Rootes Arrow
Rootes Arrow was the project name of a lower middle class passenger car model of the British Rootes Group , which was sold from 1966 to 1979 by several corporate brands under various model names. The most famous offshoot of the Arrow was the Hillman Hunter .
Development history
The Rootes Arrow was designed as a larger sized addition to the Hillman Imp .
In line with this approach, the first plans from 1962 initially envisaged a four-door notchback sedan with a rear engine . The project was initially developed under the name Swallow . The in-house design team developed a number of studies with smooth, sober lines that combined elements of the future Rambler American and the Chevrolet Corvair . Ultimately, the development effort for the rear engine concept was too high, so that work on the Swallow project was stopped in the spring of 1963.
Instead, the company's management opted for a conventional model with a front engine and rear-wheel drive, which should be positioned in different market segments via the individual group brands and thus appeal to a wide range of buyers.
The Arrow was designed as a vehicle with a self-supporting body. The bodyshell was comparatively light at 260 kilograms. It was made at Pressed Steel Fisher . The chassis was conventional: the front wheels were guided by a MacPherson suspension, the rear of the car had a rigid axle on leaf springs.
The engines, all with four cylinders, came from the Rootes kit. They were in-line engines with five crankshaft bearings, overhead valves and 1.5 and 1.7 liters displacement, which were installed at an angle of 15 °. This allowed for a flat bonnet and left room for the carburetors. The power ranged from 66 bhp (49 kW) to 88 bhp (66 kW). The power was transmitted via a four-speed gearbox with manual transmission, optionally with overdrive , or a three-speed automatic.
The Arrow was in good shape in the first few years of its production and, as a conventional, undemanding vehicle, could hold its own against the ambitious but immature vehicles of the competition from BMC . In comparison to the similarly undemanding designed cars from Ford ( Cortina Mk. II ) and Vauxhall ( Viva HB ), the Arrow initially held up solidly. However, it became noticeable over the years that Rootes (later Chrysler UK) hardly developed the Arrow any further. The appearance was changed and the equipment variants were newly tailored. Compared to the new Cortina , the third version of which had been enlarged, the Ford Escort and the Vauxhall Viva HC , it therefore increasingly lost ground. In addition, Chrysler, as the new owner in the 1970s, also allowed competition in-house, in that in 1970 the slightly smaller Hillman Avenger with partly equal performance and in 1975 the then very modern Chrysler Alpine were added to the range. Most recently, the Arrow (as a Chrysler Hunter with an exterior design based on the earlier Hillman Hunter GLS , Humber Scepter and Sunbeam Rapier models ) primarily appealed to traditionally oriented British customers - Chrysler's brochure material from the late 1970s shows the Hunter relatively unpretentious in the backdrop of a English agricultural fair.
The Arrow was the last passenger car that Rootes had developed entirely in-house before the company was acquired by Chrysler.
Body versions
The Rootes Arrow was offered in three body versions:
- The base vehicle was a four-door sedan presented in 1966 with a no-frills, smooth body and a pronounced trapezoidal line. The design was entirely in-house; the designer in charge was Rex Flemming. The sedan was offered by all brands in the group.
- A two-door hatchback coupé with round twin headlights and a generously glazed roof structure was derived from this, reminiscent of the Plymouth Barracuda from some perspectives . The designer in charge was Roy Ax. The coupé was presented in 1967 and remained in the range until 1976 without any further development work. It was only offered in different performance versions under the Sunbeam brand .
- Another body version was the station wagon called Estate, which appeared in 1967 and was offered as Hillman and - temporarily - as Humber. A special feature are the idiosyncratic taillights, which were borrowed from the Coupé Rapier.
Models
The Rootes group was known for making heavy use of badge engineering. The Arrow was no exception. The car was initially offered under all brands of the Rootes Group. Outwardly, the vehicles only differed in the design of the front end; apart from that, they varied in terms of equipment. The aim was to make all conceivable equipment variants appear as an independent vehicle, but at least as a separate type. The result of this policy was confusing, so in 1969 the same vehicle was offered under eight different names: Hillman Hunter, Hillman Minx, Singer Gazelle, Singer Vogue, Humber Scepter, Sunbeam Rapier, Sunbeam Alpine and Sunbeam H 120. From 1970, Chrysler simplified the model range in that the cars were only offered under a few brands, and in the end even under one brand. The differentiation then took place through different additions to the vehicle name.
Hillman
Hillman Hunter (1966 to 1977)
The Rootes Arrow was only sold as the Hillman Hunter in the first year of its production . A year later, the Hillman Minx was added as the basic version of the Arrow series. When this model was discontinued in 1970, the Hunter received a version called the Hunter de Luxe, which in terms of technology and equipment largely represented the model that had previously been sold as the Minx.
Hillman Minx (1967 to 1970)
The Hillman Minx was a more simply equipped version of the Hunter with less powerful engines. It was offered as a sedan and a station wagon.
