The governments of the day back in the late '50s refused to help the shipyards on the Clyde and many then shut down! To try and save face they insisted that Rootes built their new factory at Linwood to held employ the out-of-work shipbuilders in the area! They promised funding for the factory and other projects in the area but about half never materialized! The problem with the workforce was they were not used to production line working and had to be retrained on the job! All the disruption was due to the difference in wage structure at Linwood to that in Coventry! The union insisted they should be the same where the management insisted on parity would only occur when productivity at Linwood matched that of Coventry! Plus the IMP was not fully product-ready when the Duke of Edinburgh opened the factory! The opening ceremony was a fixed data in his diary that he was unable(or willing) to change, so the IMP was introduced to the public at least 6 months too early! I know this as I was in the Coventry Design office & working on the IMP and other models!
What a lovely example! I had a 1966 Singer Chamois version in the mid 1970's. Absolutely loved it...great little car and like you said very easy to work on.
My imp, back in the day, used to loosen its flywheel after about two weeks, I kept all nuts and bolts just about loose enough to take the motor out to tighten the flywheel in about an hour on a Saturday morning. I even drilled and wired the bolts rather than tabs but it still came loose! Loved it though and playing deep purple speed king through the Harry moss cassette player was brill, the stereo in my new car now doesn't sound any better. Long live the imp.
Coventry Climax fire pump engine. This appears to be a very rare survivor. They could be a vertable pile of trouble - esp. overheating and head gasket failures. Early issues were gradually sorted but too late to save their reputation. Over forty years since I changed an Imp head gasket - hmmm. didn't think I was that old!
I remember the public health inspector shaking his head and singing "Hey you get off of my cloud" as he got in his Hillman Imp... I was 17. Bet Jagger feels old.
I owned a signal red 1970 Sunbeam Stiletto. That was an Imp with the sport engine and twin headlamps. A very fast car, equivalent to a Mini-Cooper S. Mine used to like to throw off the water pump belts at high revs (it revved to 8000).
Hour and a half! Me and my friends ran 6 Imps. We could change an engine in 35 mins (2 people working) so many memories. Paid between 50 and £175 each. Twin SU carbs needed tweaking we had servo operated vents either side of the number plate!
Yes I got removing an engine down to 30mins engine was still hot.The back panel had been off before though.That would be the hardest bit if the bolts were rusted.
We had an Imp back in the late 80s...despite it's dubious reputation and by then, great age, it was a cracking little motor...We took my three teenaged stepchildren packed in the back (and all our luggage on a roof rack) from the South Coast to Nottinghamshire for a weeks holiday with very little problem with the car...admittedly it did have trouble with a renowned hill on the last stage of the return journey but I still miss that little car...more than any other of the old dogs we had as daily drivers back in those years.
I remember having a singer chamois, twin carburettor, great car, hard to steer if anyone sat in the back. Bag of cement in the front boot to help it turn.
A mate crashed my mam’s imp when we had a car full. Started weaving down a long straight road and continually over-corrected until we spin backwards into a wall. All ok thankfully.
They were made in Linwood , a small village outside Paisley from 1963 to 1976. Roots tried to build another factory in Coventry but the government at the time wouldn’t allow them . They were offered grants to build a factory near the Clyde shipyards that were shutting down to give the unemployed jobs. I believe if they were built in Coventry and tested properly they would have out sold the Mini.
My friends mum in law bought one of the last ones on an M or N plate in the mid seventies. By the time they made the last ones the quality of the trim and paint was excellent . It was a much more civilised car than the mini.
It was actually "inspired" by the Convair in the USA. Compare the two vehicles side-by-side and you'll see that the Imp is pretty much a scaled down version of the Convair.
@@xjet I’ve just looked at the Convair , and I can definitely see the resemblance. They repaired one on wheeler dealers, air cooled rear engine, great looking car, the Americans thought that the car was dangerous!
@@stevenclarke5606 Yeah, it was a bit dangerous... in the same way the original VW Beetle was. Because the rear swing-arms had changing wheel-camber they tended to have sudden oversteer problems when cornering. This was exacerbated by the rearward weight distribution. Triumph Heralds had a similar rear-suspension setup but the Imp uses this setup for its front wheels -- hence the positive camber on those wheels when lightly laded. Fortunately this simply produces massive understeer instead of break-away oversteer as was happening on the back of the Convair, VW, etc.
Straight up no B/S. A family man with adult sons, your very family orientated. I mean, your son's work with you, all good stuff. You have real genuine honesty. Derek I think your the salt of the earth. I would buy any cars from you. The car dealing trade have had many negative perceptions from the public. But you go a hell of a long way to changing the bad press. Thank you From a Maori Perspective.
Scottish Wasters come come over the border and repeat that. Hillman Avenger built in Scotland best car I ever owed up till 1990 and its fuel consumption was every bit as good as a modern petrol car 1600 40 ish mpg
Triumph Mk2 in the background....I really loved my 2.5 PI with the Laycock de Normanville overdrive on the 4 speed manual...avocado green with tan interior. It was a lovely car in its day.....havent seen one in ages....
