Plymouth Cricket

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1971 Plymouth Cricket

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, a rebadged version of the British Hillman Avenger, built by Chrysler's UK subsidiary (formerly the Rootes Group). Curiously, only a four-door sedan and station wagon were available, at a time when two-door subcompacts were much more popular, and a two-door body was sold in the Avenger range.

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 "L" shaped rear light clusters. However, from an engineering prospective 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.

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.

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. 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 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.

Race car Driver Scott Harvey was known to have rallied a Plymouth Cricket to win the Press on Regardless Rally of 1972.

Carguide, Formula Publications, Toronto, ON : Published annually, 1972 to date.

Motor Vehicle Data Book, Sanford-Evans Communications Ltd., Winnipeg, MB : Published annually, 1948 to date.

Chrysler Canada sales literature for Plymouth Cricket : 1971 to 1975.

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