RE: Unmellow yellow Hillman Imp for sale
RE: Unmellow yellow Hillman Imp for sale
Wednesday 17th September

Unmellow yellow Hillman Imp for sale

The brilliantly named Imp typified '60s-era Britain - ambitious, ingenious, thwarted


Some things are just not meant to be. Probably the Hillman Imp was unlucky to follow in the wake of the Mini, an instant design icon that snapped into place like Paul McCartney’s haircut - but it was also hindered by a failure to pay sufficient attention to bothersome details, like build quality. Had it been developed properly, it might’ve been the making of its manufacturer, the oft-forgotten Rootes Group. It certainly did not lack for innovation. 

While BMC was busy cramming transverse engines and gearboxes into the Mini's front end, the Rootes Group took a more continental approach with the Imp, mounting its pioneering aluminium Coventry Climax-derived engine in the rear. The result was a genuinely different proposition - a car that offered better weight distribution, a more accommodating engine bay, and arguably more sophisticated engineering than its more famous rival.

This extended to the chassis, which boasted swing axles at the front and semi-trailing arms at the rear for better balanced handling. While its short-stroke, 875cc four-pot is definitely not over-endowed with power (it was engineered chiefly with fuel shortages in mind), it can be expected to rev cleanly and happily to 7,000rpm, and has not much more than 700kg to push against. Much like the Mini, the Imp replaces straight-line speed with nimbleness and buzzy verve. 

This one, as you can see, doubles down on the concept. The vendor does not dwell on which of its 14 (count ‘em) previous owners took the time to transform the car into something decidedly less humble, but the canary yellow paint job works a treat. As do the black Minilite-style wheels, which fill the arches suspiciously well. The bumpers have clearly been replaced, too, although none of the embellishments ruin the Imp’s character - or its inherent appeal. 

The interior goes one step further by colour-coding the dashboard - another welcome choice when you consider how spartan the original model was, especially in the later years when additional cost was being stripped from the Imp like bark from a deer-ravaged sapling. The car’s failure to appeal to buyers on the same scale as the Mini, a situation unaided by its reputation for mechanical fragility, eventually forced Rootes to submit to a takeover by Chrysler. It was renamed accordingly in 1970. 

Unlike many of its stablemates, the Imp soldiered on until 1976 - a testament of sorts to the soundness of the basic idea that compact, cost-effective, and cheap-to-run cars appealed to UK customers. Half a century later, its underlying charisma is much easier to make out: who now would deny the allure of a rear-engined, revvy Hillman, no heavier than a gnat’s shopping? Rot and neglect have seen to most of them, making the Imp considerably rarer than a Mini, and cheaper to buy, too. Something to think about if you’re hunting for a quirky, usable classic.


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Author
Discussion

martin12345

Original Poster:

825 posts

106 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Learnt to drive in Mum's Imp
Despite that, I have no desire to own one as the "rose tinted" glasses are not that rosy
Many, many, many better options in my opinion

motco

16,921 posts

263 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
My wife had a Chamois - Imp with a bit of bling. Fun to drive even though it threatened to overheat sometime if driven hard, Had fragile rubber 'donut' flexible drive shaft couplings. Easy to replace but renders the car utterly immobile when one fails as the drive shaft hangs down and flails around if you try to push, or God forbid, tow it. Keep an eye on the tightness of the eight bolts through the donuts as if one with its head towards the mid line of the car comes out it trepans a hole in the casing of the transaxle.
Much more refined ride than a basic Mini of the era, and it has an openable rear window like a tiny hatchback which is terrific for carrying long planks of timber. Rusts!

mac96

5,258 posts

160 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Always liked Imps, but this one seems odd - from the outside there is an implication of performance mods, but none mentioned. They really were slow (or 'spirited' as it is now known!) by modern standards so bit of pepping up would be welcome.

littleredrooster

6,000 posts

213 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Loved my Imp - RAJ 642G

After 60,000 miles, the crank got a bit rattly and a mate tipped me off about a complete motor which was in a neighbour's shed. The old guy promised that it was a good one, so I paid £15 for it (for context, that was two weeks beer money for me!). I decided to lift the head before I put it in the car as they were prone to water pump/cooling problems. When I got it apart, I found that it had no head gasket - I had never seen Wills' Rings before!

