Want to see a Corsa with CBR Engine? Click the link below 👇🏼 Motorbike Engine’d Vauxhall Corsa ** For Sale £2700!!! ** ua-cam.com/video/hmHdjMHGeZA/v-deo.html
The original engines used in the prototype cars were the Coventry Climax pump engine off of the back of a fire engine, modified to fit the transaxle, etc.! It was based on the CC race engine as they were designed to rev. at a constantly high speed for long periods! you are right they were very fast and caused the car to "wheelie" on a hard takeoff! This caused the management quite a headache as they wanted to keep the power advantage this had over the MINI range at the time in particular the Cooper S. However they were forced to detune it to the level put out on the production model! Sadly they never managed to put the same power into any of the subsequent incarnations of the model! many of which were never given the light of day!
@@johnmoncrieff3034 All true, and the engine was so well made, with slipper pistons, alloy block, stiff crank etc, it was destined for problems by poor application by Hillman. They designed in trouble in the form of coolant air locks etc. I love the BMW K bikes too, but the engines are overweight. I've got the K75S, which is a 3 cylinder gem.
@@michaelcudworth7591 pretty much all british formula racing teams from this period used climax engines,same way they used cosworth in the late sixtees and seventies. Only brm and vanvall built here own(i think)
very neat and tidy conversion job. 40 years ago my first car was an Imp which I absolutely loved. played with quite a bit but nothing like what you've done. your video is a reminder of how noisy there are inside but with modern sound deadening the tiny amount of extra weight is worth it. and yes, my arch enemy was a 1275GT mini
A garage loaned my parents a California Imp while they fixed our Beetle in 77/78 dad got a shock as it went like a rocket ,the California had a fastback
great video, lovely car that sounds nice, built, not bought. got an imp off an old lady at work for free. been sitting in her backyard since her husband died 30+years previously. pumped the tyres up + towed it away. to check that the engine wasnt seized, put it in gear whilst being towed + lifted clutch - dam thing started up, - didnt even have a battery on! one spark plug was seized in, so it was sold with a misfire + one new plug on the passenger seat. you couldn't pull that trick on a modern car, even if you put a battery on.
That looked a very well-put-together conversion, the only thing it lacks is sound insulation to make it a comfortable cruiser when not being given the lead foot treatment!
Long ago I was a Hillman/Sunbeam dealer in the Netherlands, Even with the standard engine it was not easy to limit the speed to a non-lethal level because the handling was not too good at all .... Had lotst of fun with them.
@@shootingsportstransparency7461 What the fuck are you on about?! How is that in anyway relevant to my comment about your poor English? You're just throwing random arguments around.
My mum bought a six month old Black with a white roof in '66. Loved that car!!!! I bought 102 VW/ Porsches, but always wanted an IMP....l drive a VW Up!. ( Closest thing today to an IMP by dimension ) hmmmmm Imagine an Up! with a BMW or DUCATI up front. I say Ducati coz VW own it!
Used to love these back in the 80s .they were rare then ..good rally car ....mint .cheers lads .wish I could find a nice vespa in the same condition as that ...
The design and development phase of the Imp was at Ryton Coventry. One of the engineers was Mike Parkes, who moved to Ferrari at Modena Italy and drove F1 and works sports cars in the 60s and 70s.
My dad had the van version of this in 1976 it was a H reg 1970 , great little van until you put a load in the back then the front end would drift all over the place , it blew up in the end lol
My Dad had one late in the 1970's. Came to him with wide steel wheels and bucket seats. He drowned it in a flood, the throttle cable fiiled with water then froze solid on the next cold morning. Concrete blocks in the front to stop it under steering, normal mod at the time. Ali engines always warped so BMW engine is a good mod.
Ive seen this car through Marske...i had a stiletto California coup when i was 18...had wella wheels p6 tyres British racing green and shaved look with capri seats and a janspeed exhaust...Had extra dials over the imp and a slope look. Nearly killed me on wilton roundabout as the pin came out of the brake pedal/had to handbrake it over the grass in rush hour lol...the clutch went on grangetown fire station bank...had to walk to work and tow it home...ended up in Sunderland i think. Thanks for bringing all that back to me lol...cool car I'll give you the thumbs if I see you again... Black mk 2 Rs2000.
