The Hillman Imp Was Rootes Group's Mini Rival That Died Young! (1972 Super Imp Mk3 Road Test)

WIN with Lancaster Insurance: bit.ly/3LuyHeU
The Hillman Imp should've been a world-beater, with its clever packaging, remarkable engineering and all-alloy rear-engine layout. Sadly financial, logistical and reliability issues meant Rootes Group's Mini rival never enjoyed the success it deserved, but does it make a compelling classic car choice today? Joe went for a test drive!
Thanks to Drive Dad's Car for loan of this car: drivedadscar.com/
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Chapters
0:00 An Affordable Porsche?
0:47 Suez Crisis Cars - Rootes Weighs In!
1:23 Design
2:01 Clever Engine
2:45 Outdated When New
3:07 New Factory In Scotland
3:45 Rushed To Market
4:11 Hillman Imp Released
4:28 Driving Impressions
6:09 Practical Interior
6:50 Unreliability Issues
7:53 Clutching At Straws
8:24 A Brilliant Victim Of Circumstances
8:59 Still A Fantastic Car!

[@byronmills5952]

Ive owned Imps for 40 years - hugely underated and a properly sorted example is an absolute joy to own and drive.

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

Couldn't agree more!

[@cliffhatton9864]

My dad had a stilleto version great fun to drive

[@TheKenjoje]

@@ClassicsWorldUK why do you consider rear lights as art deco?

[@Rocketed12]

Wow, Hillman Imp, I was in their 1970's brochure, one of the 2 boys with blue caps on! Took a couple of full days on Hampstead Heath to photoshoot 😅

[@djrichylaurence8991]

They were great fun to drive. The Coventry Climax engine was brilliant.

[@matthewchannel9981]

"Failed due to circumstances beyond its own control..." How many times have I heard that about a British car?! A fitting epitaph for the British car industry.

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

Sadly so...

[@jpdj2715]

Somewhere in my past I crossed paths with someone who owned Morgan, TVR, and a Lotus 7 - all young and bought new. I'm a content continental EUropean, by the way. Each of these cars had a sticker on the back, reading something like "All parts falling off of this car are genuine British quality." Circumstances beyond their own control? Meh. Extremely bad leadership, bad vision, bad management. Island culture and snobbery. Feudal attitudes, even from the new rich. Victim behaviour. I cannot say that companies led by Europeans or USAnians are a lot better, over time, as looking at the Fortune 500 list of the best companies and how it changed in the past, say, 70 years, we notice that more than 80% of the names of way back no longer exist as leading independent companies. As to the UK, having worked with brilliant British people, I also know that the problem is not that there's insufficient intelligence. It's really a leadership problem.

[@rafflesnh]

@@jpdj2715 Nah. Militant unions and a workshy workforce. How can anyone manage a workforce that doesn't want to be managed.

[@gimble447]

@@rafflesnh that defo was far more the case/problem back then for sure and as for other commenters comment on work sht it wasn't so much that, I mean Italians are known for being work shy ( not a collective phrase I like to use personally but I'm quoting ) but fiat still dominated, purely down to proper management which sort of means turin largely bowed down to workers demands 😆 as for parts falling off etc sticker it's completely a purely British thing as we have a great self deprecating sense of humour ( because compared to many nations we can afford to lol)

[@tonyshergold6023]

@@rafflesnh It wasn't the unions but a cash strapped management team. The Rootes Groupe fell flat on its face due to lake of proper management and no money

[@stephenrandall3551]

Had an imp, back in the early seventies. I put a tow bar on it and as I was a self employed fitter I used it as a recovery vehicle to tow peoples cars to the workshop when they broke down. We also had a trailer tent that we used to take all round Devon and Cornwall. Only problem I quad was as the heater was in the front and the water pump in the back, it used to freeze up in the winter due to the water pipes going from the back to the front inside the door sills.

[@paulc9588]

'Imp by name, Imp by nature', as they say. Nevertheless, I get the impression that these were well-liked by many owners and the styling is a delight. Would I choose one over a Mini? Yes, absolutely.

[@jerbear7952]

Dumb comment

[@PeterWTaylor]

Agree. I had both and the Imp was my favourite, great car but just had some mechanical reliability issues. The mini had rust issues as did most cars of that era.

[@paulc9588]

@@PeterWTaylorYes, just about everything from the '60s/'70s rusted to a greater or lesser degree. Even Swedish and German cars did. My dad's late '60s Beetle was a dependable car but had rust in the wheelarches, along the running boards and also in the front bumper area by the time it was ~6 years old.