I took it an Imp specialist in Newcastle who confirmed that I had a proper 998 sport competition motor with an R23 cam, works oil pump, lightened/balanced/tuftrided crank et al. £15!!

With the addition of a single 1.5" Stromberg and some Viva discs on the front, I had a proper little wolf in sheep's clothing.

Beetnik

549 posts

201 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
My only memory of one was getting in and jiggling the gear stick to ensure it was in neutral. It came off.

motco

16,921 posts

263 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
mac96 said:
Always liked Imps, but this one seems odd - from the outside there is an implication of performance mods, but none mentioned. They really were slow (or 'spirited' as it is now known!) by modern standards so bit of pepping up would be welcome.
Whie buying one of the endless stream of parts for my 1970 Midget sometime in the seventies, I bumped into a bloke in the car park who had an Imp that looked distinctly 'modified' and I mentioned that I'd seen a couple of Imps and Brands Hatch munching their way past a field of Minis. He boasted that his was modded to a similar degree and could easily pull 11,000 revs in fourth gear. Sceptical, I nodded and grinned and left for home clutching my MG part.

Not long afterwards whilst driving home along the M40 from the junction at Denham, this Imp that I'd seen at the motor factor in Ruislip went screaming past me well above the 70 limit that I was doing trailing a faint wisp of oil smoke and almost certainly proving his boast of 11k rpm. It was a copy of a Coventry Climax OHC aluminium engine as used in the very first Lotus Elite so unlike the Mini's A Series, it had a good competition pedigree.

e600

1,488 posts

169 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
As an apprentice well versed to BL minis, 1100 and 1300’s etc I drove a sales part ex imp after giving it a service on our tried and tested test route.

I very nearly stuffed due to massive understeer by comparison to the minis.

What was with all that positive camber as well.

The only time I seen one do well competitively was at the IOM sidecar race where someone had grafted an imp engine into their sidecar.

No thanks

motco

16,921 posts

263 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
e600 said:
As an apprentice well versed to BL minis, 1100 and 1300 s etc I drove a sales part ex imp after giving it a service on our tried and tested test route.

I very nearly stuffed due to massive understeer by comparison to the minis.

What was with all that positive camber as well.

The only time I seen one do well competitively was at the IOM sidecar race where someone had grafted an imp engine into their sidecar.

No thanks
The Imp site catalogues the successes of Imps and their drivers such as McGovern during the period. Better than you'd think!

Edmundo2

1,404 posts

227 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Cracking little things. This one looks tidy but tame..

I currently race one along with a bunch of others in a classic touring car championship. Circa 110bhp in approx 650kg, ( compare that with say a 205gti or MX5 ). Rear engined, rear drive, independent suspension all around, on crossplies, etc is great fun especially when it's screaming up towards 9000 rpm.. The engines are lovely and the handling is superb..

As with most things the weak points have been engineered out through trial and error and better technology so if properly fettled they no longer over heat etc..

It's tough mixing it with Mustangs and Lotus Cortinas as we're at a massive disadvantage but on the right track in the right weather it surprising how competitive they are..Relatively affordable too when you consider a full banana mini race engine alone is now £30k+

If you get the chance to try a quick then don't pass it up..


Wacky Racer

40,031 posts

264 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
My mum had an imp around 1969, it was a great little car.

I remember my dad changing the clutch on it. He removed the 875cc engine (At the back) by sliding it down an old wooden plank to the floor. Lol!

coded2112

175 posts

238 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Learnt to drive in my Mums Sunbeam Sport, twin headlights, twin strombergs and oil cooler!!

Loved it, but the rust, oh my you could watch it rust, it rusted so quickly!!

But yes I would dive in again... love another

Water Fairy

6,200 posts

172 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
2 Imp memories for me

Many, many years ago as a yoof I helped two old boys out one the way to work who had broken down in their Imp. Turned out they had simply left the manual choke on.