What a great idea this is a solution to make a Hillman Imp put any motor in it from a car or motorcycle great solution you turn a terrible car into a good car more reliable even an electric conversion would improve it
Lovely car the Imp. It was my first car in 1970, a May 1963 with pneumatic throttle but an awful heater system. I rebuilt the Coventry Climax engine and it was way sweeter than any BMC A series engine I subsequently owned. Unfortunately a Vauxhall Victor wrote it off not long after I’d painted it!
You could think about YamahaTDM850 or TDM900 two cylinder engines. Lots of torque, so they also applied 5 valves. It is not a race bike, but those engines were awsome. In a small car, I would like torque.
Well, the way he used a K1200, you can take a K750 engine. Those flat BMW 3 cylinder bike engines are very good. An American company called Luftmeister added a turbo. You needed better brakes and harder suspension, and compression was lowered for the large turbo's. Not cheap, it was done proper. In this Imp you might want the 1100 or 1200 turbo engine. If you dare.
If I remember the choke is down by the gearstick, and the washer bottle was a plastic bag on the inner front wing , I remember pushing that wiper round switch for the washers to work , happy childhood memories 👍
The concrete slab was a thing and transformed the handling by holding the front end down and improving the angles. It was absolutely the thing. You could mess with the suspension pivot, but then that would send the insurance costs up for young drivers!
Love it ,my father had a load of imps back in the day they wer made not far from where he used to live.. love what this fella has done to this……🏴👍
🤔 725 kgs bit heavy my ,998cc fully roll caged front rad etc 7" x13" Revolutions front and 8" x13" on the rear 13.25 hundred weight, think was about 50kgs lighter, oh happy days. Still love yours too.
Very cool car becoming a trend with bike engine's corsa one was crazy quick loads clever people out their has the imp got reverse corsa didnt ad still take it very cool thanks for sharing
@@carlkeig5640 imp does sound nice, but not hating it didn't seem to be going anywhere, not taking nothing away from the build or engineering aspect of it, I'd probably have that as well.
i remember doing a head gasket with my dad when i was a little kid, on an imp he bought, it was so cold the block and radiator froze while we was working on it, green it was with a sun flower on the bonnet.
Want to see a Corsa with CBR Engine? Click the link below 👇🏼
Motorbike Engine’d Vauxhall Corsa ** For Sale £2700!!! **
ua-cam.com/video/hmHdjMHGeZA/v-deo.html
Adam Smith theres a Sierra rs 500 remote rc car on ebay u might like its original with box
@@TFO6969 why??
@@domminion599 why what
No reverse gear
They're speaking my first language yet I understand half of what was said. Cool car
Subtitles couldn't keep up - _hilarious!_
This is the real UK
Love these little cars. Sounded like two blokes shouting at each other in a toilet😂
😂🤣😂
😂
😂 loud car mate
Funniest thing I’ve read in a while….so gonna nick that 😂👍
Yes great conversion. Even before they got in the care the sound was poor. I see they were using Rode mics so something else was wrong maybe?
one of the tidest conversions i've ever seen!
The K series engine on the BMW was based on a Peugeot design from the early 70's to be used in their 104 range. That's why it's quite car like.
Can remember back in the 70s some lunatics used to mid mount 5 litre chevy V8s in modified imps the go racing now that's scary!!
The original Imp engine was a little masterpiece made by Coventry Climax, who made racing engines. The Imp prototype did over 120 mph.
The original engines used in the prototype cars were the Coventry Climax pump engine off of the back of a fire engine, modified to fit the transaxle, etc.! It was based on the CC race engine as they were designed to rev. at a constantly high speed for long periods! you are right they were very fast and caused the car to "wheelie" on a hard takeoff! This caused the management quite a headache as they wanted to keep the power advantage this had over the MINI range at the time in particular the Cooper S. However they were forced to detune it to the level put out on the production model! Sadly they never managed to put the same power into any of the subsequent incarnations of the model! many of which were never given the light of day!
