The seldom-seen 1971 Plymouth Cricket was an epic failure
Like going a movie and realizing the previews are actually better than the film, we had a great time perusing what barnfinds.com readers had to say about a 1971 Plymouth Cricket for sale on Craigslist.
The Aztec Gold Metallic-painted Cricket, located in North Carolina, is claimed to have traversed just 22,322 miles since new. That low mileage explains the survivor condition and seems to corroborate that it was last registered in 1975. The little four-door sedan is powered by a 70-horsepower, 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine, mated to an automatic transmission.
The car was produced by Britain’s Rootes Group, which became a subsidiary of Chrysler Corporation beginning in 1967. Known as the Hillman Avenger in the UK, it was imported to the U.S. and Canada—and rebadged as a Plymouth Cricket—so that Chrysler could compete in the subcompact market against the Ford Pinto and Chevy Vega. Chrysler claimed that “To know a Cricket is to love a Cricket,” but the final North American sales figures for 1971 told a completely different story: Pinto, 352,402; Vega, 274,699; Cricket, 27,682.
It’s no wonder then that the seldom-seen Plymouth generated plenty of comments—mostly negative—on barnfinds.com. From complaints about the seller’s “asking price” of $1 to the car’s country of origin and its build quality, here are our favorites:
2cooc2say: “I didn’t know Maytag washers came in these colors.”
That AMC Guy: “Back when these were new, a friend’s dad bought a Cricket thinking it was a Japanese car and expecting Japanese levels of quality and reliability. Hilarity soon ensued.”
Ralph: “I’m in for $1… hell, I’d go $10… no wait, $5.”
XMA0891: “The last time I came across one of these, it was abandoned deep in the woods of northwestern Maine. Same color! Must’ve been the only other one Plymouth sold.”
Roger: “The Cricket was a disaster… total junk. I was the parts manager in a Chrysler Plymouth [dealership] when they came out. They were impossible to get parts for. We had several of themthat sat for months waiting for parts.”
Ben T. Spanner: “Shortly after they left the sales lot, they returned to the service bay.”
Madmatt: “I don’t think that any Cricket ever turned over to 122,000 miles, so judging by that alone I would say it’s totally original.”
Had a Wagon: “As far as I can tell, their main contribution to the U.S. auto market was to make Chevy Vega owners feel better about their purchase decision.”
All harsh, and all hysterical. We thought we’d have a little fun of our own as well, and asked the Hagerty team to share their uncensored thoughts.
“Even if the price were $1, the appropriate response to an ad for this polished turd is well… crickets.” — Eric Weiner
“The Cricket was dead on arrival, and only a V-8 could fix it. Still, it came in a two-door hardtop, and the fact that I kind of dig that scares me.” — Brandan Gillogly
“It has a bizarre mash-up of ’70s Japanese design cues, except with none of the Japanese quality. Just the stuff of British-fueled nightmares.” — Kyle Smith
“Judging by the psychedelic brochure art, Chrysler expected you to go on a whole different type of trip if you were planning on enjoying the Cricket at all.” — Brett Lirones
Have a Cricket memory of your own? Share it in the Hagerty Forums below.
The only time I ever got sent to the office in school was the time that I made fun of my teachers cricket. I drew a picture of it on the chalkboard and labeled it. Brady‘s cricket as soon as he saw it, he sent me to the office.
I had a yellow standard with green interior. I loved it. Bought it secondhand and drove it for 8 years and did nothing to it but normal maintenance. It was fantastic. ❤️
Ha! My dad & mom had one when I was a teenager…it was our “family car”….not sure how we managed to fit the family inside of it! Definitely che…uh, inexpensive! 😉
My stepfather bought the 1971 Plymouth Cricket 4 door, he and I switched vehicles in 1975 so yes, it was still running at that time. Looking back I should not have switched from my 1967 Pontiac Catalina four-door. But I was going to college and it’s hard to say, but the gas mileage on the Catalina was killing me. I drove the Plymouth Cricket for about two years. The metal was so thin that it rusted out around the antenna, which was by a thread and obviously had rust in all the common places fender wells, door sills, etc. The interior dash pad was extremely cracked
. I was coming back from college and on my way home, I went down to one cylinder. But I did get home and we immediately called the junkyard and they gave us $150 for it.
I did a few other things to it to make it a little bit nicer on the inside. But it did get me back-and-forth from Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids for two years. Obviously, I drove harder than my stepfather did.
But then I went out and purchased a 1977 Toyota Celica GT Liftback 5sp, which was a joy to drive and if Japanese metal wasn’t so thin & if it could have held up to Michigan salted roads I would probably still own it today!
My first car was a second hand 71 Cricket bought in 1974. It had the mysterious habit of not starting for no discernible reason. But what I remember most is all the flat tires – I probably had one every other week. I got to be a pro at changing tires. And there generally was nothing actually wrong with the tire – it just lost the bead and deflated.