1968 Hillman Hunter Reviews

Australia is regarded as one of the world’s most sophisticated and mature vehicle markets. We’re right up there with the richest.

Truly Australian car brands – as in brands that mass manufactured cars locally, regardless of the origin of their overseas parent companies, became a thing of the past in 2017.

In the early 1950s the Rootes Company, which owned the Hillman brand, decided to develop a range of small , four cylinder cars based around one body shell. They gave it the code name `Audax', which is Latin for 'bold'.Then they engaged famed American design guru Raymond Lowey to style the cars. At the same time Lowey had just put the finishing touches to the 1953 Studebaker range. And guess what? Lowey designed the cars to look like shrunken `53 Studebakers.Rootes was a master at badge engineering and they used the basic 'Audax' shell on a four door sedan, a station wagon, a two door hardtop coupe and a convertible for their Sunbeam, Singer and Hillman marques. Differing rear end and grille treatments plus varied interior appointments and engine combinations denoted the various models.The first model out of the blocks was the 1955 Sunbeam Rapier two door hardtop. No doubt about it, this was the pick of all the styling derivates, and looks as good now as it did then. The four door Hillman Minx sedans, station wagon and convertibles went on sale in 1956. These were the entry level cars.Singer also had a convertible model and four door sedan, known as the Gazelle. They were positioned were a little bit more up market from the Minx. The Sunbeams filled the 'sports/luxury' niche. Automatic transmission became optional in 1960. A facelift was developed for 1963, with squarer body panels. Disc brakes became standard.In Australia, Hillman and its siblings enjoyed some success in 1950s and early 1960s but when the Ford Cortina and Vauxhall Viva arrived, with more modern styling and a cheaper price, the marque struggled. The same was reflected in the UK. Rootes itself had been absorbed into Chrysler in 1964 and the resulting change in design direction led to the Hillman Avenger and Hillman Hunter models replacing the "Audax "design.These were also sold in Australia, with some success. And then there was the Imp. Engineered and styled as a smaller version of the rear engine Chevrolet Corvair (that was the first of its problems), the Imp was supposed to fight the Mini. Quality problems and its slightly quirky nature hampered sales.The Hillman name disappeared in 1976 but the Hunter shape and mechanicals lived on in Iran until 2005. Known as the Paykan, they produced 2.3 million of them, making it one of the most successful car designs ever!David Burrell is the editor of www.retroautos.com.au 

At the time it was seen as a very technological advanced, stylish, small car, yet has always been overshadowed by the front wheel drive Mini, its main competitor, and to a lesser extent, the very conventional Ford Anglia. Maybe it was just too innovative for most car buyers.Indeed, the Imp was a big change of direction for Hillman. They'd won their reputation building well engineered, mid-sized, front-engined cars like the Minx. Their new small car was a 180 degree turnaround, both in styling and mechanical design, literally.The Imp boasted a rear mounted 875cc aluminium alloy engine, with overhead camshaft, sourced from Formula 1 builders, Coventry Climax. Hillman's engineers tweaked the motor by laying it over on a 45 degree angle and increasing the compression ratio to 10:1, quite high for the day.What really had everyone taking notice was the light weight motor, just 77kgs. This gave the car a superior level of performance and with some tuning and exhaust system fettling the standard power output of 41kw could be raised to over 80kw. That's a lot of horsepower for a small car.The cute shape was inspired by the 1960 Chevrolet Corvair. The front end is almost a direct copy. In fact, during the development of the Imp, Hillman engineers test drove Corvairs seeking to understand how Chevrolet had solved the "tail happy" tendencies, so typical of rear engine designs.After putting one on its roof, the Hillman folk realised Chevrolet had not solved the problem at all, and thus opted for a sophisticated multi link rear suspension, rather than the Corvair's simpler, cheaper swing axles. And the rest of that story you would know only too well.Over 500,000 Imps were sold across the world during its 13 year production run. Hillman's parent company, Rootes, badge-engineered it into the Singer Chamois and Sunbeam Sport. In Australia the Imp was sold through dedicated Hillman dealerships and after Rootes was acquired by Chrysler, it ended up sitting beside Valiants on showroom floors.Imps have a very strong fan base in the classic car world. Parts and panels are readily available in Australia, New Zealand and in the UK. They are ideal for anyone thinking about their first classic car, being cheap to buy and maintain.Unique to Australia was a convertible called the Hillman Stiletto. It was factory sanctioned and built by Melbourne firm EiffelTower Motors. The convertible could be ordered with a removable hard top. This is a very rare and much sought after Imp. 

