http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HILLMAN-AVENGER-BLUE-/320749585843?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item4aae2a45b3
Nice colour. We never got the DL in NZ.
We just had the Super, TC and Alpine for the Hillman Avengers, then GL GLS and LS for the Chrysler Avengers.
The Avenger Alpine, Avenger TC and Avenger Van were all only sold in NZ. We didn't follow the UK model names very closely.
DL meant DeLux. That mean't the car had a heater. I believed it followed the English post-war car badging.
In 1970 the DL came with, 1 speed wiper, heater, door pulls and no reversing lights.
The next up was the Super (Super DeLux or SDL you'd see on BL's excuces.)
Super = was DL + reversing lights, carpet, door bins, inside door handles, better seats, 2 speed wipers, noise insulation and a slightly diffrent dashboard - had a lip and oil & volts on the clocks.
The '70-73 super dash was the strip style with an oil and voltmeter.
Then the GL or GT. Good seats, round headlights, four circular binnacle - the Alpine dashboard.
'73-'77 Super got the GL/Alpine Dashboard.
From what I can see the NZ Avengers were the same trim spec' apart from the Supers always had the strip dash.
However thats very little to trade for an Avenger that was much better built, esp. with regards to rustproofing.
I'm thinking of buying a '74 year model (round grille badge) brochure. I'll scan the pages and post.
If you guys want this one, and the seller can wait on collection I can buy.
This is after 1/1/1973 so its not tax-exempt.m Also I'm pretty sur it would have the improved gearbox. If you look carefully you can dee the super-stingy DL interior, door-pulls!
Anybody fancy a 1250 with drums?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HILLMAN-AVENGER-BLUE-/320749585843?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item4aae2a45b3
Our Super's had the simply strip dash with no oil and voltmeter. They also only had single speed wipers and no reverse light. The Super spec stayed the same until the facelift when it was replaced by the Chrysler Avenger 1.3GL which was the new entry level model in NZ.
My '75 is a 1300 Super and my '80 is a 1.3GL, both started off life as the entry level models. Both have since been repowered with bigger engines.
I am just about to upgrade my Super to have a GL/Alpine dashboard and 4 headlights.
In NZ we get cheaper tax on cars once they reach 40 years old so next year my Charger will be cheap tax and then in 2015 my Avenger will be cheaper. They go from around $250 a year in tax to about $90 after they are 40.
If anyone wants this one, I have mailed the seller if he can store/wait. I'd say the shipping costs to NZ can't be that bad!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HILLMAN-AVENGER-BLUE-/320749585843?_trksid=p5197.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D5%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D2335127168659104773
There was a 1300 and 1600TC model sold in the UK & I, would have had the same spec as an Alpine. The 1300TC is very hard to find, but I'm looking for a TC inlet manifold.
Buying a 1000 pound car, transporting it to Southampton (1 pound per mile) plus 1400 pound shipping costs from Southampton to Auckland = 2400+ pounds.
Then there's 15% NZ import tax and $1200+ for unloading/cleaning/compliance making at least $7000 all up, so not worth bringing in a base model, unless you REALLY WANT IT!!
Right, well $7k is too much, but in 10 years time, I'd say people will be doing it. My clean 1300Super
The bid is now at
no ones gunna import that to NZ
hate to be the kill joy but just aint going to happen, plenty here already
Yea Ive got to agree, not only does importing one cost mega $$$$ but then youve got the hassles of it passing vinning, and If they found any rust during the vin check, then youd be looking at rust repair certification and all that bulls**t.
So if there is no rust? Its expensive sure, and is it easy to get a clean Hilman shape?
I think in NZ there are still plenty of good Avengers left so I don't think we need to go to the expense of importing just yet.
If you look at some of the Avengers brought by members recently like "1300super"s which is really tidy and they go for around
Okay no bother so NZ is avenger heaven or whatever. I'll quit junking the forum with ads. And btw, I'm paid in euro, Irl is (unfortunatly) that.
I got a quote from Taurus Logistics, just 1300 pounds to send an Avenger to Southampton.
Considering NZ Avengers are way cheaper and don't have the rust problems of UK ones, we should advertise ours on eBay!!!
That would actually be a really good idea. Although I would hate to lose Avengers from NZ, we have few enough already without them all disappearing over to UK.
