The Iranian Avenger (2-Door)

[PaykanHunter]

The 2-Door Avenger was produced at IranNational factory for two years; 1978-79 (4-Door Avengers were imported from the UK). 

The 2-door model had Black Vinyl Roof (covering both A & C pillars), Quad Headlights, Side Stripes and  Rostyle Wheels. Was this trim level unique to Iran? 

 

 

 

[Mrs6C]

That was quite a sporty-looking car! It is reminiscent of the Opel Kadett C / Vauxhall Chevette and also Mk2 Escort with a tad of Marina coupe...

It's a very stylish combination, I think.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Production seems not to have survived the coming of the Islamic Republic in 1979....

[Six-cylinder]

1 hour ago, PaykanHunter said:

The 2-Door Avenger was produced at IranNational factory for two years; 1978-79 (4-Door Avengers were imported from the UK). 

The 2-door model had Black Vinyl Roof (covering both A & C pillars), Quad Headlights, Side Stripes and  Rostyle Wheels. Was this trim level unique to Iran? 

 

 

 

In the UK we had the Avenger 2 doors, in basic trim, DL and Super all with 1.3 or 1.5. Then the GT 1.5 with a look similar to yours.

In Sep 1973 the GT listed including taxes at £1126

 

[PaykanHunter]

48 minutes ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Production seems not to have survived the coming of the Islamic Republic in 1979....

Lol!... Of course not, this was too decadent for the Ayatollas! The post Revolution Paykans were bare bones, no moldings, no radio, no nothing. 

[Richard_FM]

After Hunter production ended was the tooling sold to Iran? or were diplomatic relations too strained for a deal like that?

[PaykanHunter]

58 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

In the UK we had the Avenger 2 doors, in basic trim, DL and Super all with 1.3 or 1.5. Then the GT 1.5 with a look similar to yours.

In Sep 1973 the GT listed including taxes at £1126

 

Thank you. Here is the image of the 2-Door Avenger GT. As you can see not the same, I believe there was a Quad headlamp 2-Door version available in the UK as well. 

 

[PaykanHunter]

14 minutes ago, Richard_FM said:

After Hunter production ended was the tooling sold to Iran? or were diplomatic relations too strained for a deal like that?

From what I have gathered so far by the time of the 1979 revolution IranNational were building the majority of Paykan parts domestically, including engine casting and all. But after the revolution the new regime, now in charge of IranKhodro (formallyIranNational)  had to negotiate with Peugeot, basically begged them not to shut down the assembly. They did bought the remainder of the tooling from "Talbot". Hence everyone in Iran thinks that Paykan was the creation of Talbot.  

[Six-cylinder]

3 minutes ago, PaykanHunter said:

Thank you. Here is the image of the 2-Door Avenger GT. As you can see not the same, I believe there was a Quad headlamp 2-Door version available in the UK as well. 

 

I seen mention of round headlights for the GT, but you are right the few photos seem to show rectangular. Maybe it was on year.

[PaykanHunter]

3 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

I seen mention of round headlights for the GT, but you are right the few photos seem to show rectangular. Maybe it was on year.

Here is one example I found: 

 

[Six-cylinder]

8 minutes ago, PaykanHunter said:

Here is one example I found: 

 

No vinyl roof and posh not sporty trims makes me think Super? 

We need a Roots Group Guru to join in with this.

[sierraman]

Are there many Paykans still on the road in Iran? 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

1 minute ago, sierraman said:

Are there many Paykans still on the road in Iran? 

Loads, I'd have thought. It was practically the Iranian standard saloon for over three decades, mainly because of the economic difficulties of trading with the Islamic Republic. Seems only the French could get round it, hence the long afterlife of the 405....

[Amishtat]

I'd always thought the four headlamps were only on GT and GLS models in the UK but the photo upthread now makes me question that. 

[PaykanHunter]

26 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Are there many Paykans still on the road in Iran? 

Yes still many later models all in white color. Remember they made Paykans from 1967 till 2005. Early Paykans are a rare sight these days. And ofcourse ton of later model Paykan pickups are on the roads everywhere cause they made the Pickup till 2015.

[PaykanHunter]

12 minutes ago, JeeExEll said:

1600 GLS from 72, but not available as a 2 door.  Or estate.  The 2-door versions did look better.  For some reason even all the Tiger versions had 4 doors.

IranNational seems to grab this model and made it into a 2-Door. 

[PaykanHunter]

32 minutes ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Loads, I'd have thought. It was practically the Iranian standard saloon for over three decades, mainly because of the economic difficulties of trading with the Islamic Republic. Seems only the French could get round it, hence the long afterlife of the 405....

There was a cash for clunker scheme in Iran which sadly ended the life of many  many classics here, including the majority of older Paykans. Granted they were mostly junk by the time of the scheme.  Peugoet bought Rootes and hence the 405 and the 205 assembly schemes started here in Iran and that is why Peugeot has dominated the market here. I believe up to last week they were still making the 405 with mostly Chinese made parts. crap quality for both 405 and the 205. dismal! 