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

The engine was originally from a fire brigade water pump engine, from Coventry Climax Company.

[@paultaylor7082]

Thanks for confirming what I'd been told. Being a rear engined, rear wheel drive vehicle, it was never going to be as easy to assemble as a front engined, FWD car. Sorry, the Mini wins out every time for me. My late missus had a 1975 P Reg Clubman Estate for 3 years, survivors from that era (they were last made around 1982) currently command a premium price if in decent condition.

[@Hipyon]

That right

[@alexmcintyre6353]

And then we had British leyland worst car company in the world.

[@gingernutpreacher]

It's a coverty climax engine but it's not out off the fire engine that was 3liter V8 the 1.5 was half a V8 but the 850cc was not the same engine at all

[@stevemarks9360]

​@@gingernutpreacherit was from the portable water pump that was stored in one of the lockers. My first fire engine had a 4.2 jaguar engine.

[@ltrtg13]

I don't remember my dad's Imp rattling like that. Maybe the mic was picking up more than the human ear can. The only overheating issues I remember was on family holidays stuck in slow moving traffic. We had it over 15 years. Good little car. I did drive it myself. I quite liked it. I have driven an early mini. That did feel cramped compered to the Imp. At the same time our next door neighbour had the Imp Husky (estate).

[@stevethomas4310]

My first car was an Imp, absolutely lovely.

[@ColinMill1]

I passed my test in an Imp Sport. Great fun to drive and with brilliant visibility making it easy to position and park.

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

Very nice!

[@minimaxi802]

There were many different models of the Hillman Imp - Singer Chamois, Sunbeam Imp Sport, Commer Imp van, Hillman Husky estate. and the coupes, Hillman Californian, Singer Chamois and Sunbeam Stiletto. Early cars were in sombre colours, later ones in a choice of brighter colours like yellow, orange and metallic blue like this one.

[@huepix]

I had a series 3 sunbeam rapier. Bloody brilliant!

[@paulelverstone8677]

If I was in the market for a classic then this would be my car of choice (well, the fastback versions). Stylish, technically advanced, engaging to drive, nostalgic, reasonably priced, easy(ish) to work on. That is a car I'd be happy to spend a lot of time on...

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

Excellent choice!

[@gilesa.4052]

My brothers friend had one of these at collage, he was 6'8. Watching him get in and out was painful... and hilarious 😂

[@earlbee3196]

Overseas assembly Hillman GT, a variant built by Chrysler Australia Unassembled cars were exported for assembly in Australia,[3] Costa Rica,[3] Ireland,[3] Malaysia,[3] Malta,[3] New Zealand,[3] Philippines,[3] Portugal,[3] South Africa,[3] Uruguay,[3] and Venezuela.[3] New Zealand cars were assembled as Hillmans by Chrysler/Hillman importer Todd Motors for several years from about 1964. The model returned, this time as a four-headlamp Sunbeam with the newer dashboard. Production of the Imp stopped in 1970 because Todd Motors required the Imp assembly line to build the Hillman Avenger. Todd Motors only had two final assembly lines at Petone, so the Avenger and the Hunter shared one line and the larger Chrysler Valiant was built on the other.[citation needed] Imps were assembled by Rootes Australia in their Port Melbourne factory from 1964. The following models were produced:[34] PM Imp - Available in Standard trim only. Produced from 1964 to 1965. Built from UK Mk I Imp CKD kits. In 1965 a Super Imp was released (refer to photo of white car with red flash above) and featured improvements due to the issues with the Mk1 and these were to carry over to the IMP II. PA Imp - Badged as "IMP II". Available in Standard or Super trim. Sold from February 1966- March 1968, it was still based on UK Mk I CKD kits. PB Imp - Badged as "IMP III". Also available in Standard or Super trim. Produced from 1968 to around 1970. Further improvements made over the PA Imp, early cars were still based on UK Mk I CKD kits, but as these were depleted, UK Mk II CKD kits were used. The very last batch of IMP IIIs may have used the CKD Imp Sport body shell only. Later IMP IIIs also used the UK Mk II engine. Hillman GT - built from Sunbeam Imp Sport CKD kits. Produced from 1967 to the end of 1968. Hillman Sonic/Stiletto - convertible model produced for Chrysler Australia by Eiffel Tower Motors of Dandenong..

