It is great to see young lads take an interest in British classic cars, and particularly the IMP as it was given an appalling press when it came out due to some poor timing decisions by the Management and the fact the Government of the day renagued on the finances mid way through! It was the financial constraints that were to blame for the lack of testing time, and not the actual design that was wrong! With the overhead cam Alloy engine it would rev to well over 6000 rpm in standard trim and keep up with much sportier cars. Particularly on the twisting Highland roads in Scotland! I drove a very rare Coventry Climax engined version in the Coventry "Experimental Dept." back in 1965 when they were looking to increase the capacity to over 1000cc to compete with the Fords & BMC cars, but unfortunately it was shelved. A great shame as 1200cc made it a completely different animal. The other modification that was shelved was the redesign of the front suspension!
Thanks. I'm finding it all very interesting and exciting. This can rev upto 10,500 but I've been told 8,500 is sensible to make it last a season of racing! Yes, well this one is a 998cc with an overbore permitted by the race series to make it a 1040cc with 105bhp. A lot has changed on these since the launch, fixing all the small problems. It never lived up to what it could have at the time. Here's a link to a video that I found fascinating if your interested in Imps. Talks about all the problems and the government grants etc: ua-cam.com/video/IT8K26FnCs4/v-deo.html
A few things the factory competition department were already selling 998c. wet liner blocks in 1966. Because 60% is over the rear wheels the front suspension didn't need redesigned, the simple swing axle produced more than enough grip to balance the rear.
Sure, like 2 years before British industry went to sh*t. I prefer British motorcycles because a motorcycle is always a deathtrap. Cars don't have to be but classic British cars fold like origami in a wreck. At least, with a classic bike, I can clad myself in modern armor. No amount of roll cage or safety harness will make the Imp anything other than a deathtrap. And IDK who this Frazer dude is because I never heard of him when I lived in the UK in the '90s but this car looks like something he built while drunk after his mediocre racing career was over. I wouldn't trust my life to that poorly welded cage with rust bubbling up under the paint and I've gone 150mph in a heavily modified Cinquecento. I learned to drive in a RS 500, which would hand this Imp it's arse straight from the showroom. German chassis with a Cosworth motor? Yes please! Also, there's the fact that the Imp's roof line doesn't even come up to my waist. Would rather get hit by a lorry on a bike because at least you have a chance of being thrown clear and surviving. If you're in an Imp, you're just getting flattened. Like a pork and stuffing batch you accidentally stepped on and twice as gooey.
Great. I had an Imp & then a Singer Chamios back in the 70's had some great fun with them. My girlfriend at the time thought it was like riding in a bumper car!. Good Luck with the racing.
I'm American but I lived in the UK as a teen. Learned to drive in a RS 500. Less than double the weight and over 3x the power. But you have fun with your little 'race car'. I would have got laughed right out of the pub in the '90s if I'd driven up in that. In the US, we have faster go-karts than your Imp. Mate of mine who was a Mercedes tech had a bored and stroked turbo Cinquecento that would make this look like a pedal car. Craziest thing I ever drove. Ever seen a Cinquecento do 150mph? I have. Scariest thing I've ever done and I've been in a shootout. Whenever life is getting me down, I think of England and street racing a '92 Escort RS in the RS 500 and winning. Actually, it was more like racing on C, D and U roads, often gravel or dirt and even cutting across fields sometimes. Dangerous, unhinged and way more fun than a sanctioned race. I used to drink and smoke weed with the village bobby so I could get away with just about anything, short of murder. One of the older gents I befriended at the pub was a charter member of the first UK chapter of the Hells Angels. He went to the US and joined the USMC and went to Vietnam as a young man, just for a bit of fun. Took him less than 2 years post discharge to get himself deported from the US. Frankly, I think he probably killed someone in a bar fight or something like that because once you serve in the US military, you have the right to stay. One night, I was chatting with him about the Hayabusa and saying how much I'd like to ride one and the next day, he showed up at my house (actually a converted tower mill) on a stolen 'Busa, lol. Haven't had many friends in my life who would commit a felony for me. Especially not on a whim. Truly an uncle from another grandmother.
