- Seller: Zane C (Contact)
- Location: Pacifica, California
- Mileage: 76,000 Shown
- Chassis #: B027970
- Title Status: Missing
- Engine: 1.8-Liter Inline-4
- Transmission: 4-Speed Manual
Made for a decade, between 1971 and 1980, the ultimate in badge-engineering could have been Chrysler’s Rootes Group version of the Hillman Avenger in the form of the Dodge 1800, made for the Brazilian market in Brazil. Did any of that make sense? As if the 1970s weren’t confusing and unusual enough with politics, fashion, and music, Dodge’s take on the Hillman Avenger created a stylish car as seen here in this 1975 Dodge 1800 Deluxo edition. This one is located in Pacifica, California, which appears to be the main reason it’s for sale. More on that in a bit. The seller is listing this incredibly interesting American, British, and Brazilian car here as a no-reserve Barn Finds Auction!
We haven’t seen too many vehicles made in Brazil here on Barn Finds over the years, and when we do, it’s generally a four-door Bronco or other truck. We’ve seen 16 Hillman cars over the last decade and a half or so, but no Avengers, and that’s just surprising to me. Anyone who has followed the California soap opera lately with Jay Leno trying to help make vintage vehicles exempt from certain modern regulations, which sadly, just got defeated, knows why this car is for sale. The seller purchased this car two years ago from another auction site (BaT) and has spent the last two grueling years trying to get it titled, registered, and licensed. Two. Years. Two. Not one, not a month, not a half-hour, as 99% of us can do without trouble, but two years. They’re done, and I don’t blame them. It’s a sad story to buy a car you really wanted and then not be able to drive it! They have all the paperwork to title and register the car, so the next owner might have better luck getting it registered.
As such, it’s now been sitting mostly unused for a couple of years, so it’ll need some normal tinkering and brake work to make it the fun little car it once was and could be again. As expected, Pacifica, California is literally on the shores of the Pacific Ocean just south of San Francisco. And also as expected, that means there is some surface rust appearing on areas, such as a few cracks and crevices, and on the 13″ wheel trim rings. If this body style looks familiar, we got them in the U.S. as the Plymouth Cricket for a short time in the early 1970s.
The interior is a mix of luxury and sport, and looks great overall. The name gives away the engine size, as this car has a Hillman-sourced 1.8-liter OHV inline-four with between 80 and 90 horsepower and just over 100 lb-ft of torque when new. It’s sent through a four-speed manual to the rear wheels, and the seller says this one runs fine but needs work on the brakes. Have any of you heard of the Dodge 1800? If not, check out the photos and get your bids in here on Barn Finds Auctions!
Bid On This Auction
clueless_jalop bid $1,100.00 2025-06-19 15:46:14
Janius Eyerman bid $1,000.00 2025-06-14 14:34:33
“Interior is excellent”?
Where is that quote from, MrF?
Have not heard of this car but have heard of the Hillman Avenger and the Plymouth Cricket. This might be fun once the title business got sorted out but probably not worth the trouble. Even here in Ohio where they’re thinking of eliminating E check, due to improving air quality and newer, cleaner automobiles. Yeah thanks Cash for Clunkers for getting those hoopties off the road. California with it’s near year round sunshine and smog trapping temperature inversions has stricter laws, as it should. Jay Leno may be a gear head but he’s still a millionaire with a hobby most of us can’t afford. I have no sympathy for him. Wasn’t the Hillman Avenger supposed to be kind of Bad A$$?
Love the “Deluxo” name.
Deluxo! Reminds me of a vacuum cleaner!
The Avenger was a good car, sold under various brands (Hillman, Sunbeam, Plymouth, Dodge….and even VW later in Brazil).
2 door shell is unusual, sought after in the UK by historic rally guys. Avenger had good competition profile in racing and rallies, though budget was tiny compared to Ford’s Escort development for competition.
Pretty much the same as a Dodge Colt, will sell quickly, especially if the Latino car collectors see it.
Totally different car, Colt was Japanese and Colt was British.
type, Avenger was British.
The Colt was a collaboration between Chrysler and Mitsubishi. The car was built in Japan by Mitsubishi to Chrysler’s design and specs. — I had a ’72 Dodge Colt – great little car. — This car – like Aussie cars – is based on the Doge Colt with their own design changes in it.
Bit of a unicorn this one.
A MkI (Hillman/Chrysler) front end with a MkII (Talbot*) rear [the mkI’s had the J-style rear lights here in the UK and Europe].
Bring it over this side of the pond and people would think it’s a cut-and-shut!
*Chrysler Europe was renamed Talbot after the buy out by PSA.
The front end looks familiar as I bought a used ’71 Cricket in 1975 for $400. It had a bad differential so I got one from the bone yard for $25. I drive that car a long time and even towed my Trimline Cricket tent trailer with it. The front ball joints failed and replacements were unobtainable. The best thing about that car were the brakes. At the time when new I believe Road and Track was able to stop in excess of 1G. At the time it was the best they ever tested. They helped me stop in an emergency but the Hornet behind me couldn’t and shoved me into a Buick Estate Wagon. The car didn’t look too bad. But the floor pan now looked like a washboard road and the fan was into the radiator. The insurance company gave me $2,800 for it. So it was a profitable venture. I like the body style on this car. But parts will be an issue.
