was intended to rival the likes of Audi 100 and Ford Granada during the 1970s, although unlike its competitors it was only available with 4-cylinder engines and lacked a prestige image. It was initially built in France, but due to disappointing sales its assembly was transferred to Spain as a successor to the Dodge 3700 in a market where protectionist trade policies guaranteed it some domestic sales. From 1977 the 180 was sold as a 'Chrysler-Simca' in most European markets (except Britain), and after the sale of Chrysler Europe to PSA it was rebadged again as a Talbot. Also launched in 1970 was the Hillman Avenger (1970-81), a medium-sized family car which fitted between the Imp and the Hunter in Chrysler's British range. The model sold well in Britain but was less successful in export markets, where it was sold under a variety of names including Sunbeam/Sunbeam Avenger/Chrysler Sunbeam (Europe) and Plymouth Cricket (North America). The Avenger was originally assembled at the Ryton plant (displacing the Hunter to Linwood), but a mid-life facelift in 1976 coincided with Avenger assembly moving to Linwood as the Chrysler Avenger. from 1979 it was renamed the Talbot Avenger following the sale of Chrysler Europe to PSA. The British car designer Roy Axe, who originally started his career with Rootes, was responsible for unifying the designs of the new European range starting with the Simca 1307 (1975-86) family hatchback, which was sold in the UK as the Chrysler Alpine. The new pan-European model was assembled in France, Spain and Britain, and was voted European Car of the Year for 1976. Other influential designers who worked for the company in the 1970s and had a significant impact in car design in the 1980s were Geoff Matthews and Fergus Pollock. From this '70s period two outstanding projects were the Matra P18 prototype, which would later be developed into the MK1 Renault Espace, and the Matra Rancho which influenced the styling of the 1989 Land Rover Discovery. The 1307/Alpine was a five-door hatchback with front-wheel drive, in a market sector which was still almost exclusively populated by rear-wheel drive saloons like the Ford Cortina/Taunus and Opel Ascona/Vauxhall Cavalier. Therefore, although the new 1307 replaced the conventional Simca 1301 model, in the UK Chrysler decided to keep the Hillman Hunter (a rear-wheel drive range of saloons and estates) in limited production as a traditional alternative to the Alpine. Introduction