Great video! I've been racing with the CTCRC so I've seen this car doing it's thing plenty of times, the Imps are a great sight and sound in Pre66 as well as a giantkiller in Mr Ibbotson's hands! You're bang on about the community spirit in classic car racing, the CTCRC in particular is a very close knit bunch and there'll be no shortage of help when you need it. The CSCC Swinging Sixties would be good fun to have a go in as well.
4 Hillman Imps in the family makes you a fan. 37 owned by a single individual is just an addiction. Could have built a F1 car for that time and money. As for this 'Frazer Imp', it looks exactly like what some washed up, barely known racer headed for the grave would build while drinking in the garage. The cage has paint bubbles all over it, suggesting severe corrosion. Might as well cut it out because you are more likely to die in a wreck with it in there, when the tube snaps and ends up impaling you just before the car folds like origami and turns you into the world's least appealing taco. And I say that as someone who has eaten fish tacos. Seriously, this makes the insane, bored, stroked and turbo'd Cinquecento my mate had when I lived in the UK in the '90s look very safe. And that Cinquecento made like 200HP and went 150mph. Hey, impaled by an Imp. That has a nice ring to it.
@Lurch-Bot several head-gaskets later ... i once lost the nail off my middle finger when the spanner slipped and sandwiched the singer against the battery. I spun the car twice, once hitting a gatepost backwards. Even the local postman had come to grief on that bend. Luckily, there was a spare Imp that I took the rear cross-member off. the guy who got through 37, drove them to work during the week and raced them at weekends. He once got shunted and flipped, on the street. Probably grateful for decent seats and harness.
I had one briefly in 76 engine and box had been built by a motor cycle race engineer, went like the proverbial off a shovel. Good luck for the new season.
Yes, this is exactly how fun driving used to be. I am still competing in my road legal 1040 Imp after buying it as my first car and passing my test in it almost 35 years ago. Enjoy!😊
Fun...and deadly. As a Yank who grew up in the UK and learned to drive in a RS 500, I wouldn't be caught dead in this POS. If I am going to take that kind of risk with my life, I'd rather be riding a Norvil Commando racer. There was a chap in my village who had an extensive collection of classic British bikes, including a '72 Commando race bike. While I never got to fully put it to task, I did get to ride it once, after proving I could ride a far cheaper bike without wrecking it. I actually have a scar on my knee from that ride because I ended up putting a knee down in jeans, courtesy of a blind decreasing radius turn.
Great video! Nicely edited and great content. Looking forward to the prep schedule. Also can you put in bits about budgeting, practicalities of racing, dealing with race entry etc?
Yes. The Coventry Climax block was used a lot, both in 4 cylinder and 2 combined for 8 cylinder format. The engine won the '63 and' 65 F1 Championship. The Imps engine is very similar and yes, water cooled with the radiator moved to the front for racing.
A full spec of the Imp would be nice to explain what you have. I am surprised that the radiator does not vent through the bonnet as most front mounted Imps do including the factory cars. Apart from the issue of stacking unwanted air under the car, which will adversely affect the already light front end, the last thing the Imp needs is holes cut in the floor for venting that will seriously weaken the front floor. On my Imp I included the square tube infill under the front A arm pick up and then braced that back in the boot to a cross brace between the wheel tubs that totally transformed the handling. Such a torsionally stiff front end makes the car handle. You really must break the habit of hovering over the clutch pedal because you will burn the clutch out no matter how far you think you are away from the pedal - it really is a novice mistake, The Imp clutch is on the limit of the power and giving all the help to work is a must - the foot rest is there for a very specific purpose. BTW Imps were produced with 875cc engines throughout their life. The 998cc dry linered Rallye block was developed for competition and for sale. Most large engined cars use a wet liner block and 1040 is an overbore of the 998cc engine. My 875cc Sport would regularly rev to 8000rpm and it was common back in the day for 998s to rev to 10,000rpm in anger, but I see 9,500rpm is now quoted.
