brought back Talbot as a competitive arm for the likes of Dacia, and the lower specced Hyundai's and Kia's
I don't think we've got any hope of the legacy brands coming back now with all the current ones fighting for survival, it's a shame really because I agree with you.
Always thought this too, although weirdly when u look at early Talbot history ,it was practically Bentley like.
Yeah I was thinking the same.
It's hard to think of a Rootes group car which is an absolute classic.
I'd love another Hillman Imp!
Commer was once the favorite brand of goods/parcel delivery companny "van Gend en Loos 1809 -2003" now a part of DHL in the Netherlands
They were one of the biggest customers of Commer vehicels outside the UK.
Commer did build customized and specialized vehicels for them.
The Commer walk thru was also specialy designed for their use and was still produced by Renault for van Gend en Loos as Commer till the early 1980's.
only when the Renault Master MK1 arrived production ended.
One of these days, I'll be shocked to see those Webers gone off the shelf and onto the Rover.
The Chinese need to bring back the Austin, Morris, Humber and Hillman brands as retro styled electric cars. Imagine a quirky small hatchback resembling the Moggie, a sleek sports car resembling the fastback Sunbeam Rapier, or a big executive car inspired by the Hawks of the early 60s
It's odd how the misses's Vauxhall Insignia and my 1972 Hillman Avenger are now effectively the same brand.
Recently I got a new oil pump for my Avenger. It was marked up "Made In Iran". I wonder then if the Avenger and Hunter had the same oil pump despite being different engines.
The Paykan (Arrow) was fitted with the Avenger 1600 engine from the 1980s onwards due to production of the earlier unit coming to an end in the UK.
The original oil pump for the Hunter & Avengers are not interchangeable; yet both were made by British companies Hoborn Eaton & AE in Sheffield! The only link I can see to Vauxhall , back then, is through AC Delco , who sold to all British brands inc BMC / BL ( Ford were by far their biggest customer , even more than Vauxhall / Bedford!) AC Delco supplied Rootes, then Chrysler UK with petrol pumps , air cleaners, Filters( sold as MOPAR), instruments ( Smiths were top supplier Including to Ford), Heaters ( as Delainair), Wiper motors & linkages ( as an alternative to Lucas), radiator caps, breather valves & various odds & ends. As for the link via Stellantis today , well that must include the worlds biggest car manufacturer ;TOYOTA, as they have very major links with PSA , ( Peugeot 107, Various vans etc)) Toyota vans ( badge engineering) are being assembled at Ellesmere port based on Peugeot / Citroen Expert & Berlingo. Stellantis also control Chrysler, Jeep & Dodge Ram companies too. Ford Volvo & JLR are a major buyer if PSA diesel engines .
I’ve owned,loads of Hillmans , a Humber Super Snipe. And Commer vans. Well made good cars.
We could see the stellantis brands make some sort of come back. They have all their brands a deadline to put forward a comeback plan. Hope it includes these brands and not just for Lancia
I never appreciated Rootes group cars when I was young - at the time they were Imps, Hunters and Avengers - and I always found them a bit down market in comparison with Vauxhalls and Fords. The later Chryslers and Talbots, Alpine aside, which was an advanced car when new, looked even more inferior to my eyes. As time’s gone on though, I’ve come to appreciate Rootes as a group making some very well engineered and made cars - their late 50s and 60s cars were actually of a very high quality, and can be seen now as very attractive alternative classics to the usual suspects. The much maligned Imp was actually a little jewel of a car, let down by rushed development and a ridiculous build process which would only ever fail to meet any decent quality standards. I’ll always lay the demise of these great brands at Chrysler’s door - however, unfortunately, the Rootes’ brothers’ mismanagement of their car empire, and the Imp’s market failure, which led to Chrysler buying them out in 1967 is what killed off these once great car makers for good.
Please do a video about the tr7 thank you
When I was a boy my uncle had a Hunter 1725 De luxe as a company car. I think it was Prairie beige with basic vinyl seats but it was quite comfortable to ride in. He had a Marina automatic as a replacement which I don't think was much of a step up to be honest!
One model name that's ripe for a comeback is Horizon. It's well-known in both Europe and America, attaches to the sort of boxy '80s hatchback shape that's coming back in vogue, and might be hard to shoehorn into Peugeot's line but would be at an end of the market where *Fiat* hasn't been competitive in years (Stellantis' Europe's strongest contender being the Opel-Vauxhall Astra, perennial #2 overall in both Germany and Britain) and Chrysler in America desperately needs an entry.