We'll just send those ones from Smash Palace then Richard, no great loss...lol
I see a punter was trying to sell a 2.8 Mk3 Capri for $35,000 on TradeMe and threatening to send it back to the UK to sell if they didn't get their price!
What they don't realise, is that they're still pretty common there and you can pick up a mint one for under $20,000...haha
True true, good call. I am sure even those have less rust than a UK one :)
Yeah some guys are just dreaming about car prices. It must be a Ford thing because I see some stupidly priced Escorts and Falcons.
I reckon prices are about to fly. I mean I thought I paid too much untill I realized the ins' company were not bullshitting.
I mean I've seen poxy Marians at eng
It is really hit and miss with classic car prices. I won big time with my Charger, I brought that 6 years ago for $10,000 and now it is worth $25,000-30,000.
But in that same time period Avenger prices haven't moved much. I think here Avengers have always been the underdog so they never really went for big money. Maybe now that we are raising the profile of Avengers then they will go up in price.
In certan places the Avenger is popular, more so in Irl & Sco. The man I got the Avenger from said it was all Irish that called him. Roughly speaking there were more Avengers per capita sold in Irl than the UK - B/c they had better suspension for rough roads and were easier on the juice. I can send a a lot of clips from reeling in the years or whatever that shows Avengers in the background or whatever.
I think there's a whole 1970's nostalgia thing happening...pushed along by TV shows, so that popular cars from that era will rise in value...look what happened to Cortina prices after Life on Mars?! As Richard said 1970's Fords are getting pricey and people see the poor cousin, better handling Avenger as good value, then after they get too pricey, maybe Austin Allegros will rise in value!!??
Austin Allegros!!!!!
Noooooooo!!!!!!!
The car that wrecked BL! (mind you that wouldn't have been difficult!)
Aye the All-aggro, if you jacked up the front the windshield popped out.
Styling: It looked pregnant or it looked like Henry VII.
The wheels came off b/c BL mechanics thought the rear hubs were the same as the 1100.
Constant oil leak from the gear selector input. The quartic steering wheel hahahahahahaha. Boot lids that never closed quite right. Driveshats clicking, tin in the body so rot was horrendous. Changing a clutch required two men and a sledgehammer.
Yeh, the Allegro. Or the Maxi!!!
When Lord Stokes (the head of the newly merged BMC & Leyland = British Leyland) went to view the Maxi just before it was launched, made a remark.
''..its like sitting in a chickhen-coop..'' Result? More Ford Cortinas sold.
As my Da said one day when a friend of his came round our drive way one day in his Maxi;
''..that yoke has byre doors (small milking parlor) and a floorboard for a dashboard..''
(so Da, why the hell did you buy that Marina disaster?)
FFS! Look at this comment:
''..Hello there. This is a very appealing piece of Leyland. Is it a 2-door or a 4-door? And what sort of state is the bodywork in? Any rust bubbles or significant blemishes? Many thanks, Sam..''
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1974-AUSTIN-ALLEGRO-CAR-1300CC-/200644049887?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item2eb7513bdf
Is Sam blind? Is that why he wants an allegro and couldn't see its a 3-door?
Sad b******!
Ohhh look the alternative to an Avenger
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MORRIS-MARINA-1-3-SDL-YELLOW-/230664743894?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item35b4b0abd6
WOW!!!! Look at that dashboard, by Lego!
Suspension, same as a Morris Minor, leaf/van springs in the rear, hey it was good in the early 1950's right? Front torsion beams, and the hub pivoted by a trunnion!! Such technology!
Ohh blahblahblah the BMC A-Series engine, long pushrods and wonky manifolding.
Okay so you are Sam Tyler and have went back to 1973, you need a new car. Hmmmm...
Put a deposit down on a Oct '73 Avenger?
Naaah Mr Englishman/Bean thought a 'Morris Minor with shoulderpads was a better idea' buying british after all.
Tubes.
To be fair to Sam that was taken out of context, if you read the other comment that was posted on the same day, another person also asked if it was a 2 door and the seller replied saying he had added more photos. So I would say when Sam and the other fellow asked the questions there wasn't any pictures of the doors etc.
I think Ross was being sarcastic about the Allergo, as you can tell by the "!!??" I think he was picking the worst car from the 70's as an extreme example of the 70's price bubble.