Hi. Lots of interesting info thanks. I've looked into the bonnet vents but in terms of fitting it in historically with the Fraser Imp. There seem to be more images without the vents than with. As for the clutch rest, I'm aware of this and it annoyed me all journey too! The current plate is too far away for me to reach so I've ordered another one. It's nice to hold yourself in position too. Yes, I too was told that they can hit 10.5k revs, but stick to about 9.5k to make it last a few races or 8.5k to make it last a season. Thanks for all the info. I'll look into the other bits.
@@WillEgby The later Fraser Imps had bonnet vents in both the Group 5 and Champ spec cars. They also had a bag tank in the front boot area that also accommodated Fraser's version of the front brace that I commented on. There is a good deal of info on the Fraser Imps on the Imp Club site with plenty of pics and text. Andy Dawson wrote a very informed series of articles in Cars and Car Conversions back in the early 1970s that gives very good prep information . What carbs are you running? Webers have a problem trait that they are no better than a switch, either on or off, and fuel injection cures that. Another alternative is to use Dellortos as they have a better progression circuit. I see that you have a silencer on the exhaust that the Fraser Imps were never fitted with being straight through pipe, but is necessary for road legal noise. This would be a severe restriction in the power output as its essentially in the wrong place that messes up the extractor effect. Where a silencer was used on the rally cars it was fitted across the back and was an Aston Martin high efficiency unit, although today there will be many equally effective aalternative units (i was considering a motorcycle unit for my Clan).
Subscribed and looking forward to seeing you into the new season..You are doing something that i have failed to do properly since i was 17 with my experiences of Hillman Imps..Still trying at 70 years old though. Best wishes
Good luck...nice little car...for sure you'll have fun...and at the same time learn a lot. To be successful you'll need to think ahead and pick up on the oops...we all have driven down that avenue.. Good luck...and keep posting the videos... Simon...an ex lmp lover...
hey young man great video, im in my 60s now, my mate and i built a imp back in the day, a stiletto, was great fun, im sure we put a Coventry climax engine in it or something had Webbers on it, , i remember hanging it out in the snow,
Ignore the non constructive commenters. It looks like a neat little car and it'll be interesting to see what you do with it. Not so sure about this modern stuff myself though, what you need is a nice pre-war racer!
@@WillEgby You'd be fine! Once you start hanging out with the classic people I am sure you'll come across some of the pre-war people too. I am sure someone would let you have a go in one. You'd have experience in karts, modern race cars, classis and vintage (and sims). Not many can say they have tried all of those and can accurately describe the experience and how they compare.
Great video and great driving Will! Can't wait to see this car on the track. For next driving videos with this car, it could be possible to fix a camera on the pedalbox to better watch your footwork please? :)
Don't take it over 9000 RPM. The Imp engine works best with a slightly milder can than the original Competition department full race R23. A lot of the better race engines that used the 1. 4" inlet valve heads worked best on the R21 cam.
He seems like a nice lad who knows his stuff and puts the effort in. Who cares who's funding his activities. And who are you to determine the success of his UA-cam channel? I've never seen this channel before today but I reckon it appeals to people who prefer some substance rather than those who wet themselves over 0-60 and BHP. Most successful people put years of work in before anyone knows who they are. Good on him I say.
I loved the two Imps I had!!!
This was my car and was originally built for ME by Ron Aspinwall at Impspeed
Wishing u a successful season in 2023
It is great to see young lads take an interest in British classic cars, and particularly the IMP as it was given an appalling press when it came out due to some poor timing decisions by the Management and the fact the Government of the day renagued on the finances mid way through! It was the financial constraints that were to blame for the lack of testing time, and not the actual design that was wrong! With the overhead cam Alloy engine it would rev to well over 6000 rpm in standard trim and keep up with much sportier cars. Particularly on the twisting Highland roads in Scotland! I drove a very rare Coventry Climax engined version in the Coventry "Experimental Dept." back in 1965 when they were looking to increase the capacity to over 1000cc to compete with the Fords & BMC cars, but unfortunately it was shelved. A great shame as 1200cc made it a completely different animal. The other modification that was shelved was the redesign of the front suspension!
