Hustler

[Doug G]

Years ago, eons actually, there used to be a few of these out here . . . a HUSTLER



and



They were powered by a Hillman Imp engine.

Anyone able to contribute more info?

[Doug G]

I did also find this

The Imp Site

Arawak Hustler

Arawak Motors in Antigua, West Indies,
where in the world
started making Hustlers in 1976 [other source: 1978]. They purchased Imp chassis and mechanicals from the Chrysler Corporation or one of its agents. They moulded glass fibre bodies, assembled the cars (aluminium engine in the rear end) and sold them locally. A wild guess is that no more than 200/300 were ever made.

It lasted for a couple of years only. The company is no longer in existence. Peter does not know when it folded, but he remembers that their later models used a different engine.

Peter Hart (1919) has since 1979 owned one of the first, a 1978 Hustler. It was brought from Antigua to Nevis on the deck of a 60 ft. island trader. At that time (1978/79) a mercantile house on St. Kitts imported perhaps two dozen to St. Kitts and Nevis. He never saw any on islands other than those three.

He believes it was put together in 1979, the second year of production. The body is an assembly of seven parts of polyester resin and glass cloth. It was a good (heavy gage) quality fibreglass. Peter does not know for sure if the chassis were Imp or whether they made them up in Antigua. He believes all mechanical components are Imp, dash cluster and steering assembly, too. All electric systems are Imp. A Chrysler Imp Owner's Handbook came with it.
The only chassis number on the car is 78023. The first two digits are the year and the last is the sequential number of item manufactured.
The only number on the block is 875. Whether it is a standard or a Sport engine is unknown.

The photo was taken in March 2002. It still has the original side curtains - the only Hustler with sidecurtains that he knows of.

He stripped down the body of one made and delivered in 78. The body is in pretty good shape, but it was gutted for parts.

Peter has the last operative model on Nevis, West Indies. It is garaged in Nevis, he himself lives in Maryland at the moment.

"I have had cooling problems over the years but nothing that can't be handled by keeping the system clean and unleaking with a good water pump. The engine seized up once but not bad enough to damage the piston sleeves."
"A patient native mechanic has helped me over the years. Very resourceful guy who rebuilt the engine with a set of wrenches, screw driver, needle nosed pliers and emery cloth. He has gotten to be a good friend.
Problem is, he has a sleeping sickness and if he gets on his back underneath the car, it takes a lot to wake him. Fortunatly, he doesn't forget what he's doing while asleep."
From: Sheepy Schaaf
Sent: Nov. 04, 2013
Subject: feedback - re Arawak Hustler

Hi,
please correct the introduction year of the Arawak Hustler (on the special pages) to 1976. I bought mine in August of this year. The serial number was 000026 if I remember right. Unfortunately I had to leave Antigua in 1981 and sold the Hustler then with tears in my eyes...

Later models were slightly bigger and had the engine in front, but I can't recall where it originated from.

I might be able to undig some old photographs, but this will take a little time as I'm on a long-period holiday right now.

Best regards from
Sheepy Schaaf


From: Sheepy
Sent: 12/06/13 05:46 PM
Subject: Re: feedback - re Arawak Hustler

[...]

Before purchasing mine, I had a chance to visit the 'production line' of Arawak Motors(?)/ Arawak Industries(?) and was impressed by the sturdy frames they welded together from rectangular tubing. Next to them were front axle assemblies and the whole rear drive kit (engine with auxiliaries, gearbox and axle). Bolted together the 'naked' Hustler was finished. It was mated with the fibre glass body consisting of the lower shell and the top roof. Fortunately the latter could easily be removed, especially when I replaced the standard fixations with wing nuts. Driving without the top was pure fun, engine noise was hardly recognizable, the little car responded to a slight pressure of your butt (or so was the impression...) - of course the drawback came with the next shower *lol*

The first bunch of Hustlers were equipped with the 875 cc engine (almost identical to the one I found in my wife's Hillman Imp of the early seventies, which I bought her later, because I was fed up sharing the Hustler with her).

Apart from regular filter and oil changes (and occasional greasing? - I'm not sure on that one) the Hustler (and the Imp) did not require much maintenance - should I have neglected there something important, I will apologise belatedly to the little cars.

One thing though was very vulnerable on the Hustler: Because of its jeep-like appearance people like me were often tempted to drive it off-road. And this regularly resulted in a perforated radiator; its lower end was much too close to the ground - especially when leaving paved roads. I do not recall how many radiator casings had to be mended or replaced...
Just the price you had to pay to drive the the Hustler out to the more idyllic beaches of Antigua...

Best regards
Sheepy Schaaf


Peter Hart, Nevis, West Indies. - Impressions Feb. 1994 and e-mail messages april 2002

I am looking for

a water pump. For ID I have an old one here in Maryland with a number on one of the castings 77050206. I cannot find this number in the old Chrysler parts book. Rather think it is a sub-assembly number not the number of the pump assembly.
both clutch and brake master cylinder repair kits. The numbers seems to be (both) 5042678 from the same old Chrysler Parts Book.
map West Indies
Patrick Neckles sent me a message on 20 May 2002 saying he too owns a Hustler. He and it are on Grenada.
And he knows of a Nymph on Grenada which is owned by one Sean Charles.


Imp specials
The Imp Site

http://www.imps4ever.info/specials/hustler.html

[Doug G]

Old photos
Postby Donna » Wed Jun 23, 2010 10:57 pm

I thought I'd post a few old photos especially since we've been talking about mini mokes on another topic thread.

