Hillman Super Minx Mk3

[moby302]

Hmm, if that was the case its no wonder he drove off so fast..

[zahistorics]

Hi Fi,

Avenger did not belong to Vauxhall. Hillman was a Rootes brand, later bought by Chrysler - which explains why the ZA Avenger was called a Dodge.

I think the Avenger was an under rated car. Admittedly the base models were a bit boring, but with a set of decent wheels they looked really good.

[Hi-Fi]

I must say I did like my Avenger. I put on a hot exhaust and it went well and wasn't thirsty. I was very comfortable and for the young guy I was at the time, it suited me fine.

The reason I sold it was that it began to live more at Brian Porters than at home because of the gearbox that kept on breaking. Also rust had started eating at the bottoms of the door posts, so it was time to say cheers. I those days I didn't have the money to sort stuff like that out, or the know how for that matter.

If I had a car like that today I would want to see what it could do on the track.

[moby302]

Hi Moby

Unfortunately that's not my car. I can't find a picture of anything like that having been sold in SA. Mine was metalic gold with those rostile wheels. But use it anyway.

Can't use it , I have a strict policy of only putting on photos that people have taken themselves and sent to me, otherwise I sit with copyright issues, had a couple of problems on my other site with that sort of thing, guys sending me photos, telling me it was okay to use them and then finding out they were from other sites, and as I have over 32 000 photos on that site its a bit of a headache.

[Hi-Fi]

Yep, point taken. It's a pity. I've looked everywhere for a picture that I may have taken and come up with zip.

[moby302]

Yeah, its a pity we did not know then what we would look for now, if only I had thought about things like taking photos when I was a kid, I would have a million photos to put on the site, I used to hang around the race track here every weekend, friend of my folks was clerk of the course and I had access to the pits and everything, now I can barely remember the names of the people we met. Although it does go back to the days when Butch Fyfer (sp) was racing.

[V8GFISH]

Wow a Hilman Avenger! That was my 1st car, a bright orange one

In NZ they are called Hilman Avengers too

[Johann65]

Hullo All,
I had a 1966 Super minx station wagon and I just loved the car! It was very sporty with the floorshift and dash layout.
The difference in engines between the Mk3 and the later models were:
the 65/66 Peugeot engine was a vertical engine with the Roots gearbox whilst the 67 and later models had the slanted engine and a different ratio gearbox.

The 65/66 engines over-revved and did not last!
Pity. I had to buy an Opel! I must go and dig my old photos out!

[Fliboy]

Hi Moby302 and others

This pic of a 1964 Hillman may help you a bit, although the car is in quite a sorry state... This is my brother's car. This is a Mk2, if I have my facts correct.

I know the older Hillmans and Sunbeams up to the early 1960's quite well, but my facts on the later ones might be a bit distorted. In 1965 Rootes were forced to have a certain percentage of locally produced parts in their cars. They opted for the Peugeot engine mated to the Rootes 'box (which was not so good to start off with). They also replaced the hard, British bumpers with lighter ones made locally. The roofline changed: the older one's C-pillar curved round, whereas on the later one it looked quite boring. Oh, and the single chrome beading along the side was replaced with a double beading, and in between they had some two-tone idea going...

The convertible ones, like the one in the pic, was imported as they were. There were't too many of those around.

This one is just sitting there, so if anyone feels like taking on a huge project, let me know and I will put you onto my brother. This car is in Cape Town.

[Johann65]

Hi-fi
Is that your ex car, or just a pic off the net, if its yours I would like to put it on the site, don't have any pics of the Hillmans, if anyone else has any of the Hillmans, etc please send to me. Thanks Dayle

Hullo Dayle!
Good to hear from you on the forum again
By the way, I must look through my photos and slides. I used to have a 1966 Hillman Super Minx Station Wagon with the Peugeot engine and the Roots gearbox. Ratios was totally wrong causing the engine to over rev and blew it up!!! Interesting was the engine was upright like the 403 and not slanted like the 404 The Hillman was beautiful and I loved it! Caught the dealer out that he was pocketing the insurance payment Fortunately my late uncle was a general in the police and helped me to sort matters out and I walked out with the 68 Opel kadette that was in as new condition!!
By the way, Happy birthday on your St Valentines day celebration. Double Treat!!!
I note that this info is a bit dated!! Anyway! for your info!!