philmayfield 6,115 Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 Sherwood Restorations sold one recently for - be prepared to weep - £36,995! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
catfan 14,793 Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 Imp's & their variants were awful to drive, no weight on the front end & was usual practice to put a bag of sand in there to try & give it some stability, road holding was very suspect & the only safe way to drive one was the same as "Driving Miss Daisy" mode all the time. I well remember a young wench driving a Chamois being killed on Carlton Hill early hours of a winter morning when she lost control & hit a lamp post, she was later recognised by by her dental records.The fuel tank ruptured on impact & you don't need me to go any further. I remember in '67 ish the new price at Cripps on Parliament Street was £645 tax paid on the road for a bog standard Imp.! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brew 5,409 Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 1 hour ago, philmayfield said: Sherwood Restorations sold one recently for - be prepared to weep - £36,995! How to ruin somebodies day in one easy lesson............. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philmayfield 6,115 Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 Well Sherwood are a bit topside on prices but they sell nationally and internationally, not just to us rustic peasants. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oztalgian 3,271 Posted April 18, 2017 Report Share Posted April 18, 2017 The Coupe versions of the Stilleto and Chamois, Californian and the Commer Imp van/Husky would have had different roof panel tooling and 'C'Pillar tooling to change the rake of the rear windows. The Chamois and Sport were essentially higher spec Imps Throughout their model life many cars have what is called in the trade "sh1t and glitter" upgrades where lights, interior trim and brightwork are changed. Sometimes this means new tooling and others it is doing secondary operations on existing parts. Major panels in those days were often left unchanged. Imps were very popular as race and rally cars in their day so those guys must have sorted any handling issues. There are quite a few going around in historic racing classes today. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tim in the North East 200 Posted April 29, 2017 Report Share Posted April 29, 2017 To keep their weight down the imps had cast aluminium engine blocks - that them prone to cracking if they were not properly maintained. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
catfan 14,793 Posted April 30, 2017 Report Share Posted April 30, 2017 Even with proper maintenance the cylinder heads cracked, was usually caused by head gasket failure caused by over-heating. Small diameter clutch plate didn't last long either, kept us in work for ages. Not forgetting the heavy handed DIY crowd who stripped the spark plug threads on a regular basis, no wonder my gaffer loved the Imp varieties !! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
colly0410 1,181 Posted May 1, 2017 Report Share Posted May 1, 2017 My mate had a Hilman Imp on L plates & I was the qualified driver in passenger seat. We got pulled & everything checked out all legal: the cop asked my mate "what's in the boot?" My mate said "The engine!" cop said "are you being funny?" Had to open the lid to show him. My mate then said as cop got back in his car "aren't you going to do up for owt?" I hissed "get in the car & shutup!" Or words to that effect, I could have killed him.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.