[@nigelbond4056]

The Imp was the first car I ever drove, around a muddy field at my friend’s dad’s farm. Extraordinary fun for a 15 year old especially as the back end could be hung out on the slippery grass. It was a blast right up until the day it spontaneously combusted 🤭

[@larylhuntington5398]

Before 2023 I had never heard of these. I own 2 big American hot rods but I actually want one of these. They look cool and I bet they get great milage. This would make the perfect work car. Plus it looks so different than cars here in America. It would definitely get attention. I love this little car.

[@pchristy102]

I bought a Sunbeam Stiletto back in 1968. It was my first new car! Initially, I loved it - for all the reasons you describe. Fun to drive, economical, much more comfy than a mini! Unfortunately, like nearly all British cars of that era, it was very shoddily built! Oil leaked out of it, rain leaked into it and I never managed to get the heater hotter than mildly tepid! Before it had done 1000 miles it needed the cylinder head and valve gear replaced - despite careful running in - because they hadn't been case-hardened properly at the factory! Scraping ice off the *inside* of the windscreen after a journey in the winter was the norm! The clamp for the distributor didn't, meaning that the timing had to be adjusted at least weekly. I stuck it for about 10 months, and it was still under warranty when I traded it for a SAAB 96, swearing I would never buy a British car again! Something I stuck with until I bought a Rover 2600 in the mid-70s, which had all the same issues as the Stiletto plus more! I still have a SAAB 96 (but sadly not the same one) to this day.....!

[@geoffreytanner7749]

I've owned three imps, the basic Imp, Singer Chamois, and the Imp Van. A lot of the issues he spoke about were resolves soon....all the cars I had were fitted with manual chokes. They were very easy to work on.... you could pull the engine out in around 20 minutes.... no hoists needed. What is overlooked is the workshop manual states that the head bolts be retightened after around 500 miles. TLC means no issues with overheating and a very reliable car.

[@normanedwards7220]

I had one , before I really understood cars , for me it was a great little car , and never let me down ,

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

Friend years ago had one of the fastback Imps, 998cc, twin Weber 40's, mental camshaft. Quite an eye opener doing 10,000rpm in top gear with only drum brakes to stop. Think he fitted Austin 1300 front disc brakes soon after though.

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

Would love a drive of that! -Joe

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

@@ClassicsWorldUK It was a bit mental. The steering did get a bit vague at that speed - light at the front.

[@TheCrimsonAvenger]

I owned a brand new hillman imp . As you may guess from my profile , I loved Hillman Hunters and the Avenger. My experience of the Imp.,.. Far superior to the Mini in internal space and drove brilliantly. Bad points... The sunroof leaked when it rained. The engine overheated on a long uphill stretch , the petrol tank spilled fuel under heavy braking and the battery exploded for some unknown reason. Was glad to get rid of it !!

[@mcceight7885]

A great design, and wonderful small car. I have owned both a Mini and an Imp and would opt for an Imp every time. I purchased a 14 year old Imp in 1987 for £140, and sold it a year later for £40 with no MOT. I had a few problem most notable being that it had been seriously neglected and I blew the head gasket at around 75 mph on the M3. On investigation, I sheared 3 head bolts, and discovered that due to the lack of anti-corrosive coolant, much of the internal block had dissolved. I had to file the replacement gasket to sit on the steel bore sleeves, and secured it with the remaining 7 head bolts; worked like a dream! A very robust and well designed engine. The other annoying issue was that the offside boot (bonnet?) handle had a tendency to fall off in transit. Over the course of the year I had to replace 3 of them, sourced from scrap yards for pennies, always the offside?? I also ferried many long lengths of timber and pipe etc. from the DIY stores by placing them in the passenger footwell through the opening rear window, something not possible in a mini.

[@bogbean3774]

My dad had a Husky estate car for years, never had a problem with it. I bought an imp and spent more time under it than in it. The head gasket was a constant problem. Despite all the problems I did like driving it, and it was one of the few cars I made a profit on when I sold it. I bought it for £180 in north yorkshire and I sold it a year later for £300 to a garage in Portsmouth, I suspect it would be worth a lot more now.

[@gimble447]

I bought a sunbeam stilleto in 2005 for £1500, right now it's worth around £12,000 , in year 2000 I bought an imp needing light restoration/recommisioning for £70 right now worth around 7 thousand lol, so erm yes 😂

[@3goldfinger]

My first car, a red one. 1968 Copenhagen. Used to put sand bags in the front to stop is from going all over the place in windy weather. 😅

[@UncleBooBoo]

Great video, love your enthusiasm!

