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1972 Hillman Avenger GLS Lilac Dealer Special 
Ep. 2.06Class: Cars, Sedan — Model origin: 
00:31:26 ![[*]](/res/star.png){kind=small}
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Comments about this vehicle| Author | Message |
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◊ 2013-09-13 21:48 |
Moved from comments in /vehicle.php?id=227242 .![[Image: escortavenger1892.jpg]](http://pics.imcdb.org/10314/escortavenger1892.jpg) 1972 Hillman Avenger GLS 1500. Corgi have just announced a 1-43 Vanguards diecast Avenger 1500 GLS Lilac Dealer-Special, 'Daisy', code VA10408 for release in 2014. "Hillman made a limited number of ‘Lilac Dealer-Special’ Avengers in 1972 which featured purple seat-belts, seats, carpets and roof lining as well as their distinctive lilac paint. Designed to generate showroom traffic, none were sold until the promotion finished in 1973 when the car modelled was bought 'new' by a lady in North London who kept it until 2001. Current owner Debbie Holmes was then given the car to restore and christened her Daisy. Redundancy forced her to part with Daisy in 2003 but she never lost her bond with the car and in 2008 was able to buy her back. Daisy has since featured in numerous TV shows including Ashes to Ashes" - from Corgi website page. As depicted by Corgi the plate is TYR 726M. ![[Image: va10408-hillman-avenger-metallic-lilac.jpg]](http://pics.imcdb.org/10314/va10408-hillman-avenger-metallic-lilac.jpg) DVLA details for TYR 726M are: Date of Liability 01 01 2014  Date of First Registration 08 11 1973 Year of Manufacture 1972 Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1500cc CO2 Emissions Not Available Fuel Type PETROL Export Marker N Vehicle Status SORN Not Due Vehicle Colour PURPLE Vehicle Type Approval Not Available Any other sightings in the series? And any clue what else TYR 726M might have been seen in? -- Last edit: 2013-09-15 02:09:34 |
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◊ 2015-04-17 15:49 |
Sadly, Corgi got it wrong (again) the Vanguard model is in Violet, a regular 'off the floor' colour available in Hillman, Humber, Sunbeam cars. Lilac was an appreciably paler/diluted colour. I notice DVLA also called it Purple, so maybe it wasn't Corgi's error, but someone (the dealer) who sold it as this Special model. My limited understanding is M reg was between August 1973 & August 1974. Another thought, did the car get a, highly unlikely, repaint to Violet before it was sold? (Oh in Australia so unfamiliar with the Avenger models "in the flesh"). Comments on the 'FB Rootes Group' site also disagree with Corgi. Cheers from Down Under, -- Last edit: 2015-04-17 15:52:54 |
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◊ 2015-04-18 00:48 |
See Link to "www.ehattons.com" for pictures of model as issued (instead of pre-release picture above) - it is a paler shade than original depiction. I'll give Corgi some credit with this - I'd never heard of the Dealer Special until their announcement and it is well researched and detailed. |
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◊ 2017-10-28 00:36 |
Am now beginning to agree with humber's comment ^^ that the Corgi info may have errors. It is puzzling that there is no other reference I can find to the Lilac Dealer Special apart from those based on the Vanguards model. But this page has a parallel story from an ex-Rootes dealer worker that "The GLS launch colour was a dark purple metallic called Violet, and the majority in this colour also had a matching purple interior" for his beautiful resto of one (WER 742L, after owning another in the late 70s - NHO 678L) with the alternative grey interior; also seen here. So while Corgi's narrative about a (special launch) batch to attract folk into the showrooms and a ban on selling them until after the excitement had died down in 1973 seems correct, TYR 726M seems to have been repainted at some stage in its life to the normal range colour of Lilac, and this is what Corgi have replicated. |
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◊ 2023-07-29 18:30 |
We might have a real Violet Dealer Special here. |
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