Hillman Master Hunter
Reviewed by Unique Cars and Parts
Our Rating: 2
Introduction
For those living in the UK and not satisfied with the performance on offer from the stock Hillman Hunter, from Davenport Vernon, then Rootes main dealers at London Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, came a rather more sporting iteration - the "Master Hunter".
At the time the stock Hunter and Vogue engine produced 74 bhp with a single carrburettor. With twin carburettors and a different camshaft the
Sunbeam Rapier and Humber Sceptre power units developed 88 bhp. So it was obvious that the Hunter engine could be fitted with the hotter camshaft and another carburettor to boost performance.
And that's just what Davenport Vernon did, blessing the Master Hunter with performance very nearly equal to that of the rather heavier but much more streamlined Rapier. The additional Stromberg CD carburettor was fitted together with a new gas-flowed manifold, the air intakes being capped with small wire filters.
The rest of the Master Hunter package consisted of a vacuum servo on the brakes, Cosmic light
alloy wheels shod with Goodyear G800 165 x 13in. radial tyres, a leather-covered
steering wheel and a neat facia mounted Smiths 60mm dia.tachometer.
There was little doubt that the Master Hunter was the fastest Arrow-based car to 60 mph at the time, which was even more impressive when you consider that, in doing away with the overdrive, Davenport Vernon increased the final drive ratio to 3.7 to 1 (the
overdrive having been 3.89:1).
One must, in all fairness, really compare the Master Hunter's performance with that of the Rapier. Both cars took 6.2 seconds to reach 40 mph, but to 50 and to 60 the tuned car was 0.1 and 0.2sec faster, with times of only 8.9 and 12.6sec.
The maximum speed of 100 mph could be reached surprisingly often, but there was the possibility of a major snag if this speed was maintained. The Hunter and Vogue were fitted with single-piece propeller shafts, with critical whirling speeds at around 95 mph. For this reason the Sceptre and Rapier were fitted with two-piece shafts.
Without the benefit of
overdrive and a great deal of enthusiastic driving, the Master Hunter had a fuel consumption of 24.9 mpg: this compared favourably with the Rapier's 26.9. The major criticism of the Master Hunter was the roar coming from the carburettor intakes when the throttles were wide open. Road testers of the day reported that the sound initially sounded great, but over a long run quickly became a nuisance. There was an easy cure which meant only a very slight loss of power - Humber Sceptre air cleaners could be fitted.
The Goodyear
tyres improved roadholding greatly and were well worth the additional cost. Cornering speeds were much higher, and in the wet the tendency to slide about at the rear was greatly reduced. The light
alloy wheels had standard 4.5in wide rims and did not make any appreciable difference to the ride or handling.
If you can add any further information or images of the Master Hunter, please drop us a line here at
Unique Cars and Parts.
Davenport Vernon also offered to convert used Hunters to this specification and 1500cc Minxes (Hunter type) to a similar specification although the Cosmic wheels were not usually to be included with the Minx conversions.
I understand that the inlet manifold was an Alexander type, and that the package was developed by Ralph Denne.
No Master Hunters are known to have been imported into Australia, and although conceptually similar, the Australian Hillman Hustler differed in many details from this type.