Thanks. I'm finding it all very interesting and exciting. This can rev upto 10,500 but I've been told 8,500 is sensible to make it last a season of racing! Yes, well this one is a 998cc with an overbore permitted by the race series to make it a 1040cc with 105bhp. A lot has changed on these since the launch, fixing all the small problems. It never lived up to what it could have at the time. Here's a link to a video that I found fascinating if your interested in Imps. Talks about all the problems and the government grants etc: ua-cam.com/video/IT8K26FnCs4/v-deo.html
A few things the factory competition department were already selling 998c. wet liner blocks in 1966. Because 60% is over the rear wheels the front suspension didn't need redesigned, the simple swing axle produced more than enough grip to balance the rear.
Sure, like 2 years before British industry went to sh*t. I prefer British motorcycles because a motorcycle is always a deathtrap. Cars don't have to be but classic British cars fold like origami in a wreck. At least, with a classic bike, I can clad myself in modern armor. No amount of roll cage or safety harness will make the Imp anything other than a deathtrap.
And IDK who this Frazer dude is because I never heard of him when I lived in the UK in the '90s but this car looks like something he built while drunk after his mediocre racing career was over. I wouldn't trust my life to that poorly welded cage with rust bubbling up under the paint and I've gone 150mph in a heavily modified Cinquecento. I learned to drive in a RS 500, which would hand this Imp it's arse straight from the showroom. German chassis with a Cosworth motor? Yes please!
Also, there's the fact that the Imp's roof line doesn't even come up to my waist. Would rather get hit by a lorry on a bike because at least you have a chance of being thrown clear and surviving. If you're in an Imp, you're just getting flattened. Like a pork and stuffing batch you accidentally stepped on and twice as gooey.
Imps rock.. good luck
Cheers!
Great. I had an Imp & then a Singer Chamios back in the 70's had some great fun with them.
My girlfriend at the time thought it was like riding in a bumper car!. Good Luck with the racing.
Haha. Thanks. 👍
I'm American but I lived in the UK as a teen. Learned to drive in a RS 500. Less than double the weight and over 3x the power. But you have fun with your little 'race car'. I would have got laughed right out of the pub in the '90s if I'd driven up in that. In the US, we have faster go-karts than your Imp. Mate of mine who was a Mercedes tech had a bored and stroked turbo Cinquecento that would make this look like a pedal car. Craziest thing I ever drove. Ever seen a Cinquecento do 150mph? I have. Scariest thing I've ever done and I've been in a shootout.
Whenever life is getting me down, I think of England and street racing a '92 Escort RS in the RS 500 and winning. Actually, it was more like racing on C, D and U roads, often gravel or dirt and even cutting across fields sometimes. Dangerous, unhinged and way more fun than a sanctioned race. I used to drink and smoke weed with the village bobby so I could get away with just about anything, short of murder.
One of the older gents I befriended at the pub was a charter member of the first UK chapter of the Hells Angels. He went to the US and joined the USMC and went to Vietnam as a young man, just for a bit of fun. Took him less than 2 years post discharge to get himself deported from the US. Frankly, I think he probably killed someone in a bar fight or something like that because once you serve in the US military, you have the right to stay.
One night, I was chatting with him about the Hayabusa and saying how much I'd like to ride one and the next day, he showed up at my house (actually a converted tower mill) on a stolen 'Busa, lol.
Haven't had many friends in my life who would commit a felony for me. Especially not on a whim. Truly an uncle from another grandmother.
Great video! I've been racing with the CTCRC so I've seen this car doing it's thing plenty of times, the Imps are a great sight and sound in Pre66 as well as a giantkiller in Mr Ibbotson's hands! You're bang on about the community spirit in classic car racing, the CTCRC in particular is a very close knit bunch and there'll be no shortage of help when you need it. The CSCC Swinging Sixties would be good fun to have a go in as well.
I had a standard one. One of 4 in my family. A friend had 37, raced and used for commuting.
4 Hillman Imps in the family makes you a fan. 37 owned by a single individual is just an addiction. Could have built a F1 car for that time and money.
As for this 'Frazer Imp', it looks exactly like what some washed up, barely known racer headed for the grave would build while drinking in the garage.
The cage has paint bubbles all over it, suggesting severe corrosion. Might as well cut it out because you are more likely to die in a wreck with it in there, when the tube snaps and ends up impaling you just before the car folds like origami and turns you into the world's least appealing taco. And I say that as someone who has eaten fish tacos.