[holbeck]

The 2 door avenger body was discontinued in the UK from 76 to make way for the Sunbeam.  I wonder if the specific tools were shipped to Iran at that point. The timing seems to fit. 

As an aside, my former employers were still supplying Hunter parts from the UK via the Talbot KD pack well into the 80s.

 

[PaykanHunter]

49 minutes ago, holbeck said:

The 2 door avenger body was discontinued in the UK from 76 to make way for the Sunbeam.  I wonder if the specific tools were shipped to Iran at that point. The timing seems to fit. 

As an aside, my former employers were still supplying Hunter parts from the UK via the Talbot KD pack well into the 80s.

 

Very interesting observation, that well might have been the case that they shipped the tooling for the 2-Door Avenger. Yes parts for Paykans were coming to Iran throughout the 80s, and perhaps even into early 90s. Then afterwards everything was built inside Iran, and every year they were crappier than the year before. Although Paykans got the 1600cc Avenger engine from early 80s and later models were fuel injected and had 5-Speed Getrag gearboxes. 

[Braddon81]

The 2 door Avenger ran from 1973 til the end of production in 1981 in the Uk.  They were never that numourous compared to the 4 doors and estates.  Up until 1975 in the Uk they all featured the square headlamps including the Gt.  For the final year of the Hillmans 75 -76 the Avenger Super in both 4 and 3 door and Automatic spec gained the quad headlamp treatment - you can tell these as they featured the round Avenger badge in the middle of the grille. 

When the Chrysler facelift arrived in 76 the 3 door could only be ordered in base and DL spec - with some special editions in the process. This is the Avenger 3 door special from 1980. 

Possibly when Avenger production was shifted from Coventry to Linwood in 1976 when Imp production finished - the original Mk 1 tooling was shipped over to Iran.  The South American built Dodge 1500 /Polaras  featured identical front end metalwork but in regards to the 3 doors totally different rear 3 quarter and rear panelwork. 

In terms of the spec you've shown - it would  seem it is Iran Specific  - a complete mixture of what was offered in the Uk.  The wheels by the way were made by Dunlop and are known as Dunstyles  .  

I'd love a 3 door Avenger as I went with my father to pick up his  brand new Apricot Orange Sunseeker back in 1974.   Any  3 door Avengers are rare beasts these days in the UK as most were either driven in to the ground or used for rallying.  Most 3 doors are now snapped up for healthy money by the historic rally boys.  

Are any Avengers of any description 3 door or otherwise now known to exist in Iran?

[holbeck]

2 hours ago, Braddon81 said:

The 2 door Avenger ran from 1973 til the end of production in 1981 in the Uk. 

That is interesting. 

ISTR reading about the demise of the 2 door Avenger in several sources although https://www.allpar.com/model/sunbeam.html was easliest to find.

 

There's also a reference to the end of 2 dr production in the book 'Chrysler UK a corporation in transition'.  

Clearly reports of the demise were premature!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

7 hours ago, PaykanHunter said:

There was a cash for clunker scheme in Iran which sadly ended the life of many  many classics here, including the majority of older Paykans. Granted they were mostly junk by the time of the scheme.  Peugoet bought Rootes and hence the 405 and the 205 assembly schemes started here in Iran and that is why Peugeot has dominated the market here. I believe up to last week they were still making the 405 with mostly Chinese made parts. crap quality for both 405 and the 205. dismal! 

Not really a concern if you were part of, or had connections to, the Revolutionary Guard, as you could more or less bring in any car you wanted, which the average long-suffering Iranian motorist simply wouldn't be able to afford. 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

30 minutes ago, holbeck said:

That is interesting. 

ISTR reading about the demise of the 2 door Avenger in several sources although https://www.allpar.com/model/sunbeam.html was easliest to find.

 

There's also a reference to the end of 2 dr production in the book 'Chrysler UK a corporation in transition'.  

Clearly reports of the demise were premature!

From what I’ve read today the 2 door survived the 1976 move from Ryton to Linwood and the facelift in 1977( as can be seen by @Braddon81picture)

Also;
 

What they didn’t survive was the Talbot rebranding in 1979, there were never any 2 door Talbot Avengers.

I for one have never seen a 2 door with twin headlights, or for that matter a full length vinyl roof. When the GT was relaunched as a 2 door in 73(74?) losing the twin lights and sporty* hubcaps was part of the economising- at least it kept front discs, the smaller 2 doors went back to drums on the front.

That Iranian 2 door looks great, but seems pretty low spec inside, you can see the bare painted metal below the back window.

 

 

[big_al_granvia]

from linwood to iran, this really is fascinating stuff... if you want photos of what remains of the old linwood site just say as i am not far from it..... a load of kilmarnock built trains made it to iran too, talk about scotland supplying weapons of mass disruption

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Further to me saying I’ve never seen a 4 eyed 2 door...

