In North America, a rebadged variant of the Hillman Avenger was marketed as the Plymouth Cricket through Plymouth dealers as a captive import in 4-door saloon and 5-door estate variants. It had 9.5" front disc brakes and 8" rear drums. Brochures included a cartoon cricket, possibly trying to capitalize on the popularity of the VW Beetle.
A Chrysler Plymouth press release dated 30 June 1970 said the Cricket would be presented to the automotive press in November 1970. The first shipment of 280 Crickets from the UK arrived in the U.S. on 20 November 1970. Another press release issued on 23 February 1972 stated that the "station wagon" version would début in early spring of 1972.
The 1500 cc engine was offered on the Plymouth Cricket. Side marker lamps (US DOT required) were added, and front disc brakes were standardised; these were originally optional in the UK. The single carburettor / manual choke combination was standard. From 1972, the single carburettor / automatic choke combination, dual carburettors, and air conditioning were all options.
North American federal headlight standards required the round four-headlight grille of the GL and GT model Avengers.
The Cricket was discontinued midway through the 1973 model year, despite a sharp increase in demand for small cars brought on by the gas crisis of 1973. The success of the similarly-sized Dodge Colt captive import, built by Mitsubishi Motors, doomed the Cricket. With the Colt selling much better, reengineering the Cricket to meet new safety and emissions legislations did not make financial sense.
The Cricket nameplate continued when Chrysler Canada replaced the British-built Cricket with a rebadged Dodge Colt in mid-1973 model year. The Cricket's version of the Colt GT was called the Cricket Formula S. For the 1975 model year, the Plymouth Cricket was rebadged as the Plymouth Colt. Thus began Chrysler Canada's dual marketing system, selling the Colt as both a Dodge and a Plymouth. The later Plymouth Arrow was similarly sold as a Dodge Arrow.
The last British-built Crickets were exported to the U.S. in the later part of 1972, and were marketed until mid-1973 as "1973" models. This was because U.S. safety and emission laws became effective based on the calendar year the car was manufactured in or imported in, as opposed to the model year.
Source: Wikipedia
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