The following History of the Hunter in Australia was taken from Modern Motor magazine, November 1979.

    The project name for the Hunter range during its design stages was "Arrow", and that title is used in Australia to designate the base model which was only sold during 1967 and 1968.

    Local assembly of the Hunter was begun by the Chrysler Corporation in Lonsdale, South Australia early in 1967 and the first sales took place in May of that year.

    The early cars are known as the Hunter HB series and the original range consisted simply of a basic Hillman Arrow sedan and a slightly better-equipped Hillman Hunter. A wagon, the Hunter Safari, was added to the line-up in May 1968, and in November of the same year minor changes were made to front end styling — rectangular headlights replaced the previous round ones and the HC range was born. At the same time an upmarket version, the Hunter Royal, was introduced.

    A few weeks later the Hunter GT was released with a much more powerful twin-carburettor engine and full instrumentation.

    In October 1970 the front and rear end styling were again slightly altered (different and smaller headlights and different taillight treatment) and the car became the Hunter HE. Yet another luxury model, the Royal 660 (intended by Chrysler to be a sort of low price Valiant Regal 770), was added to the top of the range. At the same time the Hunter GT had its name changed to Hustler in an attempt to confuse the insurance companies who were involved in an anti-GT campaign at that time.

    (Ron Beckett's note: Not strictly correct. In Australia, the Hunter GT became the Royal 660. The British GT was, I understand, the equivalent of the Hustler, which although it had the GT motor, it only had a standard plastic dash, rubber mats etc. Wheels magazine January 1971 shows photos of the interior and noted "low-priced, almost austere trim and equipment". The GT and the later 660 were top-of-the-line luxury models, equivalent to the Humber Sceptre in Britain. The dropping of the GT nameplate was, however, insurance driven.)

    Late in 1971 Chrysler Australia started to assemble the Mitsubishi Galant range of cars and almost immediately sales of the Hunter range began to drop off as buyers recognised the superiority of the Japanese vehicle. The last Australian, Hunter was built late in 1972 but due to a stockpile of cars many were sold new during 1973.

    The next car up the line, the Hunter Royal, does have a reclining driver's bucket seat as well as a vinyl roof, woodgrain door panels, heater and courtesy lights in the glove box and boot.

    The luxury car, the Royal 660, is a very attractively set out car. As well as most of the Royal extras it has the more powerful engine of the Hunter GT and Hustler, power-assisted brakes, extra instruments (including a tachometer) set in a walnut woodgrain fascia, and styled road wheels. The vinyl roof, which is standard on the Royal, is only optional on the Royal 660.

    The sports sedans in the range the — GT and Hustler — naturally also have a full range of instruments and are painted in spectacular fashion, especially the Hustler badges. As well as the decorative features, the Hustler is improved by having the suspension lowered to improve the car's roadholding. The high performance cars are often driven hard so be meticulous when checking them before purchase.

Body Types