It is sometimes a shock to realise the longevity of certain cars. A 1969 registration suffix always looks slightly odd on a last-of-the-line Jaguar 240, just as it is faintly bizarre to see J-registered Morris Oxford Series VI. David Latchem’s  Avenger 1.3LS is not only one of the final examples of the Avenger produced; it is also one of only 25 to wear a Talbot badge – and he has owned it since new. 

By 1981, the Avenger was already 11 years old, and it might have enjoyed more success with British fleet and private buyers were it not for a confused sense of identity. The Rootes Group developed it as a Ford Escort/Vauxhall Viva rival and debuted under the auspices of Chrysler UK, as a Hillman. By 1976 manufacture transferred from Coventry to Linwood near Paisley, and the Avenger also gained a facelift, with a Chrysler Pentastar logo replacing the Hillman badge. 

At that time, the American concern was suffering enormous difficulties with its European operations, which Peugeot eventually acquired in August 1978. Of the cars inherited by the PSA empire, three were British-designed rear-wheel drive models; the Hunter, the Avenger and the Sunbeam hatchback. The first of this trio by now looked utterly archaic and did not last beyond 1979 when the Talbot badge succeeded the Chrysler logos, but the latter two continued in production. 

The advertisements promised, “the Avenger will go on, in both saloon and estate forms, developing even more car for your money” – the suggestion being that here was a more conventional alternative to the company’s front-wheel-drive Horizon and Alpine models. The styling may have obviously harked back to the late 1960s, but the product was fundamentally sound, appealing to the buyer who was more concerned with reliability and value for their £3,150 than automotive fashion.