Dad had a singer vogue and an arrow Hunter. Loved that car...
I wish that humber and Hunter could come back.possibly as EVs
Always wondered how easy it would be to get hold of an Iranian hunter...
2:00 Paul Whitehouse on the left 😂.
Sorry, but the Humber name was owned by a Scottish businessman, who purchased the marque in the early 1980's with a plan to build a car that could take on the might of the German car industry, alas this never happened. This was either in the excellent Rootes Group book by the late Graham Robson or in the 2 books published in the early 1990's concerning the history of Humber from it's early years to it's demise and the other one regarding postwar road tests. Alas both of these books are out publication. Hope this helps, as always a very informative upload.
1966 model in storm grey with red vinyl interior. Kept it for 11 years then bought a Hunter which was not a good example. Many years later I bought a Hunter Topaz which was a great car. Always liked Rootes cars but lack of investment killed them. The Hunter went on far too long without any real change while the Cortina kept getting updated.
I had a Chrysler Avenger 1.3 and a Talbot Avenger 1.6.
Both were very good car's in my opinion, both served me well with reliability and comfort and decent performance. 😃
From a purely brand marketing perspective, most if not all of these marques were destined to be a rather awkward sell at best in the modern global era.
One of their most notable highlights, the Hillman Imp was hampered by the ludicrous politically imposed production setup which included engines being manufactured in the midlands, and assembly - in Glasgow…!
These brands were common in Malaysia too in the 50s and 60s
My guess in the first 2 minutes and without going through the comments is that the brands are now owned by Stellantis via Peugeot who bought out Chrysler UK who owned Rootes and then PSA (Peugeots parent company) merged with FCA (FiatChyslerAutomobiles) to form Stellantis so they have kind of gone full circle to end up back up in bed with Chyrsler again.
The Rootes group was a behemoth that was bound for plundering.
Would of loved to work with the team that came up with the Sunbeam Alpine.
If i had the time and the lolly would love to remake it.
My Dad loved them...... Several Minxes, and two Hunters later
they were not available anymore.He switched to Toyota then.
The Sceptre was a rebadged Hunter!
Ive owned two imps and been transported as a kid in two different imps.
My mum bought a Sunbeam Rapier fastback new in 1970, we still have it in running condition. D
My first car in Perth Western Australia was a 72 chrysler hunter Royal made to look like a baby 1970 chrysler valiant in Australia and high back seats.
Was a strong well made 1600 engine car.
Would like an in depth video on the Humber 3 liter . A forgotten six with a hemi head . Can find little information on it . Was it short stroke ? How many main bearings ? Any racing pedigree ?
Our local funeral director had humbers as hearses and my employer has a few car dealerships built on the factory at Linwood they’re is a railway bridge at Linwood and you can still make out it says home of the avenger and sunbeam greetings from Scotland 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
My dad had four Avengers - 3 were estates, back in the 70s and 80s.
The companies are owned by Stellantis, unless some dealerships were sold. The brands have no owners. Trademarks expire if not used, and Stellantis hasn't used them for decades.
Very interesting and informative Video.
Thank you!
Read a book on the demise of the British motor industry and it said Rootes generally looked after its employees and had very little industrial action compared to others.
It was the pressed steel strike that got them
They are all in Stellantis
Great video but you were a bit light on the Hllman Imp which killed the Rootes group.
It's more a history of brand ownership not a full documentary on Rootes. That's something I'm working on
These cars would now be collectors items.
Who owns Rootes now? Stellantis.
Chrysler binned the TS4 2 stroke engine, which was a big mistake. They also binned all the work on a V6 engine for new models, leaving themselves with old designs. They might have survived if the Labour government had not made them build a factory in Scotland, which was just pouring money down the drain. As with British Leyland, big is not always beautiful. BMW showed what a small company could do with quality products, and idea lost on British politicians and management. Once government start dictating commercial policy, all is lost. They screwed up everything they touched. Leyland, Roots, Scammell.
It was a conservative government actually, labour were elected in 1964.
Fast forward to 2024, Chrysler/Stellantis is having a hard time in North America. Chrysler has only two models. Hard times.