@@johnmoncrieff3034 All true, and the engine was so well made, with slipper pistons, alloy block, stiff crank etc, it was destined for problems by poor application by Hillman. They designed in trouble in the form of coolant air locks etc. I love the BMW K bikes too, but the engines are overweight. I've got the K75S, which is a 3 cylinder gem.
Didn't Colin Chapman's first Lotus have a Coventry Cclimax engine. And didn't they used o put Imp engines into bikes?
@@michaelcudworth7591 pretty much all british formula racing teams from this period used climax engines,same way they used cosworth in the late sixtees and seventies. Only brm and vanvall built here own(i think)
@@michaelcudworth7591 If I remember back in the 60's and 70's the engine gained some popularity with sidecar racers.
Brilliant ..my grandfather built these at Linwood Scotland....nice to see love for that little chasis,with different running gear
So did my grandpa, along with Talbot Sunbeams etc.
very neat and tidy conversion job. 40 years ago my first car was an Imp which I absolutely loved. played with quite a bit but nothing like what you've done. your video is a reminder of how noisy there are inside but with modern sound deadening the tiny amount of extra weight is worth it.
and yes, my arch enemy was a 1275GT mini
You're nuts, but in a very creative, good kind of way.
First time i have seen in detail that body shell you rescued Gav..Very nice!
My grandad had a hillman imp used to love how the back window opens up , awesome little car
A garage loaned my parents a California Imp while they fixed our Beetle in 77/78 dad got a shock as it went like a rocket ,the California had a fastback
great video, lovely car that sounds nice, built, not bought.
got an imp off an old lady at work for free. been sitting in her backyard since her husband died 30+years previously. pumped the tyres up + towed it away. to check that the engine wasnt seized, put it in gear whilst being towed + lifted clutch - dam thing started up, - didnt even have a battery on! one spark plug was seized in, so it was sold with a misfire + one new plug on the passenger seat. you couldn't pull that trick on a modern car, even if you put a battery on.
That looked a very well-put-together conversion, the only thing it lacks is sound insulation to make it a comfortable cruiser when not being given the lead foot treatment!
but that's like 80 kilos of sound isolation
I love the look, a balance of modern/retro vibes
Long ago I was a Hillman/Sunbeam dealer in the Netherlands, Even with the standard engine it was not easy to limit the speed to a non-lethal level because the handling was not too good at all .... Had lotst of fun with them.
See them on hill climb videos though!
"The road holding"?! LMAO, get some English lessons bud.
@@shootingsportstransparency7461 What the fuck are you on about?! How is that in anyway relevant to my comment about your poor English? You're just throwing random arguments around.
@@Boris_V No hard feelings, poor Boris Possum, , I guess you're not the smartest pea in the pot but funny you are "-)))
@@shootingsportstransparency7461 You're on drugs aren't you?
What a mint little car, cracking for a blast about in the summer months
I live for these videos. Classic cars with full restorations and modernised. They look awesome and sound so aggressive! Respect respect respect!
I like the earmuffs hangin' from the cage!!!!!!
For my 3 year old - I take the tinnitus in my stride! 😜
Christ I love it !!
This channel just keeps discovering these amazing built machines, fucking great job, love this channel.
Thanks Nik
Love seeing the classics
It looks a great job.
I started to look for an Imp a few years ago and was surprised at how expensive they have now become.
That’s actually dope I love all these types of Old classic cars
Very cool that they managed to get it with a reverse.
In the Sixties they where a " Mods " Favourite : now they are a favourite for " Modding " , love it mate, its a work of art!
200 Kid
Always liked Imp. Missed out on a Sunbeam Stiletto years back. Great conversion.
Fancied an imp forever, used to watch up fly up the local hill climb, awesome toys
mad little imp sounds great
Some of my first cars were imps.Great fun but freezing in winter.This one looks very nice.
Great effort .Well done.
Loving the Alleycat alloys.
My first car was a red Hillman imp, I'd love to have another one, great little cars.
Gorgeous looking imp.. love it!!
That is a unique bit of kit of a Hillman lmp pocket Rocket!
My mum bought a six month old Black with a white roof in '66.
Loved that car!!!!