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

Thanks so much!

[@stevebarkman2681]

Had one years ago, bought with a conrod through the block! Found another engine, did a rebuild and balance job, had a great run for years. Nice gearbox, fun handling, and that engine!? A great car for the era.

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

Great point!

[@DAVEMUGF]

My first car! My mates had Minis and they couldn’t believe what I could do with my Imp. I used to rev the nuts off it (no tacho) and never had any mechanical issues. Great car ❤

[@simonprodhan5050]

great video, i used to own a rover cooper, great car but i think i'd prefer an imp now as they are so much rarer at classic shows, the video explains well why the imp failed, if things had been different it would have been as successful in all probability as the mini, it looks fantastic as well

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

Totally agree!

[@StewSims]

I drove this one a couple of years back at 'Drive Dad's Car' and my Dad did actually own an Imp long before I was born! It's a nice example they've got and a fun car to pootle around in, I imagine they're OK around town and small roads but probably run out of steam on faster roads. My Dad remembers it fondly but also that it wasn't particularly reliable! But I imagine they make a great classic to own, if you can find one that is. They do seem more refined and relaxing to drive than a Mini so I can see why they were a good option for a small / young family at the time.

[@michaelbacon561]

I remember driving a friend's Imp back in the 70s very shortly after passing my test at 17. I remember the airy cabin and and space, but most of all that engine: I left it in third while cruising at quite a high speed but didn't notice, such was the smoothness and free-revving nature of the thing. It was in most ways a far more sophisticated car than the Mini, which was smaller, harder riding and so unrefined with that rough A Series engine and whining gearbox. As you say in the video, it was the execution of its production that ruined it.

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

Can't deny it's a gem of an engine! (If maintained properly...)

[@jadams3427]

I learned to drive in an Imp. I just loved it !

[@FlyingScud]

I had two. First car, green as shown and a purple metallic one. Great fun especially as I spent my first paypacket on Pirelli Cinturatos which transformed the handling from the crossplys it came with. But...where do you start? Major oil leaks, so had to carry a gallon of Duckhams' everywhere. Yes. Overheating. The baleful glow of the semicircular warning light. Sprung fanbelts on the early M11 going to work and the rattly UV joints. Leaky back window and mushrooms under the rubber mat. Ran into the back of a Renault 5 whose polyester bumpers sliced through both the Imp's headlights convinced me that that would be my next car. Rusty the Renault ('What was yours called'') lasted 125.000 miles and I cried when it went.

[@capitanvonchickenpants8492]

My dad had one, i don't recall him having problems with it unlike his previous vehicle, a reliant regal

[@79devo]

My Imp recollection was back in the summer of about 1974 as an 11 year old. My mate and I were taken out to the beach by a family friend with picnics etc, typical family day out. The Imp we were in had one of those massive bendy aerials that stretched the whole length of the car bending in an arc down the side of the car and over the roof. As we’re waiting by the car for the adults to come back, Steve and I thought it would be great to bend and release the aerial getting it to spring around, what a hoot . . . Bending it, letting it go, bending it, letting it go in ever increasing amounts of bending and springing until …. It snapped and just fell off. Lying by the side of the car like like a dead snake . . . We of course denied all responsibility. Seeing the owner trying to squeeze and bend the aerial back into the car in order to fix when she got home as we’re giggling in the back seats remains to this day a life highlight …. You had to be there I guess.

[@tonythedwvyer]

I had an Imp Champois. It had a Hartwell engine conversion. The thing was huge fun to drive !

[@ShockWaveGamings234fg321f]

I like all the rootes car videos, mabey they will become popular again

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

Here's hoping!

[@palco22]

Considering the times this is, in my opinion, one great looking car !

[@PeterWTaylor]

Had one of these and they were great to drive, like they were on rails. They were reliable too, every 6000 miles or so you could rely on the clutch burning out. Such a shame.

[@adamtyrell4227]

My father owned a gold colour Hillman imp for a short time during the 1970s, personally I loved the car because it looked so cute, realistically it was more suitable for women at the time as a around town car,it never was a motorway vehicle due to lack of power, great little weekend car,so unfortunately I have to give it five out of ten.

