My mum had an Imp; a MkII. We lowered the front suspension had the block surface built up and remachined and always used antifreeze in it; never a problem after that. It drove like a go-kart. Third gear, foot to the floor up the Kiwi's or Titiokura's just screaming; a lot of fun it really stuck to the road. And for some reason the MkII with its twin Stromberg CDS carbs used a lot less fuel than the MkI wtih one Solex. Great traction up and down the riverbed too.
I was a Routes Group mechanic when the Imp first appeared. I was impressed at how nippy it was compared to the Minx, even the Rapier, but not impressed with the accessibility of the engine and transmission. Then the problems appeared, the pneumatic throttle was dodgy. All the cars built in the first year were recalled due to the steering column apparently working loose on the rack. Even so, on one car I just could not get the column off the rack. I alerted the foreman, who also could not shift it. He grabbed the new as yet unfitted column and chucked it in the scrap rack bin. Ok, Mate, he said, job done!
I've had imps over the years since the 60s. I have a mint condition 67 imp and love it,there's something special about the cars,in the early days they had problems because they hadn't been fully developed because the factory had to be in full production for prince Phillip on opening linwood . I take it to shows most weekends and the interest it generates is unbelievable, I love it and will part with it.
I had one the head gasket blew so we bored the head bouts to witworth sizes slightly bigger bolt head.and had no problems after. Head tightened down to 70 psi
My first car was an "imp" bought as 3 or 4 years old in 1977 for £650, if I remember right the Reg, was PTU744L, always preferred the imp over the mini as to me it looked smarter.
I had my first one in the 80's parts were virtually impossible to get hold of, I had to go all over the country. Now I can get anything at all, I went to Malcolm Wilson's a few years ago on holiday, there's nothing you can't get.
I recall (about 1964) my uncle having sales brochures for the Imp ... but he bought a Superminx instead. After watching this vid. I guess he made the right decision.
Britain certainly knew how to design great handling small cars. Both the Mini and Imp were brilliant if very different. Pity they never built them with the same skills.
The radiator was at the side of the rear engine and could have been cooled by the natural draught under the car to some extent, but a fan was mounted so as to blow air in the opposite direction which must have contributed to its overheating problems. It was common practice to drive with the engine cover partly open. The heater in winter was useless as the pipes ran from back to front through the sills and the water was cold or even frozen by the time it reached the heater. At least it helped to cool the engine. If you weren't a good mechanic when you bought an imp, you certainly were a few months later.
My first car was an Imp. The rust held it together. Not sure if this was standard but if memory serves, the boot had no locks on either of the chrome handles. And thus the engine would often turn over but never fire. Why? because that non-locking boot made stealing my spark plugs child's play.
i agree, i think the whole main problem to me is the workforce. if they were properly trained to cast engine etc, then not as many problems would have occued. my dad owns a hillman imp right now. but another problem has haappened with the headgasket blow. so many problems and so little time -_-
Lack of quality control was a problem, also, the designers should have figured out how to cool the rear engine, perhaps incorporating some side scoops or intake vents like the Renault....I wonder if the boys at Mopar in the states at the time should have done some engineering re-thinking.....too bad.
I loved my Imps a yellow 1976 that overheated if you went over 50 and a blue 1976 that you could thrash all day with no worries, maybe I'm getting nostalgic but I'm thinking about exporting one to NYC where I now live
My mum had an Imp; a MkII. We lowered the front suspension had the block surface built up and remachined and always used antifreeze in it; never a problem after that. It drove like a go-kart. Third gear, foot to the floor up the Kiwi's or Titiokura's just screaming; a lot of fun it really stuck to the road. And for some reason the MkII with its twin Stromberg CDS carbs used a lot less fuel than the MkI wtih one Solex. Great traction up and down the riverbed too.
I would have to say, decades ahead of its time. A new version needs to come out. Retro is in right now. Bring it back
I was a Routes Group mechanic when the Imp first appeared. I was impressed at how nippy it was compared to the Minx, even the Rapier, but not impressed with the accessibility of the engine and transmission. Then the problems appeared, the pneumatic throttle was dodgy. All the cars built in the first year were recalled due to the steering column apparently working loose on the rack. Even so, on one car I just could not get the column off the rack. I alerted the foreman, who also could not shift it. He grabbed the new as yet unfitted column and chucked it in the scrap rack bin. Ok, Mate, he said, job done!
I've had imps over the years since the 60s. I have a mint condition 67 imp and love it,there's something special about the cars,in the early days they had problems because they hadn't been fully developed because the factory had to be in full production for prince Phillip on opening linwood . I take it to shows most weekends and the interest it generates is unbelievable, I love it and will part with it.
I had one the head gasket blew so we bored the head bouts to witworth sizes slightly bigger bolt head.and had no problems after. Head tightened down to 70 psi
My first car was an "imp" bought as 3 or 4 years old in 1977 for £650, if I remember right the Reg, was PTU744L, always preferred the imp over the mini as to me it looked smarter.
I had my first one in the 80's parts were virtually impossible to get hold of, I had to go all over the country. Now I can get anything at all, I went to Malcolm Wilson's a few years ago on holiday, there's nothing you can't get.
I recall (about 1964) my uncle having sales brochures for the Imp ... but he bought a Superminx instead. After watching this vid. I guess he made the right decision.
Britain certainly knew how to design great handling small cars. Both the Mini and Imp were brilliant if very different. Pity they never built them with the same skills.
The radiator was at the side of the rear engine and could have been cooled by the natural draught under the car to some extent, but a fan was mounted so as to blow air in the opposite direction which must have contributed to its overheating problems. It was common practice to drive with the engine cover partly open. The heater in winter was useless as the pipes ran from back to front through the sills and the water was cold or even frozen by the time it reached the heater. At least it helped to cool the engine. If you weren't a good mechanic when you bought an imp, you certainly were a few months later.
Bons carros.bons tempos.
My first car was an Imp. The rust held it together. Not sure if this was standard but if memory serves, the boot had no locks on either of the chrome handles. And thus the engine would often turn over but never fire. Why? because that non-locking boot made stealing my spark plugs child's play.
The TV used to say, "get into the Hillman ImpAct" boom boom
i agree, i think the whole main problem to me is the workforce. if they were properly trained to cast engine etc, then not as many problems would have occued. my dad owns a hillman imp right now. but another problem has haappened with the headgasket blow. so many problems and so little time -_-
Brilliant car, years ahead of the Mini with it's primitive A-Series engine. A few more months fine tuning would have made it into a world beater.
Lack of quality control was a problem, also, the designers should have figured out how to cool the rear engine, perhaps incorporating some side scoops or intake vents like the Renault....I wonder if the boys at Mopar in the states at the time should have done some engineering re-thinking.....too bad.
I loved my Imps a yellow 1976 that overheated if you went over 50 and a blue 1976 that you could thrash all day with no worries, maybe I'm getting nostalgic but I'm thinking about exporting one to NYC where I now live
The British motor industry way of doing things. come up with a brilliant design and then don't build it properly. Imp, rover sd1, triumph stag etc etc
The styling was based on the American Corvair which had a flat air cooled rear engine.
They were great little cars. I owned a 1970 Sunbeam Stiletto in red with a black vinyl roof (similar to