Plymouth Cricket

The Plymouth Cricket was a "captive import" from England, based on the Hillman Avenger, and was also a fraternal twin to the Dodge Colt that was made in Japan by Mitsubishi. The Cricket was the first import that was badged a Plymouth. Oddly, the were never "Cricket" emblems on the car, but rather just decals that identified them as Crickets. The Cricket was short-lived in the U.S. market, only being offered from 1971-1973. It was a rather anonymous-looking car, and unlike the Colt or other subcompacts at the time, was initially only offered as a 4-door sedan (which may partly explain its low popularity). The only engine offered was at first was a 69 hp 1.5L (91 cid) I4 engine, but later a twin carburetor option became available, boosting its hp a little. Transmission choices were a 4-speed manual or a 3-speed automatic. A 5-door wagon was added in 1972, and the sedan carried on with little change. Other than stronger bumpers with larger rubber guards added on 1973 models, they remained unchanged. The Cricket far less popular than the Dodge Colt, selling only 41,000 units over its 3-year lifespan - a very dismal figure, considering Chevrolet managed to sell over 200,000 Vegas in its first year alone. This prompted Plymouth to pull the Cricket from the U.S. market. Plymouth would not have another subcompact entry until the 1976 Arrow sport coupe. In 1973 and later, the Cricket name was used on the Japanese (Mitsubishi) built Colts. No parts are interchangable between the Amercian/British Crickets and the Canadian/Japanese ones.