[@peterriggall8409]

Great little video on a great little car Joe. She needs from front shockers though.😄

[@trainsontuesday]

My first two cars were Imps. I'd love to have one again now.

[@barrykemp1397]

I had an Imp many years ago, and I loved it. I went all over in it, all the way to Scotland and back on holiday with wife and toddler, back seat half full with the usual holiday stuff, and 3 suitcases on the roof rack, fantastic! Only two things I couldn't like. The pneumatic accelerator system which had a tenancy to stick the throttle wide open, when the engine got hot! which I changed to the usual cable, and the tenancy, in heavy rain or ice and snow for the car to insist on keeping to straight line steering ie, it did not want to turn, I ended up having to slide a heavy kirb stone down the front of each front wing to have enough confidence to drive in bad weather at more than 10 mph

[@carlarthur4442]

I've owned a mini van & 2 mini cars they where great fun little cars but had there problems, one being when the distributor got wet because it was at the front of the engine , they rusted badly, but the Imp was better having the engine in the rear , so was well protected from the weather, my mate had an imp he loved it . Great video, Thanks 😊 😊

[@richard63]

On the sidebar there is Collection Day - My 1964 Hillman Imp Race Car. Going to watch that, for sure. My cousin owned an Imp. He was 6'2" at the time.

[@hughoneill9929]

In the late '50s and '60s I was working in Coventry and in digs with a Rootes engineer who was for ever off to Linwood. He told me that they had to ditch the original very light weight low pressure alloy engine castings for a more substantial alloy because of overnight oil leaks. The weight changed the front to rear balance and screwed up the suspension and steering geometry - if you look at the front wheel toe-in and camber angles when turning you'd see the effect, not shown in this video. Rootes would take these 'Apex' models in furniture vans to quiet country lanes for testing. We recognised these vans and would lead the test cars into corners at speed in our Minis - great fun to see them trying to hold any sort of line as they followed! Coventry had just built a new dual-carriageway bypass - with roundabouts. It was real fun getting not only the 'Apex' test cars but the larger Standards, Humbers and even the Jaguars to follow us at quite high speeds into those and watch them wobble as we took the islands with a flick of the steering wheel - a great game! In those days there wasn't anything like today's traffic, so we could do these things easily and get away with it. Now I live near Goodwood and occasionally see the Imps on heritage days trying to be clever!

[@alanrowe3511]

A brilliant little car, I delivered quite a few of them and even got to drive a Fraser Imp conversion which was rapid!

[@thomash2806]

Wow! Those swing-arm camber changes at the front are terrifying!

[@gord307]

They went to great lengths to avoid swing axle suspension on the rear - only to put swing axles on the front! Bonkers!🤣

[@suznet]

You could get a set of decamber blocks to reduce the angle a little.😊

[@Haawser]

Easily fixed, as a lot of owners did (inc me). The cure was to cut about an inch off the front springs. This bought the front back to a more or less neutral camber at rest. And totally transformed the handling. Going from 'granny friendly' understeer to 'steers like a go-kart !' Best mod I ever did to my MKII.

[@timgriggs8592]

The camber on early cars was increased to lift the front ride height, so that the under-bumper sidelights and indicators met legal requirements....😢

[@martinclapton2724]

The Imp was my 1st car, XAB308G . Standard 875cc . The engine was incredibly refined in its engine note and you could rev the nuts off it . The packaging was very clever and decent room for passengers. Always fancied a Sunbeam Stilleto with updated valves and twin carbs , twin headlights and Californian roof line

[@colingianella7172]

My first company car was a 1968 Hillman Imp and after that they went over to Mini’s and I much preferred the Imp.

[@kinkyspannertwister6843]

AMAZING little car .....miss mine soooo much

[@dreammaker730]

Ive had 2 loved them both and my dad had two as well.

[@grahamnewton4381]

I had a Hillman Husky which was the estate version of the Imp. Smashing little car

[@patrickjoneill5836]

Just a footnote about the early reliability problems. In the early 1960s I had a student holiday job at Laycock Engineering in Sheffield, who made the clutches for the Imp, as well as for luxury marques like Aston Martin and Maserati. I was in a department examining the units returned under warranty. There were crates and crates of Imp clutches, all failed, the friction plates burnt up, the driven plate castings scored and broken. They were such dinky little things, just a 6" plate, and anyone with a habit of riding the clutch burnt them out very quickly. I think the solution attempted was a stronger spring to give more resistance on the pedal.