Back in 2006 Danny saw a 1966 Hillman Minx parked on the side of the road with a For Sale sign on its windscreen. "That's for me" he thought, and two days later it was in his garage. "I've always liked Hillmans, so I bought it", he admitsAnd thus he started his collection of classic British cars, which now comprise ten Mark I and Mark II Cortinas, Ford Prefects and the Hillman. He keeps this ever expanding collection in various nondescript garages and storage areas close to his Newcastle home. "I like them all. I like the style and their engineering. They are simple to restore and to work on. And they do not cost mega dollars", he says, "The Hillmans are particularly strong cars and great for someone getting into classic cars for the first time", he explains. "When they built them they were over engineered. So you find the seams are all overlapping and there is more welding than is really needed. The steel is thick and the front sub-frame rails go all the way under the front seat area." Danny's Hillman Minx is a 1966 Series VI and is the final version of a style which was penned by famed US designer Raymond Lowey in the mid fifties. It has a 1725 cc motor, a five speed gear box and power disc brakes. Danny is the third owner. "I've hardly spent anything on it" he says. "I drive it almost every day. It is a classic British car from the mid-sixties, and you will not see its like again", he says. Danny has a definite view about classic car restorations.He has a limited budget so he does what he can and then goes out and has fun driving the cars. For example, he's rebuilding a 1968 GT Cortina for less than $3,000, and that includes the price of the car.As an active member of the Hunter British Ford Club he is determined to demonstrate that the cost of owning and driving a classic car experience not be prohibitive."I hope others will see that with a little ingenuity, some help from people in their car club and a measure of perseverance, it can be done", he says with robust emphasis. And with a sweep of the hand Danny points to the Cortina in his garage. It starts and runs beautifully. It's registered for the road. OK, so it has mismatch doors, but that's easily fixed by a quick re-spray.What it represents is a low cost way to enjoy classic motoring. Go for it, Danny! We're with you all the way. www.retroautos.com.au

Not anymore. Now he has more than doubled the horsepower and is a serious contender running ninth outright in the Queensland Cup Group N for historic sedans built before 1972. He could have chosen a more likely car to go racing, but the 44-year-old company executive manager just couldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. "My wife, Trudy, was given the car by her great uncle and great aunt, Charlie and Mable Perarson," he says. "They bought it new in 1970 for $1950 and had done 42,000 miles (67,500km) before giving it to Trudy in 1990. "Trudy got her first teaching post in Longreach and that's when I met her. I was a jackaroo and a bit of a car nut at that stage and everyone said she picked me up to look after her car." Not that the car needed much attention. "We did a number of trips back and forth to Brisbane, drove it on dirt roads to properties and did a holiday from Longreach to Rocky, Townsville, Cairns, Hughendon and Winton and the only problems we had were typical for an English car - it used four litres of oil and needed a new generator," he says. "Other than that it went very well." When Trudy finished her teaching post the couple moved back to Brisbane and left the Hillman under her mother's house in Toowoomba for about 18 months. "Then Trudy's mum rang and asked me to get rid of it," he says. "I liked it so much we kept it as a second car for about four years and then I got a management position and the Hillman got retired." "About 2000 I started in motorsport and that was the car I used. I just put in a roll cage and away I went." West has a racing pedigree thanks to his father, Graham, who was a navigator for Dean Rainsford in a Porsche 911 and finished 1976 runners up in the Australian Rally Championship, beaten by a Nissan Japan factory team. His father was also guest navigator for legendary rally driver Stig Blomqvist in 1978 in a Saab EMS when he was here for the Rally of Canberra. "So I've got racing in my blood," he says. West began his motorsport career in sprints and hillclimbs, racing the clock, with limited modifications in the Hillman. Over time West has become "quicker and better" and the car has gradually received more modifications as he moved into more "serious" racing. The historic category allows limited modifications, so the racing Hillman Hunter now has Koni shock absorbers; coil-over suspension at the front which is adjustable for castor, camber and height; a balanced and blueprinted engine; handmade extractors; handmade intake manifold; Cortina ventilated front discs; twin 45mm Webbers; and the four-cylinder 1725cc engine has been marginally rebored to about 1730cc. It originally put out 53kW at the flywheel and now yields about 93kW at the rear wheels. "I was a laughing stock when I first turned up in the Hillman," says West. "No one had ever done it before. Plenty of people said they couldn't see why not, but plenty of people said it couldn't be done." "I've had to plot my own way all the way. You just can't buy things off the shelf. Over the years I've been getting places and winning. It's now a competitive car. No one laughs anymore," West says. "It's a good chassis to work on. But the Lucas electrics are a challenge; they call Lucas the Prince of Darkness." "The UK motor and driveline are good at leaking oil and I'm not allowed under the rules to drop oil on the track so I've learnt how to stop it." The Hillman's claim to racing fame was victory in the first London to Sydney in 1968 with British driver Andrew Cowan who later moved to Mitsubishi Ralliart. West says the main advantage of the Hillman is that it is wide and light. "It's about 40mm wider than an Escort and has good cornering speed. But I could do with more horsepower." "The big limitation is diff gearing. I need to go lower. I'm in the process of grafting in an Escort limited diff. Then I can run better tyres and go even quicker. I get a bit frustrated at times by its limitations, but while I love the racing, I also love the development and race engineering. "It's the first and only Hunter to be log booked as a Group N car in Australia, so I've set the specs for it. And maybe it's the last."

