Hillman Imp

[Surrey Girl]

A friend of mine has one rotting in his garage. Actually, it is in his Dads garage!

He keeps telling me he is going to restore it, but he's been saying that for 9, maybe 10 years? LOL

[nbear8]

Funny that noise from the clutch was so unique to that clutch you knew it when you heard it and identified an Imp ,Chamois or Stiletto !

[franfran]

[franfran]

[franfran]

[franfran]

[Kagirl]

Hi Pam, I learned to drive in my mun's Imp and had it as my 1st car when she bought a Fiesta. I hated it, especially at this time of year because the heater was useless, if it was icy you just froze, and it used to keep stalling, drove me mad because if I had to stop for any reason I had to pull the choke out or it would stall, but if you choked it too much it would also stall! very confusing, it was about 20 years old though so I suppose I shouldn't be too hard on it!
I am so glad modern cars don't have a choke.

[AnneCook]

it was great to see that stiletto!! thx - mine was a little sportier if anything lol twin headlights and twin carbs.

HI Kagirl, the choke thing could be irritating but once you learnt the technique it was usually plain sailing.

Now I have a modern car, always fires first time. So why do i miss my stiletto or my moggy for that matter? lol I think it comes down to character.

[nbear8]

Funny the choke was a little lever by the parking brake between the seats , on the old Fiat 500 and 600 the starter was the other side of the parking brake so their were two levers

[AnneCook]

the best thing about the old fiat 500 was that it was light enough to push. They hated rain and the choke was a waste of time in that situation

[nbear8]

If you got a pucture you did not need a jack you could lift it as well

[M2010]

They had a fire brigade water pump engine in them.

I prefered the bigger Rootes push rod lumps - the 1600 was brilliant

[Guest]

Yes, you could well be right regarding the engine or a version of it being used in a fire brigade water pump. It was basically a Coventry Climax engine that the Rootes Group modified to go into the Imp. Even though a long time was spent on designing the Imp it arrived too late on the scene and with its questionable reliability never had the sales that were hoped for.

Brian

[TracyL]

Fran,
I love the picture (ad) of the Hillman...never seen one in ND.
Tracy

[franfran]

I had just got off at the station and was on my way home on Wednesday night, when a four wheel drive towing a car trailer came down the road and there, on the trailer, was a Hillman Imp............