Or u could get a ford if you were a bit of an arsehole.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-MK1-ESCORT-1300-TWO-DOOR-/190569225659?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item2c5ecf9dbb
Okay, sorry folks I'm bored at work, its August, the Italians are on a go-slow!
Man I see what you mean about UK cars being rough. That Mk1 escort is rubbish. I have seen better ones in scrap yards in NZ, infact some of the Avengers at the horopito scrap yard looks better than that.
I reckon you fellas would be on to a winner if you rustproof all the Avengers u can find and just ship the bodies in 5 yrs time.
Now that one I bought was rustproofed as a young car and it wasn't driven much, thats why it survived. I'm just stripping the old schutz and making damn sure there is no rust starting.
Why the couldn't have just electro-zinc galvanized them, Peugeot did that to the 205's and later 309's and the bodies have no rust after 20 years!
i would rustproof mine if i had the money (but then again if i had that kind of money i could just get a new car) lol that's y i have the avenger. it was dirt cheap (compared to other 70's cars like corollas etc)! lol gotta love Ross's sense of humour
also seems a catch 22. cool, ur car will be rustproof but if everyone did that then where they hell would i get spare parts from lol we need rusty cars to keep the half-decent ones intact
Well, check out those rusty ones at Smash Palace Kiera, next time you're there on the NZ Top Model photo shoot!!
As I thought the blue '73 DL is now at
look at this!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MK2-ESCORT-CONCOURS-ROAD-RALLY-SPRINT-CAR-2-2-PINTO-/120765242151?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item1c1e2b5b27
Yeah Escorts are going for stupid money now. They aren't even as good as an Avenger. Poor fools need to be enlightened.
Aye, 25 big-yins for a shiny new set od carrage springs! Good Luck!
Well to paraphrase the quote, ''..to Hell or Connaught..''
To Hell or a MKII Escort!
paddy do you own/work from/ love ebay?
Hahahaha Kiera, aye ye are right, I'll quit posting junk on this site. No I don't work for Ebay but I do sorta make this internet/comms work.
All communications, messinger, email, TV transmission etc, is a signal being transported from one location to another. My job is make those roads work. 9 micron fiber-optic cable and the first kit (DWDM/SDH) or piece of equipment that that wee beam of light hits.
That and the mobile phone masts and the kit in the hut or cabin at the base.
Its August, I'm in Italy so that means I'm not so busy, so you futter about on ebay. I got a load of Avenger stuff, window beading to a gearbox mounting.
That Oldschool fella is an aufwul divil for showing me stuff that would quarely dent the paypal account!
Aye, right enough ye think to yerself, shure I'd be needin' a clynderhead so.
I can't tell if you were being sarky or smart-arse with the comment but anyhow, guid luck.
I for one love your ebay posts. Saves me trawling ebay looking at stuff. I'm sure Kiera is just winding you up :)
We kiwi's like to joke around and take the mickey out of each other. you should see some of the other forum I am on, I am on a MoPar forum with my Charger and they used to give me so much stick about driving Avengers, but it's all light hearted fun.
Aye, see? Told yiz ye are Irish, I bet yiz like a drop of the creature of an evenin' too! Begadach! I had too much lat night.. Boredom, shite food = hit the boozer.
See this I-hallion food btw, like most euro grub, its shite. Ye will go a long long way 'till ye bate the guid auld Irish flowery shpud - well I suppose you'd go as far as New Zealand, same soil & climate.
Zeeland, Zaeland, Zealand, I was in the original Zeeland that is South Holland. Van Deimen? Wasn't it? Check out a town called Zirekzee great spot for windsurfing.
Whats a Kiwi joke btw? Something to do with sheep molesting or is that the south island?
I can tell the diffrence in a Kiwi accent and an Australian drawl (Oz sounds a wee bit more southern english - soft 'H') because I've rellies in Auckland.
NZ sounds like there is a wee bit of 'soush effrikan' in it. You don't do the annoying thing where by the Oz brouge ends the sentenCE HIGH.
That characteristic I'd reckon came from the Welsh, they don't pronounce the H and end the sentences like its a question?
