How does a Singer Chamois compare to a Morris Minor? - Podcast S5 Ep11

[@chrissmith7655]

Hi, what a lovely presentation, in all respects. Many thanks, from Nr Chester.

[@passengerseatpodcast]

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it! ❤️😊

[@mikeselling2203]

I bought exactly the same vehicle around 1970 ish. Mine was also in Polar white with the blue interior trim and seats and ``E`` 1967 registration . I drove mine from Sittingbourne in Kent to Coventry in the midlands where I picked up a brand new factory 1000 cc twin carb Imp sport engine. I fitted this engine along with ``Team Hartwell``racing coil spring suspension anti fade brake linings straight through exhaust and electronic taco. What a thrill it was to drive this little little gem with a top speed just topping 100mph.

[@passengerseatpodcast]

Sounds like amazing fun! Some really cool upgrades there that suit the fun little car!

[@michaelhalsall5684]

The 'fast-back' style of the Imp has always interested me. There were apparently two versions of the Singer Chamois, 'square roof' style and the 'fast-back' style. In many markets the Singer was the upmarket version of the Hillman.. There was a sporty version of this car called the 'Sunbeam Stiletto' which was only built in the fast-back style. Great to this classic car preserved and being enjoyed!

[@andrewwmacfadyen6958]

In the UK market The Hillman brand had the Imp saloon, Imp California Coupe and the estate car Husky The Singer brand had the Chamois salon and Chamois Coupe. The Sunbeam brand had the Imp Sport and Stilletto Coupe. Commercial Commer brand had the Imp van. All the Coupe body models had 1" lower suspension All the Sunbeam models were twin carb and had heavy duty drive shafts. The Husky and Imp van had the suspension raised by 1" There was also a Rallye Imp as per the Imp Sport but homologated at 998cc No volume production car on the road at the time could out corner an Imp Sport

[@tommytwice2785]

Thanks you for this trip down memory lane. I bought a Chamois coupe new in 67/68 - metallic blue with black upholstery. I had a fabric sun roof with deflector fitted which was excellent. I had it for one year and did 25,000 miles on business and long distance commuting. It ran very well on the motorway and was fine in traffic. Imps and derivatives had a poor reputation for reliability bit this one was no problem. It was good in snow and ice - I recall a Christmas journey from Oxford to South Wales which it took in its stride - four up. The engine was aluminium and Coventry Climax derived. The Imp rival from BMC was the Mini rather than the Morris Minor. The OHV engines 803/945/1098 were of a much older design than that of the Chamois. - long stroke and relativly low revs but solid and reliable. In tuned form with twin SUs good performance could be achieved -( I had a Frogeye Sprite which was terrific). Since then, I have had seven Minors including an orginal Series MM. The Minor is a radically different car to the Chamois - a very solid work horse. A Chamois would be slightly unusual classic but well worth a try. One clever little feature is the ventilator louvres near the back window which work quite well to prevent misiting. The luggage platform with either or both rear sets folded is good. Pity the rear window is fixed. There are lots of interesting classics about. I curently have a Series III Land Rover and a TR4, but that's another story.

[@passengerseatpodcast]

Thanks so much for sharing your stories! I'm glad you enjoyed the episode. I appreciate that the Mini has a more direct comparison to the Imp, but I think more so now when considering a starter classic, the Minor offers an equally interesting comparison! I thoroughly enjoy driving them both, and know people who enjoy owning both!

[@tommytwice2785]

Thank you for your response. I fully agree that a Morris Minor is an excellent starter classic. I wish I had not sold my last one!

[@neilfromdownunder9204]

I lived and worked in England back in 1873-74 and initially had a Jaguar 3.8S type until the 1973 fuel crisis hit and the Jag had to go. I then bought a Hillman Imp and to be honest I had more fun driving that around the small country lanes where I was living in Essex.

[@passengerseatpodcast]

Small country lanes are exactly where an Imp will excel I feel, so much fun!

[@dennisleslie8962]

1873-74....hmm... ....must have been interesting to own a Jag at age 100+....

[@allanmollison6971]

Quite a different engine layout. Thanks for sharing Becca 👍

[@passengerseatpodcast]

It really is - makes you wonder how much innovation they might have started if they'd been more popular 🤔😊

[@colinblick4903]

Loved your talk on the Singer chamois….I aways loved the Hillman range…….my first car was a Morris traveller….. which I also loved……the imp should have been developed more…. Had great potential.

[@bobspeller2225]

All the range of Imps were great cars. Thanks for showing this model off. Good luck Bob

[@passengerseatpodcast]

They really were - sadly underrated in period, though not sure how many more Linwood would have coped with making, especially with all the variations! Glad you enjoyed it Bob 😊

[@ImpManiac]

Nice video. Thank you! 🙂 Paul 😎

[@russelmaclean4416]

Another great and informative podcast. Don't remember this particular model in Canada but there were Imps here. Sunbeam Imps I think. Only certain models were shipped to Canada and the USA . That was common with British , French and Italian and others based on what they thought they could sell. Enjoyed your latest and looking forward to your next.