Seriously, this makes the insane, bored, stroked and turbo'd Cinquecento my mate had when I lived in the UK in the '90s look very safe. And that Cinquecento made like 200HP and went 150mph.
Hey, impaled by an Imp. That has a nice ring to it.
@Lurch-Bot several head-gaskets later ... i once lost the nail off my middle finger when the spanner slipped and sandwiched the singer against the battery. I spun the car twice, once hitting a gatepost backwards. Even the local postman had come to grief on that bend. Luckily, there was a spare Imp that I took the rear cross-member off.
the guy who got through 37, drove them to work during the week and raced them at weekends. He once got shunted and flipped, on the street. Probably grateful for decent seats and harness.
I had one briefly in 76 engine and box had been built by a motor cycle race engineer, went like the proverbial off a shovel. Good luck for the new season.
Sounds great. Thanks!
Yes, this is exactly how fun driving used to be. I am still competing in my road legal 1040 Imp after buying it as my first car and passing my test in it almost 35 years ago. Enjoy!😊
Wow. That's a good advert for them! Yep, a lot of fun.
Fun...and deadly. As a Yank who grew up in the UK and learned to drive in a RS 500, I wouldn't be caught dead in this POS. If I am going to take that kind of risk with my life, I'd rather be riding a Norvil Commando racer. There was a chap in my village who had an extensive collection of classic British bikes, including a '72 Commando race bike. While I never got to fully put it to task, I did get to ride it once, after proving I could ride a far cheaper bike without wrecking it. I actually have a scar on my knee from that ride because I ended up putting a knee down in jeans, courtesy of a blind decreasing radius turn.
Great video! Nicely edited and great content. Looking forward to the prep schedule. Also can you put in bits about budgeting, practicalities of racing, dealing with race entry etc?
Thanks. That's the plan. To show all the unseen bits involved in racing.
If I remember the Imp engine was a Coventry Climax water pump engine that was used in many of the 1.5L F1 cars??
Yes. The Coventry Climax block was used a lot, both in 4 cylinder and 2 combined for 8 cylinder format. The engine won the '63 and' 65 F1 Championship. The Imps engine is very similar and yes, water cooled with the radiator moved to the front for racing.
We used to know the family behind CC many years ago...
@@JulesHarley wow. I bet they are incredibly knowledgeable.
@@WillEgby were knowledgeable...but I'm sure you will find lots of people who know your kit inside and out. Have fun!
No it wasn't the Imp engine was inspired by the Coventry Climax. 749cc FWM outboard motor engine but there were huge differences
A full spec of the Imp would be nice to explain what you have. I am surprised that the radiator does not vent through the bonnet as most front mounted Imps do including the factory cars. Apart from the issue of stacking unwanted air under the car, which will adversely affect the already light front end, the last thing the Imp needs is holes cut in the floor for venting that will seriously weaken the front floor. On my Imp I included the square tube infill under the front A arm pick up and then braced that back in the boot to a cross brace between the wheel tubs that totally transformed the handling. Such a torsionally stiff front end makes the car handle.
You really must break the habit of hovering over the clutch pedal because you will burn the clutch out no matter how far you think you are away from the pedal - it really is a novice mistake, The Imp clutch is on the limit of the power and giving all the help to work is a must - the foot rest is there for a very specific purpose.
BTW Imps were produced with 875cc engines throughout their life. The 998cc dry linered Rallye block was developed for competition and for sale. Most large engined cars use a wet liner block and 1040 is an overbore of the 998cc engine. My 875cc Sport would regularly rev to 8000rpm and it was common back in the day for 998s to rev to 10,000rpm in anger, but I see 9,500rpm is now quoted.
Hi. Lots of interesting info thanks. I've looked into the bonnet vents but in terms of fitting it in historically with the Fraser Imp. There seem to be more images without the vents than with. As for the clutch rest, I'm aware of this and it annoyed me all journey too! The current plate is too far away for me to reach so I've ordered another one. It's nice to hold yourself in position too. Yes, I too was told that they can hit 10.5k revs, but stick to about 9.5k to make it last a few races or 8.5k to make it last a season. Thanks for all the info. I'll look into the other bits.