Over the years the incredible athlete and her offspring won scores of championships in track and field.Many men hankered after them, but were put off by reports of the Swedes' expensive tastes. These girls were "high-maintenance".As time passed, a flood of Japanese beauties and anorexic Austrians began pulling in the younger guys and Husky fell on hard times.After an unhappy dalliance with a vacuum cleaner salesman named Electrolux, she was forced to marry MV Agusta in 1986 and move to Schiranna in Italy.As it happens, things turned out pretty well. The marriage spawned a wave of muscular crossbreeds sporting sexy Italian clothes.Husky's proud history has been recognised for 2006, when the family's track athletes will carry the red and white of Varese, their new home province, and the field stars retain Sweden's yellow and blue.The motocross team consists of the CR125 two-stroke and the TC250, 450 and 510 four-strokes.The blue and yellow enduro range features the WR125 and WR250 two-strokes plus the TE250, 450, 510 and 610E four-stroke machines.There's also a bunch of supermotard bikes, including the black sheep of the family, the SM610.Though the colour switch is the most visible change, there are plenty of upgrades below the surface.All the four-stroke engines get bigger valves, lumpier cams and two-ring pistons. Motocross versions get an all-titanium exhaust system and a redesigned kickstarter, but their electric starters are optional, which won't please "recreational registration" riders, but saves 4kg and gets rid of the battery in the airbox.The two-stroke models have had engine work designed to improve power, with V Force reed valves and redesigned manifold.The CR125 and TCs now run the excellent Ohlins rear shocks with compression and rebound damping adjustment. No such luck on the WR and TE models, which stay with revalved Sachs shocks.The Marzocchi forks have increased by 5mm, to 50mm, on the 450 and 510 models.Digital trip computers and handguards are a big bonus on the enduro models while the handlebars are now adjustable for height and offset. ON THE DIRTChasing 2005 Australian Off-Road champion Anthony "AJ" Roberts on the single-track enduro loop at Toowoomba is hard work.With loads of power on tap, the WR250 like the one he races is a blast to ride on open trails, steering with the back tyre spinning.But with less than 1000km on the clock it is jetted rich and stalls fairly easily. In comparison, the TE450 makes traction everywhere and won't spin the rear as easily. It doesn't stall on the loop which, by this stage of the day, is a big bonus.Husqvarna-sponsored V8 Supercar driver Russell Ingall has no trouble on the WR, which proves you can't hold a good racer down.Interestingly, the factory claims only a 5kg advantage for the WR250 two-stroke over the TE450 and no weight difference from the TE250.On the groomed Echo Valley motocross track, it's hard to pick between the three EC models.The Ohlins shocks are a big bonus, but the bigger Marzocchi forks don't seem to make much difference on directional changes.All the bikes are beautifully finished with smooth castings, excellent plastics and quality welding — something you could not say about the old Swedish Huskys.With a two-year parts and labour warranty on the enduro models and one year on the motocrossers, the Huskys are worth considering, especially if you are serious about your riding.