I bought 102 VW/ Porsches, but always wanted an IMP....l drive a VW Up!. ( Closest thing today to an IMP by dimension )
hmmmmm Imagine an Up! with a BMW or DUCATI up front. I say Ducati coz VW own it!
Used to love these back in the 80s .they were rare then ..good rally car ....mint .cheers lads .wish I could find a nice vespa in the same condition as that ...
What a lovely little car.
Snapped the chassis in half on my stiletto going to work one day - loved that little Imp - nearly cried when it was carted off to the scrapper.
The design and development phase of the Imp was at Ryton Coventry. One of the engineers was Mike Parkes, who moved to Ferrari at Modena Italy and drove F1 and works sports cars in the 60s and 70s.
My dad had the van version of this in 1976 it was a H reg 1970 , great little van until you put a load in the back then the front end would drift all over the place , it blew up in the end lol
My Dad had one late in the 1970's. Came to him with wide steel wheels and bucket seats. He drowned it in a flood, the throttle cable fiiled with water then froze solid on the next cold morning. Concrete blocks in the front to stop it under steering, normal mod at the time. Ali engines always warped so BMW engine is a good mod.
9:02 - is that a Nissan 370Z behind, with the driver thinking to himself that the little Imp in front can shift.
Crazy wee car 😎 most likely built a few miles away from where I live. My Granda worked at the factory 👍
Ive seen this car through Marske...i had a stiletto California coup when i was 18...had wella wheels p6 tyres British racing green and shaved look with capri seats and a janspeed exhaust...Had extra dials over the imp and a slope look. Nearly killed me on wilton roundabout as the pin came out of the brake pedal/had to handbrake it over the grass in rush hour lol...the clutch went on grangetown fire station bank...had to walk to work and tow it home...ended up in Sunderland i think. Thanks for bringing all that back to me lol...cool car I'll give you the thumbs if I see you again... Black mk 2 Rs2000.
Will no doubt speak to you at some point! :)
Awesome Imp, and that BMW engine sounds fantastic when it is wound out!
Love it, bring an old imp back to life. Big smile whilst driving must be worth all the effort.
What a great idea this is a solution to make a Hillman Imp put any motor in it from a car or motorcycle great solution you turn a terrible car into a good car more reliable even an electric conversion would improve it
Small old cars like this are awesome in every way.... Then you add a motorbike engine.... Can't go wrong 😉. Quality content
Lovely car the Imp. It was my first car in 1970, a May 1963 with pneumatic throttle but an awful heater system. I rebuilt the Coventry Climax engine and it was way sweeter than any BMC A series engine I subsequently owned. Unfortunately a Vauxhall Victor wrote it off not long after I’d painted it!
I had a couple of Imps.....loved them. Nice conversion you have done.
My Gran had an Imp but it was nothing like this one quality build doing the Rootes Group Proud
Wife had one of these and it did have some cast weights in the boot also very nippy for a 850 cc engine
You could think about YamahaTDM850 or TDM900 two cylinder engines. Lots of torque, so they also applied 5 valves. It is not a race bike, but those engines were awsome. In a small car, I would like torque.
Well, the way he used a K1200, you can take a K750 engine. Those flat BMW 3 cylinder bike engines are very good.
An American company called Luftmeister added a turbo. You needed better brakes and harder suspension, and compression was lowered for the large turbo's. Not cheap, it was done proper. In this Imp you might want the 1100 or 1200 turbo engine. If you dare.
Epic little car, love it, very different and a credit to the owner
Thanks Dan ;)
That is a very neat install, well done that man!
Sick car mate, Brings back some childhood memories👍
Loving your content Adam. 🙌🏼
This wee car was just one hell of a shape when introduced and is still stylish to this day..
Brilliant...and ear defenders hanging off the roll cage !!
If I remember the choke is down by the gearstick, and the washer bottle was a plastic bag on the inner front wing , I remember pushing that wiper round switch for the washers to work , happy childhood memories 👍
I remember the rattling and the blown head gaskets.
The concrete slab was a thing and transformed the handling by holding the front end down and improving the angles. It was absolutely the thing. You could mess with the suspension pivot, but then that would send the insurance costs up for young drivers!