Derek you'll also find that also there was a supply problem due to building imps in Scotland but build parts we coming from the Midlands but you right sabotage also I had one clutch and over heating problems
The last Avengers were built in Linwood (Scottish Imp factory). Imps were probably better built than BMC or Ford stuff. It was Chrysler that started pulling costs out and cheapening everything when they bought out Rootes in 67 or 68.
The IMP was introduced to the public in 1963 and was produced in Linwood until the factory closed in 1976, It was only the first couple of years they had problems with the workers untill they obtained the skill & speed of those in Coventry! Both the Avenger and the Hunters were produced in Linwood for a time!
Almost bought a '66 Singer Chamois back in 1977 when I was 17, for the princely sum of £175, that was from a VW dealership. I was learning at the time and my driving instructor warned me off them. Should have taken the plunge though..
I bought the Mk 2 brand new £753 in 1972 as a 19 year old,ran it for 8 years, yes it certainly had its problems repeatedly, however as Derek mentioned engine out in no time sorted and back on the road.
I had two of these things. I bought the first one because it was cheap but can't imagine why I bought the second one - must have been having a medical episode. One of their design features was that the heater pipes ran through the sills from back to front with the result that the water was cold by the time it reached the heater. At least it helped to stop the radiator overheating. They were as unreliable as any British car of the day but were great fun to drive.
Learnt to drive in a Wimp had a set of extractors on it. My brother managed to tip a Sunbeam version over in a residential street showing off whilst doing a handbrake turn. He then managed to drive past a police checkpoint while also over the limit.
Fantastic TV show with a fantastic family and office staff making for a very watchable program I had one of these Imps had to put sandbags over front arches to keep it from lifting at the front it was a light and fairy driving experience the engine was aluminium heads were a problem the Sunbeam fast back was the best out of the range!?.
A workmate with an imp,on nights got caught with an early, though severe, frost. You could put fingers into the cracks in the block.completely shattered. The chassis went on to become a "mini moke"...somewhere exotic I believe. Shame,nice wee motor.
Used to work for a Hillman (plus other makes) dealer in the '60's. Great little cars but not without problems. That cracking little engine (based on a Coventry Climax water pump motor) unfortunately being on an angle meant that part of the crankcase/sump gasket was below the level of the oil which often leaked oil through it. Another thing was that the front suspension/steering axle 'king pins' were prone to seizing making the steering very stiff. The answer was that dealers had to modify the carriers, drill holes upper and lower, cut threads and then screw in grease nipples. Personally I was not impressed with the petrol tank immediately behind the front body panel but where else could they put it ?. In the event if a front end shunt the outcome might not be that promising.
The original kingpin carriers came with grease nipples. They were replaced as the original camber angle was wrong. The replacements didn't have grease nipples. The fuel tank had to come out if the brake and clutch master cylinders needed attention.
@@georgemacdonald3087 From what I recall from the early '60's the kingpin bushes initially had a nylon or similar composition lining which theoretically made for easy steering but actually achieved the opposite. I do definitely remember the mechanics at the garage complaining bitterly at having to strip drill, tap and fit grease nipples to the steering swivels instead of simply fitting factory modified items.
No wonder the u.k car industry collapsed.it was replaced by the Japanese and u.s companies such as ford and general motors .the only reason why vauxhall is still alive,is due to massive general motors investment.
Providing you kept reflushing the cooling system out and using the correct aluminium friendly anti freeze they didn't overheat and warp heads (well not much🙄) like driving a limousine compared to a mini, much soother suspension and the engine was from another planet compared to the wheezy A series lump!!!
I recall that early 70s there was plans in place for petrol rationing and the hillman was given an extra 18 months production on the assembly line due to it being good mpg. then it almost disappeared over night
I had one of these back in the days when they were a common sigth on the roads. The rear window opening was not a feature of all versions of the imp. Mine was a burgundy colour and had twin headlights and a more sloped rear window (cant remember what that Imp version was called. Sister borrowed it and ran over a speed bump too fast which hit the radiator (in the rear wheel arch) and caused a leak which overheated the engine. Second hand engine replaced it. Bought an Avenger after that. The Imp was like a wee race car. Wish I could afford to buy one now. Wish I was thin enough to fit in one now :-D
It's likely tool was for the cams. Good engine the Coventry Climax. I knew an old guy in Nottingham who had an imp he was in his 70's Used to use it about 3 times a week. He was ill and asked me to take it for an mot got in it drove it and thought "Jesus what the hell is this?" It had the 2000 cc Climax engine in it! He probably did 1500 miles a year in it! His Brother (a couple of years older) had a Scott don't remember the model and a Vincent Black Shadow restoration project that looked like it hadn't been touched in years. Brilliant guy used to work at the Brough factory!