The mini moke was probably one of the first rental vehicles in Antigua. We first rented them in 1979 but this was ours in 1981.
Mini Moke.jpg
Mini Moke.jpg (34.62 KiB) Viewed 5534 times


The airport has come a long way since then too.
Antigua airport.jpg
Antigua airport.jpg (28.29 KiB) Viewed 5536 times


There wasn't any fancy vendors market and buying gifts to take home wasn't easy. These pictures are taken from the entrance to Nelson's Dockyard which was where the vendors would set up daily. Not uncommon to see Mom's with their little ones all day.
Nelson's Dockyard Vendors.jpg
Nelson's Dockyard Vendors.jpg (36.19 KiB) Viewed 5534 times

Nelson's Dockyard Market.jpg
Nelson's Dockyard Market.jpg (34.96 KiB) Viewed 5533 times
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Re: Old photos
Postby moni » Thu Jun 24, 2010 5:48 am

Thanks Donna for posting such interesting pics! It all looks quite different now, the airport, the market... Could not have been easy doing shopping in those days. Thank you for sharing.

Cheers
moni
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Re: Old photos
Postby Danntigua » Thu Jun 24, 2010 9:26 am

Hi Donna,
These photos are great. My business partner has a Mini Moke he restored to original, and is going to be using it as a beach car on Martha's Vinyard. They are fun cars. It's too bad they still dont have them in Antigua. He is also a classic Lotus enthuiast, and has raced them for many years.
Thanks,
Danntigua
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Re: Old photos
Postby jailbird » Thu Jun 24, 2010 2:53 pm

Hi Donna

What fabulous photos. It is really interesting to look back at the 70/80's to see what life on the Island was like in those days. Any more ?

JB
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Re: Old photos
Postby Tony » Sat Jun 26, 2010 8:49 am

Nice pics Donna. Thanks for posting. I was telling my friend about these 'mini mokes' recently. They were called Arawak Hustlers from what I remember and were made (well, constructed - I think) in Antigua. They were very popular rentals in the late 70's, early 80's and there were lots of them on them road back then. They were quite unreliable...
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Re: Old photos
Postby Sunrise » Sat Jun 26, 2010 1:04 pm

http://articles.latimes.com/1990-10-28/travel/tr-4610_1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini_Moke
http://www.imps4ever.info/specials/hustler.html
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Re: Old photos
Postby islandgurl » Sat Jun 26, 2010 10:32 pm

The Arawak Hustler was designed and built by my father Terry Tyrrell. We were the Chrysler agents in Long Street in St. Johns and the Hustler was my father's dream! The first one was built in the middle 70's and was made of some sort of plate aluminum held together with millions of "self-tapping" screws that we used to buy at hardware stores on our "shop-a-ramas" as my father used to call them, to Puerto Rico. It had an Imp engine and was quite weighty when it was eventually finished!

The Hustler went into production at a warehouse out by the airport incorporating the fibreglass body you see in the pictures. The Chrysler Imp engine didn't last long (I think Chrysler UK folded and this was before bail outs!!) and I have a feeling that VW engines went in afterwards that were from some random factory somewhere. Don't quote me on that point though! I don't know how many were actually built. The company was eventually sold to a guy from St. Maarten but it didn't last long after that. My husband ran into him once when he was delivering a dead ship to Singapore and stopped at Enewetok in the Marshall Islands!

My parents also had the very first rental cars in Antigua. We were the Hertz agents in the very early 60's. Hertz did not last long as the hotel taxi drivers objected and used to make holes in the tyres!! Hotels were very far and few in those days and none had more than a 2 or 3 dozen rooms. Half Moon Bay, Jolly Beach (which was built next to a huge swamp called Mosquito Cove), the old Anchorage, Curtain Bluff and maybe Hawksbill. Blue Waters, Caribbean Beach Club (Halcyon) and The Inn would follow very soon after.

The British Mini Moke had a metal body and was the darling of the Caribbean tourist from the mid 60's until they ceased production sometime in early 70s. It was a fabulous little vehicle that was almost indestructible. They came in two colours white or army green!

Wow, hadn't thought of all of this in ages. Will have to haul out all the old pictures again.
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Re: Old photos
Postby Donna » Sat Jun 26, 2010 11:21 pm

This is the mini moke we rented in 1979. A Canadian brought in around 8 from North America. The quality was far superior to the one we rented a few years later. The Canadian had too many run ins with the politicians with red tape etc. and eventually left. I'm not sure who ended up with the mini mokes but I can well imagine. At the time it was a good run about vehicle but with todays traffic and safety issues there is no way I'd rent one again.

Mini moke 001.jpg
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Re: Old photos
Postby dog lover » Sun Jun 27, 2010 12:00 pm

We renetd a Mini Moke back in 89 and my in laws rode or should I say suffered in the back seat . The roads were not so good back then.
Here is a picture of a Custom Mini Moke at the St James Club.
scan0046 (Small).jpg
scan0046 (Small).jpg (40.41 KiB) Viewed 5094 times

It did not come with the lovely lady.
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Re: Old photos
Postby Donna » Sun Jun 27, 2010 1:30 pm

Hi Dog lover

Did you actually take that moke into St. John's? I think they're a good little run-about and could serve large properties, much like the golf carts, but I don't think they belong on todays roads.
Cheers Donna

For pictures http://www.antiguaforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2054