@@WillEgby The later Fraser Imps had bonnet vents in both the Group 5 and Champ spec cars. They also had a bag tank in the front boot area that also accommodated Fraser's version of the front brace that I commented on. There is a good deal of info on the Fraser Imps on the Imp Club site with plenty of pics and text.
Andy Dawson wrote a very informed series of articles in Cars and Car Conversions back in the early 1970s that gives very good prep information .
What carbs are you running? Webers have a problem trait that they are no better than a switch, either on or off, and fuel injection cures that. Another alternative is to use Dellortos as they have a better progression circuit. I see that you have a silencer on the exhaust that the Fraser Imps were never fitted with being straight through pipe, but is necessary for road legal noise. This would be a severe restriction in the power output as its essentially in the wrong place that messes up the extractor effect. Where a silencer was used on the rally cars it was fitted across the back and was an Aston Martin high efficiency unit, although today there will be many equally effective aalternative units (i was considering a motorcycle unit for my Clan).
Subscribed and looking forward to seeing you into the new season..You are doing something that i have failed to do properly since i was 17 with my experiences of Hillman Imps..Still trying at 70 years old though. Best wishes
Good luck...nice little car...for sure you'll have fun...and at the same time learn a lot.
To be successful you'll need to think ahead and pick up on the oops...we all have driven down that avenue..
Good luck...and keep posting the videos...
Simon...an ex lmp lover...
hey young man great video, im in my 60s now, my mate and i built a imp back in the day, a stiletto, was great fun, im sure we put a Coventry climax engine in it or something had Webbers on it, , i remember hanging it out in the snow,
Hi mate. Great video and classics is definately the way to go! I document my 1971 TVR Vixen racing 🤜
Nice video dude , I currently own a 67 imp deluxe , and a 68 singer chamois , nice to see more people interested in the imps , best of luck dude 👍👍
Thanks. I bet they are nice! I really love mine so far but missing any sort of comfort haha
Ignore the non constructive commenters. It looks like a neat little car and it'll be interesting to see what you do with it. Not so sure about this modern stuff myself though, what you need is a nice pre-war racer!
Thanks. I'm not sure I'm ready for a pre-war car yet, haha!
Is it a RACE CAR
@@geddonmeansome9834 yep. It's fia and msa approved and it's been actively racing for the last 10 years.
@@WillEgby You'd be fine! Once you start hanging out with the classic people I am sure you'll come across some of the pre-war people too. I am sure someone would let you have a go in one. You'd have experience in karts, modern race cars, classis and vintage (and sims). Not many can say they have tried all of those and can accurately describe the experience and how they compare.
Yea FairPlay, this is very cool 🤣
Nice imp.. gd luck with the racing. Ps I love my 66 imp.
Thanks. I'm really enjoying it.
Great video and great driving Will! Can't wait to see this car on the track. For next driving videos with this car, it could be possible to fix a camera on the pedalbox to better watch your footwork please? :)
I'll try and sort out a bracket of sorts and find the best place to mount one. 👍
would be nice to know powerr/weight, is it around 110hp / 900kg?
875cc originally
I wouldn't mind one of those - if I had £25,000 to spare!
Don't take it over 9000 RPM.
The Imp engine works best with a slightly milder can than the original Competition department full race R23. A lot of the better race engines that used the 1. 4" inlet valve heads worked best on the R21 cam.
you of course mean 875 cc 998 was a modified engine come back Andy Chessman .
Is he gona scream all the time
Two cars, unsuccessful youtube channel, 15 years old - how much is funded by mummy and daddy
I think you are a bit pressed that he’s younger than u and has 2 cars lol
New businesses always start with a capital outlay.
He can't be 15 if he's driving it on the road.
Your jealousy is sad.
He seems like a nice lad who knows his stuff and puts the effort in. Who cares who's funding his activities. And who are you to determine the success of his UA-cam channel? I've never seen this channel before today but I reckon it appeals to people who prefer some substance rather than those who wet themselves over 0-60 and BHP. Most successful people put years of work in before anyone knows who they are. Good on him I say.