Buddy here in Ohio owns a dealership down the street from my shop, what I saw was a lot of the ” clunkers” were perfectly fine cars and some what this crowd would call collectables . Easy for the kids to have a way to unload mom and dad’s or grandpa’s old car they could know longer drive for new car cash. Complete joke from the you didn’t build it crowd.
Hey all, seller here! Let me know if you have any questions about the car or the title situation, or if you want some specific pictures.
Whenever I’m out mowing my lawn, people want to stop and talk about it or have left notes on the car. Would have loved to make it work for me; cool little piece of history :)
My dad “traded in” a perfectly good 92 F150 short bed, that he had repainted a year earlier, to that “clunkers” rip off. When I found out, I went down to the dealer, and begged them to sell it back to me. Even without the engine! Said I’d pull it out myself, in their back lot. Which was the main reason the govt wanted these older vehicles off the road. They said no dice. The VIN had already been posted as destroyed. And that’s one of the reasons used car prices went sky high.
You are correct, Sir. The of C4C was to not only remove that vehicle from the road but prevent it from providing its parts to maintain others like it. The most diabolical plan pulled off by plain pure greed. It was too easy. Some got amazing deals on new cars at a time when the economy was in need of a boost. Not everyone benefited.
I’ve never heard of this car. Seeing how it was made in Brazil, that makes sense. — To me, it looks like a Dodge Colt and Dodge Dart got together and had a baby. It appears in good condition, but are the parts universal between the American Dodge Colt and this car? If not, it will be tough to maintain the car here in the states.
I’ve never looked to see what might be available, but if you could find mechanical parts anywhere for this, it would be on Rock Auto, listed under the aforementioned Plymouth Cricket. If what was needed wasn’t there, it probably can’t be had here in the States.
Shares nothing with the Colt. Colt was a collaboration between Chrysler and Mitsubishi. This car origin stems from the Hillman Avenger and the badge engineered Plymouth Cricket. My brothers girlfriend had a Cricket in the mid 70s which was already corroding in a hideous fashion but at least it was plagued with electrical gremlins. It wasn’t a bad car really, just indifferently built.
The Colt was a far better car and outsold the Cricket about 4 to 1. A tribute to Japanese versus British engineering. Probably the best British “Amercanized” car was the first Mercury Capri.
Reminds me of a vauxhall or a opel
I’d be concerned about parts availability 🤔
I should think that this might be a fun candidate for vintage rallying, at a fraction of a cost of a MK I or II Escort
The Avenger was a good car, sold under various brands (Hillman, Sunbeam, Plymouth, Dodge….and even VW layer in Brazil). In fact maybe this Dodge was sold in Argentina rather than Brazil?
2 door shell is unusual, sought after in the UK by historic rally guys. Avenger had good competition profile in racing and rallies, though budget was tiny compared to Ford’s Escort development for competition.
Scott Harvey (Chrysler and Rally fame) Pro-Rallied a Cricket one year. It held up fine. UT was slow. He gave me a pair of lower ball joints/control arms for the dead ones on my Cricket out of his old stock.
Another thing to like about Scott Harvey.
And we wonder why people do shenanigans’ with titles to vehicles…
I developed a plan for the DMV to make titles available for titleless cars. I thought that I had covered all the bases of legality. It also made disposal of titleless cars for junking. It would actually make money for the DMV, help with the abandon vehicle issue and make lenders and customers happy and an avenue for “non-compliance” vehicle disposal/removal. I used to work for dealerships and have some background with title issues. (Legal and otherwise) And speaking to auto recyclers and tow companies, they all thought it was a good idea. The response from Nevada DMV ? No one else is doing it. So we won’t try it.
California might be interested. If they aren’t, they should be. Lots more Cars on this side of the Sierras.
I have done a bit of research regarding parts availability with a few parts warehouses I deal with .Parts would be a problem here in the US.
I like this car,as you’ll probably never see another one,
and the price (for now) is very affordable.
Does anyone here know how I could rid of a rusty Ford-
Fiesta in Virginia?I’m looking at one,but it has no title,and I
just want to get parts off of it,then get rid of it.
I presume the old title is missing, not just old. There’s the basic issue. Here in the Evergreen State, you could register the car with no title and you can drive it, but must wait 3 years before applying for one, which then you’d likely get.
Wow, I am shocked by the low sale price here. I was on a flight from Orlando to MSP at the time of this auction, otherwise I would have gone much higher than 1100 and “won” this thing.
I was the initial bidder on this car. I am probably the “expert” on Plymouth Crickets here in the USA and have owned dozens of Rootes cars. I know where to get parts for Crickets/Avengers both here and in Britain (and Australia and New Zealand). The problem is that Brazil required a high percentage of local (Brazilian) made parts, thus everything from alternators to brakes could be virtually unobtainable here. My car friends in Brazil (DIL is Brazilian) say that Dodge 1800/Polaras are extremely rare in Brazil. That is why I stopped bidding at a low price.