The Sunbeam Rapier Fastback's designer claimed he wasn't ripping off the look of the early Plymouth Barracuda (and maybe he's telling the truth) but so what if he was? How can you not love a British Barracuda? Too bad Rootes couldn't talk corporate overlord Chrysler out of some Slant Sixes while they were at it, since the Rapier's 1725cc mill didn't really measure up in the grunt or reliability departments. Made from 1967 through 1976 (and marketed in the States as the Alpine GT) the little Rapiercuda had style- and oil- to burn, and their present-day owner's club has one of the slickest car-club websites I've ever seen. – Murilee Martin

Sunbeam Rapier Owner's Club [sunbeamrapier.com]

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Hold That Tiger: Custom 465hp Sunbeam [internal]

The history of the Hillman Avenger is long, sordid and involves Chrysler, Peugeot and Volkswagen. And while some of the rally/saloon variants were pretty rad, the Avenger variant that simply cannot be fronted upon is the Uruguay-built Dodge 1500 pickup. Sadly, not much thought was given to the structural integrity of this South American truckcar and the vehicles apparently had a propensity toward chassis failure. Still, unlike its American cousin, the Rampage, the 1500 was at least driven by the correct wheels. We'd like to find one, beef it up, and add Plymouth Cricket bodywork and a 4G63 turbo, thus making it a Phantom Scamp GT. Would there be a more playatastic way to roll through Montevideo? We highly doubt it. – Davey G. Johnson

The Hillman Avenger

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Yeah, see, it's perfect for checking out underage girls, see? You got your turret, you got your gunslits there; heck, if her dad comes after you with a shotgun, what's he gonna do? Take away your birthday? Oh, wait, Humber, not Humbert?. Like the Rootes Group company; right they took the Super Snipe chassis and put that there tank-like body on it and ran all over Western Europe blowing up the Germans real good like while reconnoitering various and sundry things. I gotcha now. Sorry 'bout that teenage girl thing. You know, sometimes straight-six vehicles make my brain go a bit loopy, y'know? Yeah, you know. – Davey G. Johnson

Humber Light Reconnaissance Car Mk II [WarWheels]

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Yes, people, we have here the car whose development shuffled Rootes into the arms of Chrysler, and eventually off to Peugeot to die. It's the Hillman Imp, a rear-engined British-designed, Scottish-built rear-engined econobox that never displaced more than a rear-mounted liter, had a reputation for fragility and having the engine in the rear, but found some success on the saloon-car racing circuit. We want one. Anyone got a spare Hayabusa mill laying about? We'll install it in the rear.

Hillman Imp [Rootes-Chrysler, UK]

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Winds of Change: The Talbotcamino! [Internal]