I have never come across a 2 litre CC engine, the existing block only had enough material to go to 1460cc and even that meant eliminating the waterways between the first and second, and third and fourth cylinders to accommodate a 3.0-inch bore, the stroke also had to be increased to accomplish this capacity. It may have been some other engine as there has been and is to this day quite a few engine transplants that have been tried.
Oh and if you are slagging Scots why not slag the rest of the Rover group while you are at it. The Rover SD's and the Hunters were all rust buckets. Later put down to the incompatible paint chemistry being used. But no, it must have been the stormy jocks. Fekoff :-/
oh did you notice the pure disdain he had for the scots aswell??? it was hardly fkn subtle was it? from the land of allegro and marina shiteboxes and an even more militant workforce, but why confuse the old racist turd with the truth eh?
Had, a Imp followed by a Singer Chamois Sport (oh how I wish i still had it ,rare then so hens teeth rarity now would guess) Wish I had a time machine like most of us oldies . lol
Yes the steel inserts ripped out of the rubber doughnuts on a regular basis,carbon fibre thrust bearings shattering..the list could go on, easy enough to fix though.
My wife had one and it was a pile of ****. Rusted everywhere. Have to disagree with Derek about the engine gearbox though. It went through head gaskets like hell and the box was a guess what gear you’re in job.
Agree with you. My first car and it was just awful. Might be easy to take the engine out but trying to do anything to the engine whilst in situ was a nightmare. Had so many breakdowns I'd have been better off walking
Had a Singer Chamois (single carb), reg LES595G, from 1974-5, much better car than the Mini it replaced and only let me down once (throttle cable snapped). It would do 50 mpg on a run from North London to Exeter. Worst thing about it was the colour - Marina Green!
Lovely chatty video. His years are all over the place and mostly wrong, but we all do that and he isn't scripted. His characterisation of the workers ar the original plant is inaccurate and insulting, although quality on some areas was indeed poor. And the "moved production to France" was a bit vague and inaccurate. But.... He loves cars and it comes through...
@@raycroal The Linwood workforce had the chance to show that their ship building skills could knock spots off their southern counterparts in how to build cars and build a great car. But in fact they did the complete opposite which ended in the closure of the car plant.
@@daviddillon172 mate am i supposed to listen to someone who didn't answer my question and can't spell linwood am i supposed to take what you said as de facto??? give me a break!
Pretty disappointed in your narrow minded blanket view of all Scotland ? I mean I could easily have a go at Londoners or London in his days in the 50s, 60s& 70s & how anyone from North of Watford was given not the best of welcomes & that was in England. So god help the Scottish or Welsh or Irish never mind Jamaicans or Indians LOL
@@chunkybuster7203 I mean Luton is as rough as a Badgers arse & probably the most depressing town in all of England especially since the advent of mass immigration etc. As a Scotsman who has lived in England from London to Yorkshire Manchester & Lancashire to Sussex & Devon I know the English are in general good sorts just like Scottish or Welsh or Irish though this man in his senior years has opinions & that’s fair enough & his comments on the Bolshy Scottish workforce that made Hillman imps, Singer Chamois, Hillman Husky, IMp Californian, Hillman Hunter, Chrysler Sunbeam, Hillman & Chrysler avenger etc is depressingly true but to have a go at millions & millions of individuals is not on especially when this is broadcast Nationally and Globally because all of us are individuals no matter where we are from or live. Communism is an evil thing and what went on in that factory was part and parcel of that. I am from the area that factory was in Renfrewshire on the outskirts of Glasgow (Linwood, Paisley, Johnstone, Glasgow) my dad and uncles worked in that factory & those sort of politics that manifested themselves are still around in this area alongside the vile secret clubs etc etc that encourage industrial strife which I won’t mention or can’t Same with the vile Scottish identity politics hijacked by the same clubs & people who hijacked Global media, our National governments Especially Englandshire which has been using its resources & military to war against the World for hundreds of years & now America 🇺🇸 is replacing them . His sons seem more intellectually open and fair minded than their old msn who I am led to believe is using his tv 📺 stardom to have a go at a lot of people who aren’t what he says or thinks they are.
Politics & identity are a tool & method of divide & conquer & it was very unprofessional of you to attack a part of the UK people over an infiltrated workforce that could just as easily have been in Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester, Belfast or any other city or town. I used to like watching you & the cars & deals though you showed a vile side I felt that exists throughput the UK as a whole including in Glasgow or Scotland & it’s fed by ignorance & hate.
My Hillman Imp was a total rust bucket. I bought it in 1976, it spent more in the workshop than on the road. Rusted Kingpins, overheating, leaking head gasket, slipping timing, the list went on and on. In 50 years of driving, only my Fiat Uno could equal the Imp for unreliability. Dreadful quality control I'm afraid. Sadly, Rootes didn't deserve to survive.