[@rogerward5111]

Brilliant little car with some interesting quirks - massive swing between understeer and oversteer if you lifted of the throttle halfway through a bend. Once mastered great fun. Car off the line had positive camber to manage the transition but far better if you dropped the pivot points for the front wishbones. This made it much quicker through bends once mastered and could outcorner any mini! All you needed was some mild steel brackets a couple of inches deep. The other cheap tweek was to fill a couple of £100 cash bags (obtained from the bank where I worked) filled with sand and tucked behind the headlamps under the front luggage cover. Amazing what a bit more weight at the front made. A more expensive option was to remove the radiator and fan from the engine bay and extend the heater pipe through to the luggage bay an fit a front radiator and electric fan. Even untuned engine good for 12k revs and if balanced up to 15k without any loud bangs. Really wish I still had one.

[@alastairmatheson3245]

I passed my test on one of them.....brilliant cars.

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

Very nice!

[@gerrycollins2335]

I was a passenger in my friend's Imp around 1970 when he lost control of it on a roundabout and we spun into a kerb. With the engine's weight at the back, it was easy to oversteer. One of the axles was bent but despite that we continued to a folk festival, although a lot of people in other cars pointed out the wonky wheel!

[@Mal_Outdoors]

Hillman Imp mkII Delux. I had a metallic brown one in 1973. I drove it all over Europe.

[@billgwilliam1263]

Never owned one but have ridden in one back in the day. Still think it was a lovely little car perfect for town use today.

[@robertlloyd7493]

My first car....the freedom it gave me was great 😊

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

Fantastic! Way better than a Corsa!

[@rafflesnh]

A relative of mine courted ownership with one of these briefly. It was a 1 year old 'K' reg in the same colour as the one in this video, and was being sold privately by an employee of Roots Group in Coventry. I accompanied my aunt to give it a mechanical once over and a test drive, and all seemed fine. However, not long afterwards, the car kept stalling when fully warmed up and wouldn't idle. A garage diagnosed a detached wet liner in one of the cylinder bores as the culprit, and a very expensive repair ensued. This was enough to put the new owner off, and replaced it with a second hand Mini and never looked back. Shame really as the Imp was a superior car in so many ways.

[@IbnBahtuta]

I remember my Mum driving us into a tree in our Hillman Imp. That was a very long time ago. It was poorly assembled and on a journey from London to Wales I discovered how uncomfortable and cramped it made all of us feel. I was glad it died.

[@AndrewLohmannKent]

I think that is the first positive review of and Imp that I have heard, the railing performance meant they never stood against the minis and people laughed at the disqualification of the first home minis. But also the reliability of water leaks etc. made them a no don't buy second-hand, or new. All the same, I enjoyed hearing the good points, and it is a smart looking little car.

[@FredWilbury]

Yep I had a imp van great fun and great days touring around in it apart from driveshaft rubber doughnut bolts breaking , always carried a few spare 😂🙏

[@Anythinggoes-1999]

I was a mechanic in the 60’-70’s working for Rootes/Chrysler and loved the Imp and me & my mate mechanic did a clutch in under 1hr on an Imp in the Rootes garage we worked for and the official time by Rootes was about 4 1/2 hrs. …. And as you will probably know has to have the engine removed so happy times

[@horfieldboy9478]

Had a 1967 Singer Chamois as my very first car. Learnt to drive in it and saw me through my first year of driving as a 17 year old. Managed to blow the head gasket and water pump whilst still a leaner, taking the car out when my father was on holiday and I was under strict instructions not to take the car out whilst he was away. Buddy was a fitter for the council and my partner in crime (he had a full license), managed to get the car stripped, skimmed and rebuilt before he returned. I clearly remember the conversation where he felt the car was driving much better after a few weeks layup! Not sure to this day if he really knew what I had been up to, sadly no longer with us to ask.

[@robertp.wainman4094]

Always thought it similar to the small NSU.

[@iatsd]

My brother had a business for about a decade refurbishing NZ assembled Imps and selling them to buyers in the UK and Japan. The NZ assembled ones were put together properly.

