DO YOU remember the Hillman Hunter? I'm afraid I don't. Despite growing up in the 1970s I can't recall my dad ever mentioning one.

During its 13 year production run the Hunter was a contemporary of the Cortina, the Morris Marina and the Vauxhall Victor, but somehow it failed to engender the same affection. Even the loathesome Marina has more devotees than the humble Hunter.

The Hunter wasn't one car but several.

Due to various changes of policy and management the car was badged variously as the Dodge Husky, the Singer Gazelle, the Humber Sceptre and a whole heap of Hillmans - the Arrow, the Minx, the Vogue and the Hustler.

But it was the Hunter that was supposed to put Hillman back on the roadmap.

To maximise sales potential there were saloons, estates, a laughable 'coupe' and a pick-up (the Dodge(y) Husky). You could have a two door or a four door but no more than four forward gears.

It could have been worse. When the Hillman designers convened in 1962 to create a new family car they considered doing one with a rear-mounted engine (like the new Imp). Luckily for them, the Rootes group was going through one of its interminable financial crisises at the time and no one was prepared to pony up the wedge for an unconventional design.

The Imp's chronic overheating problems put paid to the idea for good.

So the Hunter was utterly conventional for 1962: front engine (slightly canted over to lower the bonnet line), rear wheel drive, a four-speed gearbox and a leaf sprung live rear axle. The MacPherson strut front suspension was a first for Hillman, but not its rivals.

Nevertheless, the new Hunter did have some good points: it was lighter than its predecessor, the Super Minx, and had more cabin space despite being 2.5-inches shorter.

A mildface lift came along in 1970 followed by more radical surgery (all-plastic dashboard, new steering wheel and reshaped headlamps) two years later.

Problems, as ever, were never far away if you were an owner.

The Northern Echo reported on Ken Jackson who bought a Hunter in 1975 - and spent more time stopping for repairs than petrol.

Ken documented more than 70 breakdowns and unscheduled visits to the garage over the next three years.

The hand of fate intervened before he even picked his new car up - when it was delivered the rear bumper fell off, the brakes leaked and the passenger doors wouldn't shut. In the ensuing three years just about everything that was fastened has fallen off and everything that should have cooled overheated.

Poor Ken, from Yarm, said: "Chrysler (by then the owner of the Hillman company) seem to think it's easier to repair cars than make them properly in the first place."

Eventually the High Court in London awarded him compensation and a rueful Ken noted that the car appeared to be getting better: where it once needed a repair every week the breakdown rate had improved to once a fortnight.

"At this rate, by the time it's worn out it should just about be reliable," quipped Ken.

Most right-thinking motorists might have be forgiven for thinking Ken's Hillman Hunter was worn out the moment it left the factory.