Just looking through the 1974 Chrysler all model ( from Imp and Simca 1000to Vaiant and Charger) and lo andbehold;

By the way, absolutely no expenditure was spent on this brochure, Brighton in the street was as exotic as it got. My favourite “ A Hunter deLuxe photographed in a lush green Warwickshire lane” !!!
 

Also it seems they were thinking of dropping the Humber name as the Sceptre page doesn’t mention Humber at all, even calls it the Chrysler Sceptre at one point. The fact the Humber Sceptre lasted another 2 or 3 years even getting an estate version , meant this was a bit premature.

[holbeck]

49 minutes ago, big_al_granvia said:

from linwood to iran, this really is fascinating stuff... if you want photos of what remains of the old linwood site just say as i am not far from it..... a load of kilmarnock built trains made it to iran too, talk about scotland supplying weapons of mass disruption

Apologies for the tangent,  but if you were visiting Linwood, Chrysler would book you in here

https://thenormandyhotel.co.uk

[Richard_FM]

10 hours ago, PaykanHunter said:

From what I have gathered so far by the time of the 1979 revolution IranNational were building the majority of Paykan parts domestically, including engine casting and all. But after the revolution the new regime, now in charge of IranKhodro (formallyIranNational)  had to negotiate with Peugeot, basically begged them not to shut down the assembly. They did bought the remainder of the tooling from "Talbot". Hence everyone in Iran thinks that Paykan was the creation of Talbot.  

Thanks for letting me know, the Paykan is quite an interesting story.

[DSdriver]

Welcome back PaykanHunter, your posts are always a fascinating insight into the motorists excellent choice of transport in Iran

[martc]

Slightly, only slightly, off topic the Avenger was sold as a Sunbeam in some countries. I remember seeing one outside Innsbruck Railway Station in the mid 80's and being very confused.

Here's one with what looks like a current Russian number plate, but with a faded Belgian 'B' nationality oval - it must have led/still leads? an interesting life.

And this Sunbeam has a Montenegro number plate

More Sunbeams here - and tonnes more interesting stuff - http://platesmania.com/gallery.php?markaavto=443&model=6415

[PaykanHunter]

19 hours ago, Braddon81 said:

The 2 door Avenger ran from 1973 til the end of production in 1981 in the Uk.  They were never that numourous compared to the 4 doors and estates.  Up until 1975 in the Uk they all featured the square headlamps including the Gt.  For the final year of the Hillmans 75 -76 the Avenger Super in both 4 and 3 door and Automatic spec gained the quad headlamp treatment - you can tell these as they featured the round Avenger badge in the middle of the grille. 

When the Chrysler facelift arrived in 76 the 3 door could only be ordered in base and DL spec - with some special editions in the process. This is the Avenger 3 door special from 1980. 

Possibly when Avenger production was shifted from Coventry to Linwood in 1976 when Imp production finished - the original Mk 1 tooling was shipped over to Iran.  The South American built Dodge 1500 /Polaras  featured identical front end metalwork but in regards to the 3 doors totally different rear 3 quarter and rear panelwork. 

In terms of the spec you've shown - it would  seem it is Iran Specific  - a complete mixture of what was offered in the Uk.  The wheels by the way were made by Dunlop and are known as Dunstyles  .  

I'd love a 3 door Avenger as I went with my father to pick up his  brand new Apricot Orange Sunseeker back in 1974.   Any  3 door Avengers are rare beasts these days in the UK as most were either driven in to the ground or used for rallying.  Most 3 doors are now snapped up for healthy money by the historic rally boys.  

Are any Avengers of any description 3 door or otherwise now known to exist in Iran?

 

 

Thank you for your detail post. So in 1976 the Avenger got the face-lift, which included the change in body side, C-pillar and so forth, correct? I am going to agree with you that perhaps the MK1 tooling were shipped to Iran. But sadly IranKhodro being a government controlled enterprise now, would not let me inside to dig out their history. We are left with so many unanswered question about the fascinating story of IranNational and Paykan. 

Hang on a minute, those wheels are not Rostyle?? ? I understand that these were not the typical Rostyle with the half-spoke bits in the middle, but I thought these were also Rostyle. Can you prove image of the Dunlop wheels? 

Very interesting to know that not many 2-Door Avenger have survived in the UK. It is the same story here in Iran, only a handful has survived sadly and only 1 or 2 in original factory condition.  Overall the Avenger was not a great success in Iran, the cabin was too noisy and cheap compare to the Paykan DeLuxe and the Avenger had a reputation for having a very "sharp" steering and hence some were scared away from them. My dad had a beige 4-Door when I was born and my best mate growing up in Iran had a 4-door which he used to race, lots of great memories! 

Thanks for your valuable info again. Cheers.