[@passengerseatpodcast]

Glad you enjoyed it! Yes the Singer name didn't seem to sell well abroad, a lot of Singer ones became sunbeam - like the vogues at the end of the line 😊

[@PeterWoodstorrechianca]

I had a Hillman imp in 1966, I would like one now it would perfect for me

[@passengerseatpodcast]

They are brilliant! You should get one!

[@ceased2care]

I owned an Imp back in the day and found the opening rear screen really useful for dropping the shopping onto the back seat. Not sure the Chamois had this feature, it doesn't look as if the coupe does

[@passengerseatpodcast]

The standard Chamois did, the coupe versions didnt, and I think its quite a loss to the car and it makes its so convenient!

[@ceased2care]

@@passengerseatpodcast yes, it was a very convenient, and quite unique feature that I loved about it. I thought the Imp was such a great car, and, particularly with the rear window feature and plenty of space in the boot up front, would make a practical small shopping runabout even today

[@MGBetts1]

1967 "E" was a short year - between 1st Jan '67 and 1st Aug '67, then "F" came out - 7 months!

[@passengerseatpodcast]

Yeah it's quite unusual!

[@williamwade641]

August was a very quiet time of year for selling motor cars, so the motor trade lobbied the government to make the suffix letter change in that month in order to boost sales.

[@UPnDOWN]

Weyhay! Free plug! Cheers! (so in smaller words....you're basically saying you prefer the Imp/Chammy to a Morris Minor? 😜)

[@passengerseatpodcast]

No problem 😂😂 I couldn't confirm or deny but it was very lovely!

[@simonmenzies3142]

I had an imp. Amazing cars.

[@Mark_T]

Wel I never knew about how much badge engineering there was of this model but I suppose if I ever did see one as a child I'd have assumed it was an Imp. Also, where I come from (the Black Country) I have only ever heard Chamois pronounced as Shammy, i.e. "Chuck us that Shammy Leather aer kid"!

[@passengerseatpodcast]

Yeah it's incredible how much they badge engineered the Imps! And yet they still didn't sell as prolifically as other stuff in period! We do affectionately call it the Chammy, but it deserved it's proper name in the video 😂

[@mothmagic1]

All the cars that were introduced to try to better the fuel consumption of the Morris Minor/Austin A35 failed miserably including the mini. Even the Wolsely 1500/ Riley 1.5 which should have been the true successor still out performs modern equivalents for economy.

[@passengerseatpodcast]

People are truly so surprised at the economy I can get in Peggy, especially along long distances! It's crazy that we've gone backwards really 🤷

[@andrewwmacfadyen6958]

Utter nonsense push an Imp hard you still get 45mpg.

[@ABCXYZ-vm5rv]

Singer Chamois coupe, better than the Hillman Californian, but not as good as the Sunbeam Stiletto, the three coupe models of the Hillman Imp.

[@passengerseatpodcast]

We might have had another one of that list join the family recently 👀, perhaps I need to do a comparison between the Chamois and it! Wonder how many noticeable differences there are!

[@mikeselling2203]

If I remember rightly the Sunbeam Stiletto was the Coupe` version of the Hillman Imp Sport with the 1000cc twin carb engine.@@passengerseatpodcast

[@andrewwmacfadyen6958]

​@@mikeselling2203Nope they were all 875cc The Rallye Imp was homologated at 998c but you couldn't buy one off the shelf

[@andrewwmacfadyen6958]

​@@mikeselling2203 No such thing as a Hillman Imp Sport only Sunbeam Imp Sport

[@mikeselling2203]

@andrewwmacfadyen6958, if you read my post properly you will see I said I purchased an Imp sport engine. Whether it was called Hillman, Singer or Sunbeam , it was the basic Coventry Climax 875cc lump bored out to 998cc , bigger valves and twin carburettors. This engine produced 51 bhp and was available off the shelf at the Coventry factory in the 70's, I know this because I bought 1 !.

[@robertsmith9810]

A mate of mine had an imp in the 1960`s used to carry 56lb bags of potatoes in the front boot he believed it improved RD holding

[@passengerseatpodcast]

Yeah I ve heard those tales! Slabs, all those sorts of things but honestly it wasn't that bad!

[@gimble447]

Old wives tales that didn't do much more than drop fuel economy 😂

[@andrewwmacfadyen6958]

Carrying some weight in the front improved cross wind stability on Motorways. But an especially Sunbeam Sport or any of the three Coupe body cars would out corner any volume production car on the road at the time.

[@davidbarton5438]

You cannot compare the two motors totally different

[@toomanyradsin2019]

Have had two mk1 chamois. Did well over 100 thousand miles in the second one. Amazing fun, but you do have to be a bit of a mechanic to keep them in good order. Fast and furious. Much better than the Mini.

[@passengerseatpodcast]

I've not driven a mini, but the Chamois is exceptionally fun and, thankfully my dad's familiar enough with them it's kept in good order!

[@scrambler69-xk3kv]

Why do the Brits give the letter A the sound of a letter U? They play sports with a bull, instead of a ball. To us a bull is a male cow.

[@scrambler69-xk3kv]

It is NOT pronounced Chrys/ ler dammit. It is pronounced Chry/ sler. sounds like Cry Slur. There are old videos of the man himself Walter P. Chrysler talking about the new Chrysler Corporation, and that is how he pronounced it in the video.