The last sceptre was a rebadged hunter
GOT HAYNES MANUAL FOR HILLMAN HUNTER
Up until the late 1950's the British marques were the #1 imports in the US. What happened? A superb little car known as the Beetle, combined with enormous German corporate investment by VW in quality dealerships with efficient service and sufficient parts stock. Could the British have maintained their position with just better cars? I think not because some of the imports were decent cars. But no, dealerships selling the British products such as Pontiac selling Vauxhalls sidelined their products. I'm old enough to remember those little British Hillmans and certainly the Alpine and Tiger. It's a sad story here, but I think that had they stayed the progress of VW, the superbly engineered Japanese cars of the late 1960's and 1970's compared to the British cars would've finished the British market here anyway. Some say the German industry is headed downhill now, sadly.
Yeah, and where did the money come from for this huge corporate investment? Billions of dollars flooding back into Germany from clandestine NAZI Bank accounts in South America. You can kick-start an awful lot of industry with money stolen from people in concentration camps.
My father let me drive his Hillman Hunter.
My dad always had Hillman cars, minx and super minx, I can just remember them and he thought they were brilliant cars, then in the 70's he bought a brand new Hunter GL, well what a heap of scrap that was, Chrysler built them as cheap as possible with the cheapest materials and plastic parts known to man and put them together with hammers, needless to say it was the last one he or anyone else he knew (as he told everyone how bad it was) bought.
Toyota all the way after that piece of junk, he swore he would never buy another British car ever again it was so bad!
Shit is a wee touch small, amigo. Video is awesome though 😊
I blame the powers that be for allowing all of our car manufacturers to be bought up by large groups so that in the end the company goes bust and everything is lost if left alone most of these car companies would most lightly have gone bust but perhaps just a few of them may have got it rite and still be making cars now we have nothing made in the UK
Could any of the Rootes marques have survived until now? Definitely not! What happened to the British motorcycle industry is indicative of the UK's entire automotive industry - not financially viable. The classic old brand names have been sold off - largely to foreign companies - and start-up manufacturing facilities are producing modern vehicles to wear those name badges. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is a typical example, having no lineage to the original marque.
I'd far rather drive the Hunter than the mark 2 cortina
The Humber Septre was a re badged Hunter, not Avenger.
Correct
If only Lord Rootes ignored McMillan, who insisted in building the factory in Linwood, and thought you know, we should just build the plant down in Ryton next to the existing factory, instead of chasing Conservative votes up in Scotland. The company just might have survived, rather then being swallowed up by Chrysler and then by PSA who closed the Ryton plant in the mid-2000's, my wife and I drove past the factory whilst it was being pulled down in our Humber Super Snipe Series V.
only ever owned a running avenger and a non running imp lol
More than me! I hope to get a Hunter one day.
Rootes, British Leyland, Ford and Vauxhall managed to make some truly awful cars at times,
I owned three Hillmans two Gazzells and one Minx and the Gazzells blew head gaskets because of the alloy cylinder head they couldn't get that as for the Hillman Imp that was an absolute pile of crap and this in Australia no wonder they failed now are present we own a 2017 Suzuki Baleno and with 80000 kilometres on it no problems so far and a 1997 Toyota Hilux no engine gearbox or diff problems and the Hilux has done 439000 kilometres and it is the best carburatored 4 cylinder vehicle l have ever owned its 10000 times better than any crappy Hillman and this is why they failed especially in Australia because people got sick of there unreliable British vehicles and bought Japanese vehicles infact my mother and father had a Hillman Hunter until the brakes failed and they bought a Ford Mazda car mostly Japanese this why they failed and my elder brother still thinks the Sunshine comes out there exhaust pipe but he has a 1963 Hillman Minx convertible and a Sunbeam Stileto and they haven't run in years and his daily driver is a 1976 Toyota yes Toyota Corolla and it runs fine typical Toyota so so reliable and remember it's a 1976 Toyota Corolla and it's 48 years old and it's still going and over the past 35 years l have seen one Hillman Hunter and one 1966 Hillman Minx that was broken a couple of years ago on Christmas day at the side of a Motorway it was gone by Boxing day but there were plenty of Toyota's Honda's Lexuses Mazdas and Suzuki's drove past that broken down Hillman Minx
My first company car was a clapped out Chrysler Alpine 1.3 treated it like a van had it two years till rot got it the gave me a t reg capri 1.6 bag of shit hated it 😂
Goo old British workers striking .
Japanese moved in and they all went under
Anything like that going on today ?
🇬🇧🥷🏿
Think it was a combination of factors. Strikes did have an impact. Not sure the cars were what people wanted? Poor build quality. Old cars, badge engineering. Unable to react to new competition. Government interference. Seems the same story for others as well. Most wouldn’t have survived anyway.