The yankee (jan-ijlee - comes from some Dutch guy) accent is definitly gaelic, they pronounce 20 'twenny' like the Scots or Irish, a heavy 'H' & 'J' and thats pronounced 'Haich' not 'Each' it makes a huh-sound not an euh-sound. 'H'otel = Sco/I or N.Am.
'O'tel = Eng/Wal or French/Spanish/Italian - latin.
How to wind up an Englishman.
Simply tell hin to stop pronouncing 'Hillman Hunter' as 'Illman Unter' like the French! Hahaha it always winds then up!
Likewise the N.Americans don't pronounce the 'T'
A bit like the States and Canada, canadian 'eh'
oh man English puhleeaaase :P
the accent is positivly oozing from my screen but bugger me is deterring me from reading
People say Irish & Scots are hard tae unnerstan'
Because the old language was spoken from the back of the mouth. But its pretty much a fact, if a foreigner wants to really learn english, best place is ireland funnily enough. I guess because we will talk to anybody and have a broad vocabulary.
The unusual words like, ach = but!
och = but (lament)
Stour = dust
Ganzey = pullover
' a lach-ah' = a given amount of
Gaunch/Ganch/Gop = something or someone that is awkward
Boreen = wee road
Strand = beach
and other slang or unofficial words is picked-up pretty quick.
The accent, an example. In the old language:
Sl
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/hillman-avenger-talbot-/150656272623?_trksid=p5197.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D4%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D2447412273201303165
Something like this I'm after for rough use.
Pity that one is not a saloon and its the other side of the sea, Twickenham thats near London, too far to go with a trailer. If it was in Scotland or Wales or that side of England - and I was at home!
Anyway the plan is to chop off ther Chrysler/Talbot rear caps and Hillmanize a half decent MKII.
There will be one somewhere in Ireland? Maybe not. Its a job for November anyhow.
tehee I'm such a stirrer
I use double valve springs BUT thats how it came, apparently cortina items?
clueless otherwise
On my '75 I use a Avenger TC 1500 'S' head which comes with double valve springs.
The 'S' head also have bigger valves etc.
On my race car I use aftermarket competition double springs.
haha i just hadnt come on for a while and all i se is ebay everywhere! lol ross i do not want to go to horopito everytime i want a new spare part. ive only had to use ebay once, and that was to get my lush sheepskins coz they were literally 100% cheaper than buying them from shops here. i was quoted $180 for one cover in shops and i managed to get a piar for that much off ebay, and they were even in NZ. score!
Paddy, a standard NZ joke is..."How much do sheep cost in NZ?"
Answer: "$100 for 1/2 an hour!"
Here's a popular Aussie joke...
Man at immigration counter after flying in from NZ was asked if he had any criminal convictions?
Answer: "I didn't realize you still needed them to get in?!"
Here's a combined ANZAC joke...
What do you get when you cross a kangaroo with a sheep?
Answer: "A woolly jumper!"
More jokes in the forum if you're bored...lol
jaysus paddy your some cute hoor confusing all these good kiwi folk,what part of italy are you in i basically did most of the main spots in 3 weeks in an alfa sud was a bit of fun.
i still have a 2 door rolling shell at home i was going to put up for sale it needs the usual welding in all the usual places but i had collected most of what was gone,headlamp mounting panels,wings,outer sills,jacking pionts,and rear arches and lower quarters,i also even picked up a genuine 2 door skin,i had 8 avengers at home sold most to come here.
ebay is a good spot but try joe o kane up in magerafelt to he has a lot of stuff and a few breakers as well.
he also bought the green 2 door gt of ebay i think they pick it up in the uk today so it should be in there showroom next week alongside there mk2 tiger
slan agus beanacht
Now its at
I'm in the outskirts of Milan, still damn hot here! Aye I'll call up to O'Kanes when I'm next at home. Maybe try out the Ford gearbag and cvh engine for the craic. I don't know what to do with the Avenger as far as the engines go. For sure though a 5 speed 'box with the upgeared diff is a good start whatever the engine may be.
I got a 3.89:1 crown & pinion, I guess it currently has the 4.11:1 in it. I'm thinking that the 1.4 cvh would be an easy enough job to fit and it'd make the wee Avenger run sweet. For a 800kg car the torquey 72bhp would make it run like a 1600cc and keep the car at half tax.