Singer
Arrow versions were sold under the Singer brand , which were based very much on the Hillman models. The main difference was a modified radiator grille, which had a trapezoidal insert. All other styling features - including the Hillman's headlights - have been retained. Overall, the vehicle hardly stood out from the (slightly) cheaper Hillman. Not least because of this, it was unable to position itself successfully in the market. As part of a streamlining of the model range, the Singer versions were completely taken off the market; Their place was taken by the Hillman Hunter, which was offered from 1970 with a uniform name, but in various equipment lines. The Singer models were:
Singer Gazelle (1966 to 1970)
The Singer Gazelle largely corresponded to the Hillman Hunter.
Singer Vogue (1967 to 1970)
The Singer Vogue was an upgraded version of the Gazelle. The Vogue was offered at short notice in 1970 with the brand name Sunbeam; This model was all about selling Singer vehicles that had been manufactured but not yet sold.
Humber
The Rootes Group sold its high-priced models under the name Humber . Humber represented a counterpart to the BMC brand Wolseley . Humber also offered a version of the Arrow, which was on the market for a comparatively long time. The model was called Scepter Mk. III and was offered as a sedan from 1967 to 1976 and also as a station wagon from 1974 to 1976; the latter is a very sought-after rarity today.
The Scepter Mk. III was externally characterized by a chrome-plated radiator grille with round double headlights, which were later also used on the Hillman Hunter GLS. Wood veneer (imitation) was used in the interior and the seats were covered with synthetic leather. A 79 hp version of the 1.7 liter four-cylinder engine served as the drive. An automatic transmission was also available.
For export to continental European markets, the Humber Scepter was named Sunbeam Scepter.
Sunbeam
Sunbeam was the sporty brand of the Rootes group. To underline this claim, the coupé version of the Arrow was reserved exclusively for the Sunbeam brand. Sedan or station wagon versions of the Arrow were not offered under the Sunbeam brand (with two exceptions under special circumstances).
The coupes
Sunbeam offered the Coupés des Arrow under three different names:
Sunbeam Rapier (1967 to 1976)
The core model was the Sunbeam Rapier Coupé, which was offered from 1967 to 1976. A 76 hp version of the 1.7 liter four-cylinder engine regularly served as the drive. The vehicle was equipped with a double carburetor.
Sunbeam Alpine (1969 to 1975)
After Rootes ceased production of the Sunbeam Alpine , a classic roadster, in 1968 , the traditional name was used for a simplified version of the Rapier. The car had less extensive equipment and a 1.7 liter engine with only 72 hp and a single carburetor. The Alpine version was not very successful on the market.
Sunbeam H 120 (1968 to 1975)
The top version of the coupé was the Sunbeam H 120. It was powered by a special version of the 1.7 liter engine that had been developed by the supplier Holbay. Special features were revised camshafts and a modified exhaust manifold. Contrary to what the name of the model might suggest, the power of the engine was 108 hp. The H 120 is a sought-after classic car today.
The limousines
Taking into account the sporty image of the Sunbeam brand, it was not planned to sell Arrow sedans under this name. There were two exceptions to this principle:
Sunbeam Vogue (1970)
These were Arrow sedans that had been produced as Singer Vogue , but could not be sold until the brand was discontinued in the summer of 1970. In order to be able to sell these models in the end, they were renamed and sold as Sunbeams.
Sunbeam Scepter
Sunbeam Scepter cars were not sold in British markets. The combination of Sunbeam's brand name and a model name from Humber was reserved for the continental European export markets, where it was hardly noticeable that these names did not match in terms of brand history. In fact, the "Sunbeam Scepter" was a car that had been produced as the Humber Scepter with full equipment and subsequently renamed. The renaming was limited to the exchange of brand emblems, and in practice this was only carried out half-heartedly: In some hidden places the “Sunbeam Scepter” still bore references to the Humber brand. For example, the stylized "H" (for Humber) on the vinyl-covered C-pillar remained unchanged. In the sales prospectus, this emblem was described as an "elegant badge" without further explanation, which contributed to the "dignity of the scepter".
German-language sales brochure Sunbeam Scepter
Link to the picture
(Please note copyrights )
Chrysler
From 1977 to 1979 the vehicle was sold under the name Chrysler Hunter. Only the 4-door sedan was offered in the equipment versions DL and Super . Both types carried the twin headlight grille and bumpers of the earlier Hillman Hunter GLS .
Talbot
When the French group PSA took over Chrysler's European branches and plants in 1978 , the discontinuation of the Arrow (in the form of the Chrysler Hunter) had already been decided. The last Hunter was produced in 1979 and the cars were sold until 1981. The last models were named Talbot Hunter.
Second life in Iran
Since 1967 the Rootes Arrow has been manufactured in Iran by the company Iran Khodro under the name Peykan . Initially, the cars were assembled from imported parts of British manufacture; After the production of the Hunter in Great Britain (or Ireland) ended in 1979, the production of the Peykan took place entirely in Iran. The Peykan was built until 2005.
Competitors
literature
- Graham Robson : The Cars of the Rootes Group , London 2007, ISBN 978-1-903088-29-6
