Hillman Imp: The car that drove Linwood to disaster

[Rusty Pelican]

Rusty, that Chamois looks utterly brilliant!!!

Ive read, in the past, road test comparisons between the Mini and the Imp and the Imp always came out of it very well.

 

Thats yet another car on my "I desire to own" list.

Why thanks freebird .

 

As a commercial success the Mini wins hands down with sales of 10 Minis to 1 Imp , as a piece of design the Imp was miles ahead of its time and suffered badly as a result .

stuff like the pneumatic throttle ( I nic-named  fly by air ) and greaseless suspension soon failed miserably and were replaced .

 

Rootes garages manned with aged mechanics used to old Humbers had no idea what the hell to do with an engine made of the wrong stuff in the wrong end as a consequence fucked stuff up just as badly as launching a car well before development was even finished.

Rootes used  apprentice,s , usually 4 in a car to test them day and night , so give a load of 20 year old kids a new car and tell them to test it and see if anything fails and stuff was going to go very tits up .

The first ever car , a largely hand built prototype called L1 was rolled over a bank and destroyed and theres a famous tale of an Imp hitting one of those all steel wheel road rollers head on so hard it snapped the front wheel off it .

What a total cock up .

[londonm]

'31 stoppages in 1964 alone'

Someone should set up a post about idiots like Red Robbo, and how they wrecked car manufacturing in the UK. In fact, I will.

[Cavcraft]

'31 stoppages in 1964 alone'

Someone should set up a post about idiots like Red Robbo, and how they wrecked car manufacturing in the UK. In fact, I will.

 

Have you ever thought about trying lion taming armed only with a slice of bacon and the bible?

[HillmanImp]

I feel I should post something but I am not sure what.

[autofive]

princess anne had one

[HillmanImp]

And Jarvis Cocker

 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Jarvis cocker = hero

[Junkman]

Just look at his coat and bag.

Why was everything nicer and better in ye goode olde dayse?

[Wilko220]

Jarvis cocker = hero

 

From hero to zero

 

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1433396/jarvis-cocker-pulps-car-giveaway.jhtml

[Tayne]

How do you get an Imp to weigh 3 tons?

[Junkman]

So these are all possible variants:

 

Hillman Imp

Hillman GT (Australia)
Hillman Husky
Commer Imp Van
Singer Chamois
Sunbeam Imp
Sunbeam Sport
Sunbeam Chamois
Sunbeam Stiletto
Sunbeam Californian

 

Correct?

 

I darkly recall that none of the cars sold in .at were labelled as 'Hillman' or 'Singer', they all were 'Sunbeam'.

They were few and far between, massively outsold by the NSUs, which - apart from being air-cooled - seem to be pretty similar in concept.

NSUs were still cheaper to buy despite the heavy import duty, which wasn't levied on British stuff (EFTA, remember?).

But Sunbeams were considered 'chic' and NSUs were not.

[RedSparrow]

Just look at his coat and bag.

Why was everything nicer and better in ye goode olde dayse?

 

What, the 90s?

[Station]

Fair play, Savvy, you're a comic genius and I don't even think you know it. That camera pointing the wrong way picture is flipping brilliant .

 

Haha, I don't think anyone has actually taken a photo in that way before ever, it just doesn't make any sense.

[freebird]

You might have assumed that, given the fact that the "hero" in the  60s TV series " Man in a Suitcase" smoked about in one ( and he was as cool as fuck) they wouldnt have been able to make enough to meet demand.

Not all product placement is good then.

[Rusty Pelican]

So these are all possible variants:

 

Hillman Imp

Hillman GT (Australia)

Hillman Husky

Commer Imp Van

Singer Chamois

Sunbeam Imp

Sunbeam Sport

Sunbeam Chamois

Sunbeam Stiletto

Sunbeam Californian

 

Correct?

 

 

A few more , theres a Singer Chamois coupe in MK2 and MK3 (different dash and trim ), Singer Chamois sport ( no MK 3 ), Hillman imp van ( different dash to the Commer ) , Imp basic , Imp Deluxe , Imp super in MKs 1 , 2 and 3  , Singer Chamois Rallye , Hillman Imp Rallye ( both factory 998cc instead of the normal 875cc and VERY rare ).

If you add up every version  from every country i believe theres over 30 variants which is just plain stupid , or maybe desperate .

[Cavcraft]

As if by magic I 'spotted' this Imp-roof-ment this very morning...

[dean36014]

Here's my old one, used it daily for a few years. never had any issues with it either. apparently it was quite rare as it was a 4 headlight, Chamois coupe.

[chaseracer]

And Jarvis Cocker

 

Did he not have the Imp baled for some reason, doubtless "artistic"...?