Even the Sierra 1.6cvh, after you rip out the single point injector, replace with a weber, and do the timin' for high octane would make a quick car. Then even the 90bhp 1.8, but thats too fast for others driving the car.
I got a LHD upper steering colum cowl so I can turn over the indicator stalk, again for others driving it. Everything this last 30 years (except the Renault 18, as you know in Ireland if you lifted a stone in the '80s and 90's you'd find two of them!) the switch is on the left, so its annoying after driving the Avenger then you get the wipers on everything else!
Either way she'd need front discs, I'd say O'Kanes will have all the necessary parts.
So I take it life is good in NZ? You went from the land of the long dark clouds to the land of the long white clouds! Guid Luck.
Sl
Now its at
yeah but it sucks that thyre not as well known as escorts and things. when i had mine for sale for about...2 weeks i tried to justify my asking price by saying they were rare, especially the automatics. alas, no one gave a shit :) mind you, i had never heard of an avenger until i bought it
haah wasnt till i took possession of mine did i know what it was
haha same, which in hindsight was bloody stupid. cool, got a car that i havnt ever heard of, struggled to find parts for the first few months LOL
Well I knew about them allright, as teenagers they were one of the old cars we raked about the place. They were pretty popular at the time, generally owned by older people or family guys. Yes they are now rare it looks like there are about ten to one compared to Escorts, Kadett's, Marinas or others.
Apparently the orange one my Granda had, he had three of them the orange one was the last - all the Hillman shape - is still around! If I could find that one!
So rare now though, that was a suprize I'd have thought there were more left.
People used to treat Avengers as a bit of a joke...some still do...lol
Was talking with a guy yesterday, told me an Avenger was his first car and one day it broke down when the clutch gave out, so he just left it on the side of the road and got another car!!
Working in the Post Office workshop...we all thought of them as a poor man's Ford and thrashed the crap out of them!!
They'd easily beat a 1600 Mk3 Cortina, which was a gutless wonder that hated corners...lol
The Avenger was still a notch above the Marina...whenever one of those came in the workshop we'd run and hide!!
Had a clutch slave cylinder to do on one...pig of a job...have to engage the clutch to get the old cylinder out!
Only a BL sadist could design something like that! You use a big bar to somehow lever the clutch fork away from the cylinder, so it can drop out...easier to solve a Rubick's Cube...thankfully I pulled a sickie and my mate had to do the job...haha
I must just be sad then, as Ive always wanted an Avenger since i was about 10 years old.
Well, I've been wanting an Avenger for years too, I never gave it serious consideration untill this year and I got this one. I was lucky my friend in London helped out because I couldn't have arranged payment etc from here - I sent him (the buddie) a cheque etc.
Yes sure there was, or would have been a time, about the early to mid '80s when the Avenger was an old worthless car. This was when loads of half-decent ones got crushed or driven to destruction by teenagers. Its a shame more didn't make it. But hey, thats what we are for.
For every five Escorts/Marinas there is or was an Avenger, I wish! I think its more like for every ten!
haha it is a tiny bit sad. id like to think that if mine shat itself i would get another one, but would be hard finding one that wouldnt be just about to crap itself. some people laugh when i say i have an avenger lol. the guy at the gas station told me mine sounded shit coz its idling high, i told him to think back to when he last saw an avenger, and that it was a fucking miracle it was running at all. twat
Yeah if your one kicks the bucket Kiera...come and work your womenly charms on Logan and score yourself another Auto...haha
My other son Danny has learnt to drive my manual GLS...as long as he doesn't need to do a hill start that is!
He was limping around today...I asked what's the matter?
He said his left foot was sore from pushing the clutch in all the time...talk about being spoilt by an Auto...lol
Take out the clutch cable and lube with PAS fluid.
So, tiger valves? Get the machine shop to put in unleaded seats.
haha yea good idea ross, it would be getting a paint job though. lol
I mean,
If a clutch feels heavy. usual problem on a RenClio or R5 - b/c its a long cable to get to the lhs, where the car was designed for the driver/clutch to be, you lighten'd the pedal snap by auto fluid'n the cl'cable.
The Avenger is optimized to be rhd, the clutch lever is on the drivers side of the bell/mount so a short cable. Just take out the cable and fill the outer/shell with AQF it;ll make your Avenger's clutch feel like a hydraulic.