RARER THAN RARE – THE HILLMAN GT

Back in 1969, a new Hillman GT was the perfect car for “String-Back-Driving-Gloves Man”. It had it all: the rev counter mounted atop the dashboard, the high-backed front seats and, of course, the ‘Go-Faster’ stripes. At £962, it was also £24 cheaper than a four-door Ford Cortina GT, while there was more than enough room in the glove box for a bottle of Hai Karate.

Yes, with the ‘100 mph and very hairy” Hillman, you too could be transformed from the head clerk of a Havant shoe polish manufacturer into the next Simon Dee or even Jason King. This advertisement, starring Ray Barrett and Carol Cleveland encapsulates its appeal, including the tantalising opportunity to “win a colour television”.

The original “Arrow-Series” Hillman Hunter made its bow in 1966, followed by the cheaper Minx in 1967. Rootes unveiled the GT at the 1969 Paris Motor Show, with power from the familiar 1,725cc engine in twin Zenith Stromberg CD150 carburettor form. It was ideal for a driver who could not afford a Humber Sceptre, or the Sunbeam Rapier owner who now required four doors. The “De Luxe Comfort Interior Pack” offered reclining seats, a cigar lighter, and “door-to-door carpeting” for those who craved yet more luxury.

Meanwhile, the brochure was a masterpiece of testosterone and very bad copywriting. Here was transport for “the married man who still remembers fun, free, fast, bachelor GT days”. The Hillman offered “way out power” and “way out style” both inside and out. The performance was also pretty way out for a saloon that was reportedly “roomy and cosseting for your family as well as hairy and brawny for you”.

In terms of competitors, the Triumph 2000 was more expensive and luxurious, and the Vauxhall Viva HB GT had a somewhat different persona…and only two doors. The FD-Series VX 4/90 was a larger machine, while a prospective Hillman owner was unlikely to have considered the BLMC 1800S “land crab”. As for Ford, the Corsair 2000 looked dated by 1969 and came with a very non-sporting four-on-the-column as standard.

In short, the Hillman’s main rival was always going to be the Cortina GT Mk 2. Both the Hunter and Dagenham’s finest made their debut at the 1966 London Motor Show, but Rootes did not initially offer a reasonably priced high-performance model. The Hillman GT aimed to make up for lost time with its aforementioned stripes, “Rally-type steering wheel” and Ro-Style wheels. By contrast, the Cortina GT favoured a low-key exterior, its status mainly denoted by shield badges on the rear wings.

Motor Sport found the GT to be a “conventional saloon with sports-car performance, pleasant to drive…” while Autocar summarised it as a “sporting version of the Minx-using Rapier engine, at a bargain price”. The most interesting report was from Car, who evaluated the Hillman against its main rival, concluding it “matches, or improves on, the Cortina GT at just about every point”.

However, the Car test ended on an ambivalent note: “So our conclusion seems to be the Hillman is a better car. But what good is that going to do Rootes? They’ve just not got the Ford image’. Indeed, for all the Hunter’s victory in the 1968 London–Sydney Marathon, the public still seemed to regard the Arrow saloons as faintly middle-aged.

By 1970, the GT was re-branded the “Hunter GT” and two years later, the even faster Hunter GLS replaced it. The example offered for sale by Richard Mayo - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154427203227?hash=item23f4941e9b:g:3R0AAOSwNutghHvb - has to be one of the rarest cars from the Rootes Group and in many respects one of the most underrated. Even if the sales copy appears to have been written by Alan Partridge.

With Thanks To: Richard Mayo

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