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

These are one of the cars Ive never had a drive of but would love to.

From what ive read, they are more than a match for the Mini.

Anybody ever owned one/driven one?

What are they like to live with? 

 

 

I had one back in 1986. It was a green Imp Super, RNK243D (R.I.P) that I bought with a buggered engine for 20 quid. Another Imp came with it as spares free, the emngine in that was fucked as well. I then bought an Imp Rallye 998, as rusty as buggery but with a good engine for £100, swapped the engine over did some fettling and ran it for a few montghs. They need some weight in the front to improve the steering - I put a set of Konis on mine (£15 from an ad in Motoring News) as well as some 155 radials on Stiletto wheels. It was a cracking wee car, revved like a food mixer and would worry a 1275GT. In many ways it was better than the Mini - it was far better built inasmuch that it felt like a smaller version of a Super Minx than a cheap budget car.

On balance, I'd still have a 1960's Mini, but will always give an Imp the nod - they're great. 

 

 

 

 

Fuck it, I'll have both.

[tooSavvy]

Me, doing a bit of sightseeing @ Linwood, recently.

 

All there is left of the plant - Admin Office Block. In the middle of a retail park.

 

Arrow shows line of piccie, above, and that car park was actually the Bodyshop.

 

Cars crossed over the main road, on an enclosed trackway, to enter the Fitting/Finish Plant.

 

IMP CLUB had a bash at the place recently to unveil a plaque 'IMP 50th', commemorating the cars 50 years.

 

Heres one of mine [80's]

... and with some friends [80's]

 

 

I took out the Pneumatic throttle and fitted the later cable arrangement, disc brakes, seatbelts & Race tuned 998 B/v engine.

 

tooSavvy

Hey hey heyyy 

 

And I was back there thismorning......

 

 

This is the view from TNT depot, to the back of the old Rootes/Chrysler Admin office.

 

YES!!..... I drove under 'that' bridge but, sozz, no Selfie today 

 

 

TS

[Vin]

IMPressive load...

 

[Tayne]

[mercrocker]

Probably a bit late to throw this in but I haz Imp-experience.    Second car I ever owned, 1977.   Really it was my first car because my first car was a knackered Beetle that never ran properly and spent more time on the end of a rope than burning fossil fuels.   The Imp was knackered too but did at least function.   It was an early 1964 car with red seats out of a Chamois which looked nice* in the otherwise green interior.   I did loads of life-learning in it - first nookie, first accident, first dirt-road drifting (unrelated to first accident) first OMGHGF (actually in retrospect I think we can rule out the second "G") and it was also the first car I weighed in.   Went over to Minis after that but I always had the niggling feeling that I had scrapped the better car.   Certainly the build quality was better, the ride and comfort far superior and I think it went better, too.  RIP 465JWD you did deserve better...

[DSdriver]

When i was but a lad, one of my Dad's mates came round in his brand new sporty Hillman variant. Being the delightful urchin that I was I took great delight in pointing out that it had Sunbeam on the bonnet and Singer on the boot lid. Or it could have been the other way around. But then again, the bonnet was at the back and the boot was at the front. I think I'll stop now.

[tooSavvy]

C'mon.... moar storeez.... everyone knows a tale of IMPFTP

 

TS

[sierraman]

Bit an urban myth was that they deleted a rubber sealing washer around the wipers to save something like 1/2p.

[colino]

The cooling problems and the deletion of the, "ingenious" pneumatic throttle would have been ironed out and the Imp better received if its launch date, 1st January 1964, for the new B reg. had actually been stuck to.

Unfortunately in those black and white, royalist fawning days, it was thought it better to splash a new car when the prince was ready, not the car.

I'm pretty sure that Linwood had the same poor industrial relations that were the car industry norm. in the UK at the time (although the Krazy K shed always thought they should lead any Linwood strikes!) and Volvo, Saab and many others hadn't had any doubts having their bodyshells built at the original, same site, plant by Pressed Steel.

Government economic engineering rarely goes well, but the enforced siting of our Japanese manufacturers in the North East didn't go too shabbily.

[dinglem]

I know both of the cars posted by 'Rusty Pelican' - both lovely examples indeed.

 

Here's my 1970 Sunbeam Stiletto, running a 998cc. Goes like a rocket, and zero overheating issues, even with the rear rad position retained.

 

I've owned this car for over 20 years.

 

 

 

 

[dinglem]

And here's my Imp Van.

 

This one has a heavily modified, bored and stroked 1304cc Imp engine, and is the quickest Imp I've ever driven. It's a little noisy and spits flames on the over-run, but great fun. I use this one pretty much daily.

 

 

 

 

 

[doug]

An old work mate of mine claimed to have the newest and last built Imp. Built completely from new parts and registered on a W reg.