[@davidjones332]

I once met someone who had worked in Rootes dealer support. He reckoned most of the Imp's woes were due to the dealers. Firstly, it had an all-alloy engine when most of its contemporaries used cast-iron, and required a different anti-freeze. Either the dealers wouldn't stock it, or lazy mechanics couldn't be bothered to draw the right stuff from the stores. Secondly, the first service at 1,000 miles required the cylinder head to be re-torqued. Some of the bolts at the front of the engine couldn't be reached without removing a number of engine ancillaries, and some idle mechanics couldn't be bothered to do this, which would inevitably result sooner or later in a blown gasket and a warped head. Given the pedigree of the engine, and the Imp's success in racing and rallycross, there obviously wasn't much wrong with it if it was properly maintained -and it was lovely to drive.

[@johnrockley9472]

I don't know if spares are still available for them. The van/estate version was great, engine under the rear floor, so unload stuff to get to it! Tyre pressure was 18 psi front, 30 psi rear. Water pumps, drive shaft rubber donuts and universal joint the other end were almost regular service items. Speedo drive was off n/s front wheel. The last ones were the cheapest cars for sale new in UK . I loved them!

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

Thanks for the info!

[@paultaylor7082]

Yes, my dad had one, but got rid after only 9 months, during which time it suffered a snapped accelerator cable (a common fault), being stolen and the drive shafts removed, then one time, the gear stick came out in my hand, as the rivets holding the collar, which prevented the gear stick from coming out, gave way.

[@Pan1man4]

I bought mine brand new at 19 years old £753, my dad talked me out of buying my dream Triumph Bonneville in May 1972 , metallic aquarius just like this. I ran for 8 years and knew it inside out.

[@apmcd47]

I had an Imp. I'm sure the rear seat-back could be dropped to increase the luggage space in the back.

[@ronnierees6922]

It could

[@jimf671]

At one stage it held all 22 British circuit lap records in its class. (11 circuits, Prod Saloon and Mod Saloon.) A miracle worker in snow. If you fitted electronic ignition it would usefully rev to 8000 for overtaking. 44mpg fully loaded at motorway speed. (If you were stupid enough to run it on 3-star and put plain water in the coolant, as many were, it might only last a year.)

[@jamiefender6909]

Our family had the sky blue Imp when I was about 6 or 7 (1966/7) and I remember little obviously.

[@glynjones5280]

Imp, absolute brilliant car, so disappointed the stopped production

[@Makeyourselfbig]

I remember back in the 1960's there was a TV show called "Man in a Suitcase" about a down at heel ex CIA guy turned private eye. He had a Hillman Imp as it suited his persona like Columbo's battered old Peugeot suited his. It made a nice change as most action heroes in those days drove flashy cars way outside the budget of us peasants. The Baron drove a Jensen. The Saint drove a Volvo P1800. Amos Burke drove a 1962 Roller. John Steed drove a vintage Bentley. So to drive a car most ordinary people could actually afford was a whole new concept. Although it was the "Sport" model. Had a 850cc engine in it apparently.

[@thorstenh.5588]

Nice and unique little car. It remember me to the NSU Prinz and a little bit to the Simca 1000.

[@paulfillingham4778]

I had an Imp when I was at Uni in the early 70’s

[@trevorsanders5303]

That was my first ever car and I passed my test in it

[@dennisstaines8005]

I had two Imps when I first leaned to drive (My Dad also bought one in 1966 Singer Chamois in white with a blue side strip). I bought a second hand Singer Chamois in blue as my first car and it was great and enjoyed it, was reliable and the only issue was the manual choke and cold running as it was tricky but once you got used to it it worked fine. I then decide to buy a Sunbeam Imp Sport (as I was hooked) brand new and had a dash mounted rev counter racing wing mirrors and it was in a very bright metallic blue. I had it for 4 years and it was much better than the base engine. They put twin carbs, a high lift cam and most importantly a water heated inlet manifold. The cold start and running was miles better. it took 16 seconds to get sixty (against 21 for the standard) and topped out at 90 mph. It was a lovely handling car and quieter than the Mini (My friends had Mini's). I still have a copy of the Autocar 50 mile an hour speed limit fuel crisis test and the Sunbeam Imp Sport was best at 51.2 mpg (over a test route), Standard Imp was 49ish and Mini was worse. The Imp Sport was better due to better carbs and inlet manifold. I did have issues with the head gasket caused by a dealer setting the timing incorrectly and a water hose burst but no other issues over the period. Replaced it with a 1 year Allegro 1750 HL with twin carbs which was a good car as well but loved my Imp Sport. Weirdly I now have a BMW 530i ( great car) as my car and my wife has a 2008 Mini Cooper S. The Mini is fantastic but has had issues with its engine (timings chain issue and popper valve both fixed early on) but on the positive side the torque curve is unbelievable with max torque at 1250 rpm ( no diesel can match that) and brilliant power delivery. Trouble is it so much fun to drive I keep giving it full power at times although it is a brilliant slow speed car. Fuel consumption high 40 on the motorway (49 best I have done). Still look back with fondness on both my Imps and do believe they were underrated. Let down by the marginal cooling system and cold starting/running issue (although cold starting fixed on the Sport)