I remember me dad had a few imps when i was a kid don't see them now on the road
Smashing build😎 lovely car! Friend in my street has a 67 Riley elf, these micro cars a beyond cool
Brilliant piece of engineering! Brilliant the Ear Defenders hanging of the Roll Cage 😂
All that room in the back, gotta wonder if the flat 6 from a Goldwing would fit?
9:00 I love how the car behind if anything got closer when matey put his foot down 😂
Hi Adam, love this.. another build it don't buy it, sounds great, and looks nice and different.! Nice guy too.. enjoyed this one mate. Cheers, Alex.
Awesome little car, I've just removed them air filters from my ITBs they are really restrictive where the rubber goes into the cone.
Fare play you are finding some very cool cars to review
Love it ,my father had a load of imps back in the day they wer made not far from where he used to live.. love what this fella has done to this……🏴👍
Always loved the imp beautiful little car m8
🤔 725 kgs bit heavy my ,998cc fully roll caged front rad etc 7" x13" Revolutions front and 8" x13" on the rear 13.25 hundred weight, think was about 50kgs lighter, oh happy days. Still love yours too.
absolutely love this motor! - great job Gav
Thank you! Appreciate it.
Brilliant content Adam 👍
Great to be different.. love the imp 😎😎
Pretty much a 911 🤩
Lovely little thing great engineering 👍
like how it sounds
This is makes Great Britain GREAT AGAIN 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧 class build
I used to have one of these in Huntington Beach, CA. Blew the engine and then used the front suspension in a sand rail.
Great project! I Love it! I have an idea though... Triumph Rocket 3...just say'n 😉
@Homie I'm talking engine...🤨👍
@Homie 😏👍
🤣🤣 that black merc behind trying to keep up 🤣
I know 😂
One of the best cars you’ve had on your channel Adam, great stuff.
Super lil pocket rocket 💙👊
Cracking little imp great content Adam 👌🏻
Used to own one as a student in the 70s. Much better than the mini I had to replace it, except reliability. Driving it in particular.
That looks mint and sounds mint 👌
what a mint little car great fun car
I remember years ago, someone put a Jag 3.8 in one! Cool looking little cars!
Very cool car becoming a trend with bike engine's corsa one was crazy quick loads clever people out their has the imp got reverse corsa didnt ad still take it very cool thanks for sharing
Yes it has reverse mate
I recently subscribed and I'm glad I did what a wicked little car I bet u can feel everything u no ur in a car I expect🤣👍
Grew up with Imps my mother had two one was the van..very rare.
Brilliant looking motor and sounds amazing I love it well done 👏
I like your Imp video! But I kept staring at the fire extinguisher, could you please tie it down with some metal straps. Just for your safety.
Wow love the old Hillman imps sounds rather noisy though or I am getting old 🤣🤣🤣but looks super cool love what he done with it well done👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽☺️☺️☺️
THE IMPS BODYWORK LOOKS GREAT FOR THE AGE, CONSIDERING THEY WERE KNOWN TO RUST.
This is my favourite one yet 💟
That’s some compliment! Glad you like my little imp
Please make it look bog standard, sleeper I think it’s called, beautiful car well done, I couldn’t understand a word the interviewer said!
My first car paid £30 for it 40 years ago sold it for £50 a year later love bike engine swapped one's like this.
Me similar story but mine came from a finance defaulter. I hid the car in a friend's garage in another town until it all blew over.
Stunning, I used to own one back in 1967 👍👍
that is a good job well done ! Lil Beauty !
At 9mins, he gv it some, and I think there was a 350z right up behind ya
I thought that aswel 👍, I'd rather have the imp tho, lovely looking thing👌
@@carlkeig5640 imp does sound nice, but not hating it didn't seem to be going anywhere, not taking nothing away from the build or engineering aspect of it, I'd probably have that as well.
I like that 👍 that’s a very sweet conversion. He’s done a lovely job 👌
i remember doing a head gasket with my dad when i was a little kid, on an imp he bought, it was so cold the block and radiator froze while we was working on it, green it was with a sun flower on the bonnet.
The BMW K1200 is a peach of an engine. Most run for the S1000 or Hyabusa but whilst great these don't have the torque of the K series.