#hillman imp

[morecarsthatnevermadeit]

Hillman was the British Rootes Group’s mainstream car brand; the Imp (pictured) was their small, rear-engined car built at Linwood in Scotland. Italian coachbuilder Zagato saw possibilities for a car with Imp mechanicals, styled by them with an aluminium bodyshell. The prototype Zimp was presented at the 1964 Earl's Court Motor Show, but Chrysler, who had a 50% shareholding in Rootes, vetoed the project, and the Zimp went no further.

[monkeyssalad-blog]

EYK 604C. by curly42 Via Flickr: 1965 Hillman Imp. Wheelnuts Car Show,Stroud - 4.5.25.

[jettacar]

third entry in catw, the arawak hustler! i had fun researching this one!! 💙 ^^ another two facts I couldn't fit in, are that they have a 5 digit chassis code, corresponding to year of production and unit number. for example, 79015 would be the 15th unit produced in 1979. the second fact, is that the hustler is one of very few vehicles to have the unusual swing-arm front suspension setup, as it borrows running gear from the hillman imp - however, the frame and body were fabricated within Antigua!

[triumphonlyfan]

Rosemary Smith et son HILLMAN Imp

[diabolus1exmachina]

Singer Chamois 

Singer Motors Limited was a British motor vehicle manufacturing business, originally a bicycle manufacturer founded in 1874 in Coventry. From 1901 George Singer's Singer Motor Co made cars and commercial vehicles. The last car to carry the Singer name was an upmarket version of the rear engined Hillman Imp called the Chamois. The Singer Chamois was introduced in October 1964. Changes to the Singer iteration included a beautiful polished walnut veneer dash, larger and much more comfortable seats, better instrumentation which included additional temperature and oil pressure gauges, and the heater came as standard kit.

Improving on the Imp required more than a few cosmetic changes being made inside the cabin. The Imp was fitted with C41 crossplies that caused gradual understeer. Instead the engineers shod the Chamois with Dunlop SP41 radials fitted to wider (1/2") rim wheels - these bring far improved handling, proving to be neutral up to much higher speeds. Other differences included a heavier clutch and better sound damping.

With all the improvements made to the Chamois, the press were very kind to the newcomer, deeming it to be far better than the competition, which included some pretty good cars, such as the Riley Elf, Wolseley Hornet, Ford Anglia Super and Triumph Herald 12/50.

The Mark II arrived in September 1965, although there were only very minor changes. Then in April 1967 there were a limited edition of Chamois Spring specials, and in October 1968 the Mk II designation was discontinued.

Along with the rest of the range the Chamois was given a new dashboard layout with full width facia and round dials; new seats and upholstery and different external trim. Both the Chamois and Chamois Sport gained four headlights but lost their pretty veneer trim and had to make do with plastic 'wood' trimming instead.

[seat-safety-switch]

Old Chinese kung-fu movies are legally required to contain the following scene. A very quiet, but obviously very dangerous motherfucker is minding his own business. Then, some toughs - not necessarily actually tough toughs, but like yelly flaunty guys with flashy moves, maybe they have some kind of negative attitude towards some unchangeable attribute of the extremely dangerous motherfucker the camera keeps ominously framing - pick a fight with him or her. There is a massive ass-kicking, dozens of jerks are laid out on the floor and/or partially atomized, and the hero goes about their day.

The lesson, it would seem, is not to mess with a very quiet person who obviously spends every single night doing two-finger pushups and punching brick walls in half with their mind. I think there is an analogy to this scene when you are working on cars. It comes when you think that you have figured out a failure before you even pop the hood.

Cabin light doesn’t come on when you open the doors on your ‘73 Hillman Imp? Obviously a bad door-open switch. Oh no, says the Bruce Lee motherfucker hiding deep within the car’s wiring harness, it’s that rats snuck inside your heater core, died, and their blood mixed with coolant to produce a kind of corrosive adhesive that has never been witnessed by science. There is a massive ass-kicking, and two years later, you finally decide to just live without the dome light, snapping at your friends and family when they get a ride with you and ask why they can’t see the chapstick they just dropped in your passenger side footwell.

Even though these lessons were written for us hundreds of years ago by hit Chinese fiction authors, and only recently translated into filmic works of artistic legend, that doesn’t mean we can’t all take away something from them. Don’t underestimate the quiet thing sitting in the corner, because it will flying-dragon-kick your jaw off. And maybe search the enthusiast forums for “traction control light doesn’t go away jet li” before you get started.

[danismm]

Hillman Imp. British/Australian car, 1964

[frenchcurious]

Johan van der Keuken - Ben Webster à Amsterdam.