The Arrow is better remembered these days for the journey it took straight to Japan, where it landed right in the engineering department at Datsun, where it was copied virtually detail for detail, to come off the Datsun lines as the Bluebird.
Arrow was the collective name for Rootes' midsize family of cars introduced in the second half of the 1960s. Essentially the lineup consisted of the
Hillman Minx and
Hunter,
Singer Gazelle and Vogue, Humber Sceptre saloons and estates and
Sunbeam Alpine and
Rapier coupes.
Then there were other variants sold outside the UK such as the Hillman Arrow and Hustler (Australia), Paykan (Iran), and Dodge Husky pickup (South Africa). Many of these models were rebadged as Sunbeams across the globe. All of the Hillman, Singer and Humber models were sold as Sunbeams in Europe.
In North America they were sold as Sunbeam Arrows. For the US market, it initally appeared in 1967 as a rebadged Hillman Hunter. For 1968, a station wagon appeared, derived from the Hunter estate car. For 1969-70, it was basically a Singer Gazelle, but with the 1725cc engine and a Minx grille. The Canadian Arrow of this period was more closely related to the Hillman Minx.
