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.
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!
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.
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.
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
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
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..
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.
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.
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!
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff