Sorry, I had to write another chapter about Imps—this is about the Imp I have owned the longest and still do, 24 years already! and counting.
When I bought the Commer Imp van from Guus in the late 90s (see COAL № 8), a few other Imps and parts came with it as well. One car was just for parts, one was more or less roadworthy and one was part restored and had new paint. As it was never my goal to begin a museum (sorry Jim K!) or start Imp hoarding, I was glad that after a few years in the barn a fellow Imper was interested in taking over two cars.
1988. My first Imp in the foreground. My current Imp at the back.
1988. Interestingly I saw reason to take a picture of this Imp then, not knowing of course it would be mine in the future.
Johan had been into Imps all his life. He was born into it—his father owned a Rootes dealership back in the sixties. That old dealership was the location where we met other Impers back in the late ’80s at a yearly gathering for Imp owners in the Netherlands. We would have a tour, and a walk and drinks and snacks at a countryside café.
In a complicated exchange, the almost-roadworthy Imp and the part-restored Imp went to Johan, and I got a white 1968 Sunbeam Chamois Mk2 from him. At that time Johan had cared for this car for at least 10 years. I have pictures showing this exact car at those early Imp meetings. I also know the owner who previously owned it, or rather, his mother owned it.
I was happy to get this car in exchange because:
- I got rid of two cars for which I knew I would not have a future with;
- it was the near-perfect-Imp-for-me specification, a Rootes-era Imp, same as my earlier green Chamois, and
- it was in quite good condition with mostly original paint and interior.
2002. In my garage
Basically the Rootes Imp line (1963-1968) covered a few brands and a few types—
- Hillman (basic): Imp sedan, Californian fastback, Husky van-based wagon.
- Singer (more luxurious): Chamois sedan and Chamois Coupe fastback.
- Sunbeam (sportier, twin carburetors): Imp Sport sedan and Stiletto fastback.
- Commer (commercial): Imp van
And it got more complicated. After 1968, the Chamois gained the four headlamps previously unique to the Stiletto, as did the Imp Sport. The Commer brand for the Imp was not used after 1968; the van became a Hillman. The Singer brand was phased out after 1970. In Europe, it was decided that the Hillman and Singer brands were not successful enough; they were deleted after 1966 and replaced by just one brand: Sunbeam.
So in the Netherlands we had the Sunbeam Imp; Sunbeam Imp Sport; Sunbeam Chamois; Sunbeam Californian; Sunbeam Stiletto, and Sunbeam Imp van. Must have been hard times for the Sunbeam dealer to explain!
The Imp was exported to the USA—just the sedan for the first three or four years (1963-66), as the Sunbeam Imp sedan. It was not a success.
So what exactly distinguished a Sunbeam Chamois Mk2 (in the UK it would have been the Singer Chamois Mk2) from a standard Imp? Well, it was a bit more luxurious with these extras as standard:
- A small front grille
- Five chrome rubbing strips on the rear deck
- Wider side strips with a contrasting paint color
- Chrome gutters
- Chrome rectangular strip around the rear vertical plane
- Overriders front and rear
- Wheel trim rings
- Genuine walnut wood on dashboard and door tops
- Slightly different seats
- Armrests on top of the bins at the rear
- Thick carpets
- Temperature gauge
- Oil pressure gauge
- Door bins
Boring white cars with black interiors
Still the one thing missing for me it to be the perfect Imp would be a different colour scheme; white with black interior is not the most imaginative. A previous Imp I owned was also white and I already own a white car with black interior (Triumph TR4). However, you cannot have it all (although I try!) and the colour issue is not important enough. Much more important was that it was basically a rot-free Imp; it never has had any welding done to it. That is pretty rare for a Dutch Imp.
I like that it still had its original carpets, seats and rubbers. There are too many Imps that have been restored, often with just not the right materials. These restored cars can look very good but with non-original type carpets, modern seats often installed, et cetera. This would put me off but I know most people would not mind. I guess I am in the camp that likes originality more than a shiny car.
2002. In front of my house and garage. My Triumph 2000 Mk1 on the right
2017. Same place.
In my ownership, this Imp has never really been used as daily transport, but it has been in use almost constantly over the years.
2001. Trip to the UK, Imp National
No problem fitting everything in the car!
In 2001, we decided to go to the UK to visit Imp National. That is the big yearly gathering for members of the Imp Club UK, of which I had been a member since the ’80s. The National spans a long weekend, usually at the estate of a big manor house. There is a concours with prizes; barbeque nights; dance contests; Imp specialists have their stalls, there is an auto jumble and many Impers camp on the grounds. A hundred or more Imps in one gathering every year.
It was a challenge to go there, with two children and all camping equipment in just the car. No trailer, and no luggage rack on the roof. Friends and family called us crazy; this was something that maybe would have been done in the ’60s, not the ’00s!
2001 at the Imp National. My son having a go at actually driving a car
2001. Rows and rows of Imps of all types
We were lucky the children were still small so they could sit on the sleeping bags, for example. Rear leg room could be filled with camping stuff. Almost no bags were used; everything was packed into the car individually. One shoe could go there in that small spot, the other maybe in another spot. Amazingly, it went quite well. All got a comfortable seat in the Imp and we got off to France to take the ferry to Dover, a trip of about four hours. The Imp was much quieter, as the noise was isolated effectively by the camping gear. But my son did not agree. He threw up halfway to France, just after I found a parking exit.
Then from Dover to the Imp meet, again a few hours driving. Spend three days at the venue, making touring trips in the area and visiting towns. Then back home. The whole trip went without troubles—not bad for a fully-laden, 33-year-old car.
2004. Rootes Club meeting. Imps; Sunbeam Alpines, Hillman Minxes.
This was a meeting in Belgium, in 2004. The red Imp behind my car is the earliest known surviving left-hand-drive Imp.
2005 at my garage
2005 at my garage
Here it is in my (then) garage. I found the very original red 1964 Hillman Imp in Belgium and picked it up with a friend.
My friend working on his Stiletto in his garage
My friend liked the car a lot, but eventually wanted to have a faster Imp (a common wish amongst Imp owners). The red Hillman was too nice to be spoiled, so he sold it and bought a Stiletto instead.
Sylvia with our car, the Stiletto behind
When my son (aged 11) needed a subject for his lecture at school, he chose the Imp. He did his lecture and then unexpectedly I used the horn in the Imp, outside in front of their classroom. The whole class went outside to inspect the Imp. Great fun!
Engine out to replace the clutch
An Imp is easy to maintain. It is a small car, so all parts are small and light. The engine and transaxle combined only weigh 80 kg (176 lb) and are easily wheeled out, no need for a hoist. The front brakes have two cilinders per wheel, and these tend to leak. There’s a simple kingpin front suspension. Rubber doughnuts are used at the rear driveshafts; they wear (split), but once replaced will be good for years and years. The water pump is quite fragile and might leak and need new seals if the car is not used for a long period. The radiator needs to be in tip-top condition, is often replaced by an upgraded one with an extra row. Tire pressures needs to be looked after, with the rear ones requiring much higher pressure (due to the rear engine). UK-based Imp specialists and the Spares department of the Imp Club can supply almost anything mechanical, and also new panels like wings; sills, and repair panels.
Els, our wirehaired dachshund, loved riding in the Imp. Folding the backrest of the rear bench made a large platform for her to stand on and look outside the windows. Or put out her nose through the open passenger window!
I also love driving the Imp. The big steering wheel; direct gear change; very small, comfortable suspension and seats; nice instruments, and willing engine. Okay, it is noisy and not really fast, but motorway journeys are perfectly possible at 65-70 mph. It can swallow the weekly groceries easily, and the rear window can be opened. It always promptly starts even after standing for six months (not that that happens often).
2023. Elk Merk Waardig show
Two weeks ago I went to the Elk Merk Waardig show. “Every Brand Worthy” is a sympathetic online club for brands and car types that may not have been very successful, or are merely unknown today. Click on the picture to enlarge; can you identify all the cars? If you want more of this, HubNut made a video at the event: Part I, Part II.
The car might need a bit of welding in the near future. The bottom front corners are not that good, and also the bottom of the front wings where they meet the sills. Nothing special or structural. It would benefit from a respray, but that would bring a world of new things to think about. It would be foolish not to use new window rubbers then, but will they be of the same quality as the old ones? Would I strip the complete car, take out interior, suspension engine? Sandblast the body? I am not sure I am up to that. I quite like the car as it is, it does show its 55-year age here and there, and a bit better would be nice maybe but I have no need for an as new car. It would take away much of the character of the car.
The car is garaged all the time. Small amounts of rust will creep on a bit but not at the speed when a car lives on the street. I think I can manage the deterioration and continue to do touchups sometimes here and there. Other long-term car owners are an inspiration. And keep on driving it, of course!
In the barn. Just parking, not long-term storage.
I really love your approach to these old cars. I am another lover of originality, and it is always a letdown to see a nice old car from a distance, then see that the interior is not like the originals. There are few things that will win me over to a car more than a gorgeous original interior, because that stuff is often so hard to duplicate or replace.
On your small rust spots, is it possible to just do spot treatments to stop/slow the rust then spot-spray with some matching white? I am sure you won’t quite be there with a paint match, but most people won’t notice and it at least stops the visible deterioration. And don’t you hate the way rust looks on a white car?
And ugh – the barfing kid. Thank goodness the car was packed full of stuff that probably kept that nastiness away from the non-wipeable parts of the Imp!
Those small rust spots – the treatment you suggest is what I have been doing these last years but it is about time to face reality. Something a little more drastic needs to be done. Not needed this week, month or even year but it cannot be delayed indefinitely 🙂
I really love your garage and brick court yard .
Your various Imps too are nice cars and I’m simpatico with your approach to owning, maintaining and _using_ them .
I look at it now and wonder why these didn’t become popular in the U.S.A., at the very least I’d expect the major coastal cities and college towns to like them, they bought Renaults and VW’s….
-Nate
My theory is that despite being sold here in the US (in fact my parents’ first car was a 1954 Hillman Minx) the Hillman name didn’t have much brand equity. And when the Imp was sold here under the Sunbeam name, that name was associated with sports cars (Alpine, and later Tiger). Like the Triumph sedans, it just didn’t attract buyers. Whereas customers went to Renault and of course VW dealers looking for a small economical car. For what it’s worth I think most of the Imps I’ve seen in the US (all three??) were racecars. They were pretty competitive in the SCCA D Sedan class.
Imps are very competitive in a under 1100cc class which is ruled by Minis you can put the engine ahead of the transaxle and 5 speed transmissions can be bought, A flatmate of mine was Mini mad owning several, he had a book on tuning HA Vivas and Imps for racing in that class, Ive driven a HA Viva with a suspension upgrade and weber/headers etc very fast for what it was and the handling was nothing like an original with its Opel inspired under pinnings.
The Sidchrome Imp piloted by Kiwi Jim Richards of Aussie touring car fame was a force to be reckoned with as a sport sedan back in the Escort Anglia Cortina Mini days.
Hillman sold more than a few “HUSKY” in the late 50’s ~ early 60’s .
I had one once, it was actually an okay if dog slow car, I think it co$t $75 running with current tags .
*VERY* handy with the big side opening back door .
-Nate
I think dman might be correct in his analysis. Hillman was an unknown foreign brand. And even then, US Hillman dealers probably would not know how to handle / service this advanced new car with its aluminum engine (torque wrench needed) and different tire pressures.
Nice car and well suited for Netherlands parking. I’m amazed at the condition of the instrument panel. Considering the age of the car, the graphics and needles on the gauges look like they are still new. Unless those have been restored, their appearance is certainly a testament to the value of indoor storage. Over here, the sun of our southwestern climates creates a different kind of aging than the humidity of your climate.
Not restored. The lettering on the instruments themselves have survived really good, however there supposed to be lettering on the alu housing depicting the functions of the levers. That has worn away – I have bought a new set of lettering for these. But I am in no hurry putting this up.
For someone whose 1966 Ford F100 has spent its entire life outside, your attention and concern about very minor rust is praiseworthy. I see my truck slowly deteriorating just as I am.
Still your F100 would survive without drastic measures. Your climate is much less aggressive on cars than ours. I have seen my older Chamois, Herald, T2000 and CX slowly rotting away when I did not have a place to park them indoors.
Nice story. The Imp probably did better in Canada, I’ve seen a few and there was a mystery car under a tarp in our neighborhood I was sure was an Imp. Sadly it disappeared without revealing itself.
I like that you can remove all the rear sheet metal to extract the Imp engine, can’t do that with my 63 VW!
All Hillmans have twin leading shoe brakes so all have two wheel cylinders per front wheel, and they rarely leak unless requiring an overhaul, Disc brakes became a standard fitment by the mid 60s on almost all Hillman models.
You Imp collection is interesting its the only Hillman type Ive had very little interaction with, Singers are still fairly common here a friend owned a 71 Vogue basically an upgraded Hunter, I had a 61 3B with twin carbs and chrome rocker cover wood inside etc but really an upgraded Minx and we had another type midway between Minx and Singer Gazelle, the Humber 80 which was a mild upgrade of the Minx plus the various Sunbeam models all these were retailed via separate dealerships lines there wasnt much crossover almost as bad as BMC who also had separate outlets for their badge engineered brands, places like Australia and the US had amalgamated brands and parts mixtures blending the brands but not in NZ
Rootes weren’t overloaded with brands, unlike BMC. There was the basic Hillman, the slightly posher Singer*, sporty Sunbeam and upmarket Humber. The trouble was that by the mid.’60s there wasn’t the money to invest in suitably differentiated models.
* probably the most ‘surplus’ brand.
Rootes bought Singer for factory space more than they did the brand. The brand was slowly dying by the 1950s, and hadn’t long to go; hence the quick change from a Singer design to a gussied up Hillman Minx.
What are “overriders”?
In American English they’re called “Bumper guards”.
I’m really enjoying your COAL series – you keep matching and beating your high standards on a bi-weekly basis as well as bringing back memories of many familiar cars from my youth.
And tickets for your garage tours are ready to go – just say when…..;-)
In the second shot, are all 3 of the Imps facing the cameras badged as Sunbeam, despite the differing frontal treatments?