The other, a few years before that was when I went to the beach for a weekend with my Aunt and Uncle in his Imp. A 2 hour drive each way. When we got there Unc had forgotten to put the luggage in the car......................

What was the name of the sporty looking Imp with the more sloped rear C pillar? Stiletto? Saw some at Brands a couple of weeks ago.

nismo48

5,553 posts

224 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Beetnik said:
My only memory of one was getting in and jiggling the gear stick to ensure it was in neutral. It came off.
Hahaha...memories, I test drove back in the late 70's.
Gear stick came off in my hand !!

Whydoyoutalkcrap

215 posts

230 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Mum had a 1968 Stiletto which was a great car when it was going! Surprisingly quick with the Sport engine. Anyone who went to Croft in the 1970's will remember Alex Clacher racing his green imp and beating all sorts of far bigger and more exotic machinery!

wistec1

651 posts

58 months

Yesterday (08:03)
quotequote all
I was at a classic car show a few years ago and a former worker from Linwood told me some imp stories.

One guy in the design of office won a competition to save money. The idea was to make the solid round suspension sphere hollow in the middle thus saving materials & money.

There after numerous reports were coming in from the dealers of loud bangs being heard by owners and the dealers couldn't find the problem. The MD orderer one of the cars to be brought back to Linwood for complete stripping. They eventually discovered ruptured sphers that had exploded under compression. Rather than drill a hole in them before fitmet to allow the air to vent they employed a guy who was nicknamed banger. His job was to drive every car that came off the line over a line of planks until every sphere had gone " bang"

Another car came back for stripping due to a bad smell inside the car which couldn't be found when they cut the car up the found a milk bottle 1/4 full tied up inside a inner wing space. It had a note taped to it saying " see you found it then"

He went in to tell me that strikes were common place and on one occasion the unions brought them out because of pink toilet rolls in the men's toilets. But the management also deliberately created issues that they knew would force a strike rather than have to pay wages if the put the workers on short time working.

It's no wonder they went to the wall.

Flanners

233 posts

147 months

Yesterday (08:40)
quotequote all
I saw 4 in convoy a few weekends ago, they sounded and looked great. Would definitely have that in my garage.

RandomCarChat

1,035 posts

64 months

Yesterday (09:09)
quotequote all
Always quite liked the shape of the Imp.

Lotobear

8,114 posts

145 months

Yesterday (09:16)
quotequote all
motco said:
My wife had a Chamois - Imp with a bit of bling. Fun to drive even though it threatened to overheat sometime if driven hard, Had fragile rubber 'donut' flexible drive shaft couplings. Easy to replace but renders the car utterly immobile when one fails as the drive shaft hangs down and flails around if you try to push, or God forbid, tow it. Keep an eye on the tightness of the eight bolts through the donuts as if one with its head towards the mid line of the car comes out it trepans a hole in the casing of the transaxle.
Much more refined ride than a basic Mini of the era, and it has an openable rear window like a tiny hatchback which is terrific for carrying long planks of timber. Rusts!
Lotus Elans used a failsafe pin that engaged into the other half of the drivesahft, through the centre of the donut, to stop that flailing effect after a failure - I'm amazed Rootes didn't have it covered as it was a very simple solution

pSyCoSiS

3,941 posts

222 months

Yesterday (10:02)
quotequote all
Cool little cars. I remember my Uncle telling me he bought one back in the 70s for £25.

j333evo

42 posts

200 months

Yesterday (10:11)
quotequote all
motco said:
The Imp site catalogues the successes of Imps and their drivers such as McGovern during the period. Better than you'd think!
My father-in-law is on that site https://www.imps4ever.info/racing/rallies/lloyd.ht... he rated it very highly back in the day as a rally car, as did Andy Dawson who had success in one. My FIL has a yellow Clan Crusader, which has Imp running gear. His engine has twin Webber 40 s and I think is 1150cc and has over 100bhp and is decently quick enough to keep up with modern traffic.

Edited by j333evo on Thursday 18th September 10:13