[@giulianomarco]

8:06 Joe's following The Sweeney! 😁

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

Stay tuned for a future video 👀

[@waterlover]

Wish I had an Imp myself . I need an Imp and a classic mini in my collection.

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

You do!

[@xjet]

The Imp's styling was lifted directly from the Chevy Corvair -- even the rear-engine concept was a direct copy -- albeit the Imp is a 4-cylinder water-cooled version of the Coventry Climax. Put the two cars side by side and the Imp looks as if someone just shrunk the Corvair's blueprints by about 40 percent.

[@CEng-ge6sw]

I had one in 1967 when I daily travelled on the M6 in Staffordshire. Due to it being rear-engined it was difficult to keep it in lane on the M6 during a side wind so I changed it for a BMC Mini. No such trouble with the Mini of course

[@michaelroche5744]

Great stuff

[@paultaylor7082]

The original engine for an Imp was based on, believe it or not, a pump used on fire engines. Coventry Climax rings a bell, I seem to remember. The bane of my existence, the Imp, my mate and dad both bought one back in the mid 1970s, I had good fun repairing the accelerator cables, which were prone to snapping, due to the length of the accelerator cable, from the front of the car to the rear. Another mate had one and reverse gear went, so he had to be very careful where he parked. Things got worse a few years later when my 4 year old Cortina Mk 3 1.6 L was hit near the passenger side door and rear wing, by, you've guessed it, an Imp coming out of a side road. My dad only had his Imp for around 9 months (1974/5), at one point it was stolen and the drive shafts taken off the vehicle. He got shut a few weeks later. People here might be surprised to know I never owned one. Give me a Mini, any day. Most experts reckon the main problem was the workforce at Linwood in the 1960s had little or no experience of assembling cars. The engines and much of the accessories had to be shipped up to the factory, around 300 miles from Rootes HQ in Coventry, also many of the component suppliers were based in the West Midlands.

[@mach7056]

a cracking little car.... so much fun

[@kola100]

Was a brilliant little car ! I’d like one now !

[@japfourme381]

My first Car, loved it!!

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

Good choice!

[@vwestlife]

The styling was heavily inspired by the Chevrolet Corvair.

[@iantobanter9546]

That 850 engine was a real challenge here in hilly South Wales.

[@steve20664]

Sunbeam stiletto was my favorite in gold with vinyl roof

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

Classy!

[@rhodaborrocks1654]

It sounded like you had Keith Moon practising for a new Who record in there as you clattered over the bumps !!

[@larryblanz1880]

I owned one, bought in Memphis, TN. Accelerator Wire going back to the engine, broke twice. Only one tire available, which was bias ply. But great fuel economy.

[@mookyzook]

Had two of them in the early seventies. Brilliant little car buT I did manage to blow the head gasket on both of them. Luckily as an engineering student I skImmed the heads and fixed the carS. I even did a Hartwell conversion on one of them with a rebore to get a bit more power and moved the radiator to the front so I could fit an oil cooler in the back...

[@kethughes8266]

The thinking man thought I wish I had bought a mini.

[@CarolSteele]

I loved my Hillman Imp - a metallic blue one purchased new around 1965 for about £500 I think.

[@alanhargreaves8974]

I had one in 1965. Lovely car, massively under developed and shocking build quality........a bit like the Triumph Dolomite I owned in 1974!

[@CB1000FP1]

Never drove the car but my mate asked me to pick his van version up from his mother's house and take it to his house, the only thing I remember about it was he asked me to fill it up on the way and I spent about 10 minutes trying to find the filler cap which I finally found under the bonnet

[@marklloyd2966]

first and second car i had was a hillman imp loved them

[@craigsouthwell3484]

My sisters friend had an Imp years ago. She hand painted it white gloss paint. Lol

[@anthonyferris8912]

The Italian Job film was offered Imps free of charge, but the producers said it had to be Minis, for which BMC, made them pay full price.