1971 HILLMAN IMP SUPER - Better than a Mini?
Vložit
- čas přidán 3. 01. 2024
- #hillmanimp #classiccars #testdrive
A few days ago, I was priviledged to be invited to test drive three cars from the wonderful @greatbritishcarjourney 's 'Drive Dad's Car' range.
Presented with an opportunity to experience something new, I opted to drive a type of car that I've not only driven before, but one that I currently own!
You, too, can drive this car and lots of others like it (only not as good or cool as this one, obvs)
Great British Car Journey: greatbritishcarjourney.com
Drive Dad's Car experience: drivedadscar.com
(I want it pointed out that I did NOT break this car, it broke on me. No black cats ran in front of me and I did not spill the salt in the onsite cafe! But I did genuinely LOVE it! Big up the Imp!)
Want to support the channel, or the cars featured within? There are many ways to do this!
MERCH STORE NOW OPEN! www.ihaveansm.com
1) You could become an official UP'nDOWNer!:
/ @upndown
2) You could sign up to Patreon, where I can forget to post things as often as I should!: / upndownvids
3) You want to buy me or one of the cars a drink? How kind! Paypal now available: paypal.me/ihaveansm?country.x...
Catch me on:
Facebook: UPnDOWNvids
Instagram: upndownvids
Twitter: @UPnDOWNvids - Auta a dopravní prostředky
You're a real CZcamsr now. Haha, I bet you said to yourself you'd never do this kind of thing when you started your channel, but it's good. It's growth. Keep it up mate.
I'm really not built for it! Remainder of the day and the next day or two I was all over the place. It's like it sucks the life out of me, but afterwards.
@@UPnDOWN The more you do it the easier it'll get. Just have to keep doing it and not let the voice in your head stop you or let it get the better of you.
Easier said than done I know, but you're doing it.
@@UPnDOWN Personally, I'm glad you've said that its not your thing because I subscribed to your channel mainly for the car tinkering....with a little bit of added waffle for entertainment.
In the early days of HubNut I remember him claiming that he started his channel because he loves tinkering on old cars. However, most of his vids now are of him doing quite a lot of talking and very little tinkering.
My channel is just whatever I feel like making. It's not a product, nor does it have a target market. I just make car videos. I think Ian is the same.
I'm old enough to have owned minis and imps from new and have owned both and agree that the imp totally outclassed the mini in every way
Last line about the gearbox gave me the best laugh all week! Thanks, Mr Kitch! Entertaining video, too.
That was actually my wife's idea!
@@UPnDOWN pinching the gearbox?
I need to get to this place. I was born in 1965 so 70s cars are pure nostalgia for me.
Imps are fantastic cars. I had a very late model, and it was an absolute delight to fling round country lanes (never had any trouble you'd associate with rear engined cars getting tailhappy). Certainly no less reliable than any other older cars I've had. And that engine really is a delight. The exhaust note on Hubnut's Foxanne always reminded me of Imps.
Agree with what you say about not being tail-happy, although you were aware that the weight was there in the back. Only lost mine once, on an M3 off-slip and there was rain and oil involved.
Loved the Stilleto twin carb sports versions with twin front lights. I have a racing front exit racing sidecar chassis built to take one.
Try a Clan ...with one in ...if you can get into one.
In the day for a couple of years after passing my test in the 70's I was lucky to be able to drive a lot of different cars, including several Minis and Imps. Of the Minis at least 2 were 850's, 3 were 1000's and a 1275gt. Of the Imps 2 were bog standard and two were Sunbeam Stilettos.
Other cars driven at about the same time included Fiat 500, 127, 128, 131, Reliant Robin, Seat 133, Fiesta 957 and 1100, Ford Escort 1300's, Cortina 1600's, Vauxhall Viva, Hillman Avenger, Simca 1204, VW beetle 1200, Ford Zodiac mk4 and Lancia Fulvia.and Beta A few of these were mine, others belonged to friends and family. Not only was the imp nicer to drive than the Mini, It was better than nearly all of the others, however the stand out favourite cars from these were the 500 and the Fulvia.
Even though you don't enjoy it I reckon you're one of the best at the road test stuff, like getting a lift off a mate who's just bought a car he's not sure of or something.
Maybe that's how I should do them, and stop worrying about trying to cram in all the facts/info.
My first car, when I was 19, was a 1969 white Singer Chamois. It had twin headlights and upgraded seats and ran on crossply tyres. I got it in exchange for a top of the range hifi system ( In those days). The freedom it gave me to visit my friends was priceless. My pals, who all ran tuned minis teased me mercilessly. I sold it and bought a white Lotus Elan +2 with a Webasto sunroof, which I owned for a whole month until I realised that, being an impecunious student, I could not afford the insurance. ( It was possible to insure cars on a monthly or 3 monthly basis then through Cloverleaf insurance). I saw 120 mph briefly. WOW! I then bought a bronze yellow 1275 GT mini which I owned for 5 years until I upgraded to a Diamond White custom pack Escort Mexico then a Venetian Red MK 2 RS2000 which I sold for the deposit on a house and towards my wedding. Those were the days! I look back fondly on my Singer though and often wonder what I could have made it into with spare money. The engine was so smooth. It was actually designed by Coventry Climax for service as a high power water pump for fire fighting.
Mine ( '72) had everything thrown at it ! 998cc Wills ringed big valve head, R17 cam and twin 40 DHLA Dellortos, Janspeed manifold, electric fuel pump, alternator, front rad and a factory clearance brand new gearbox. Used the legendary Dave Bogg for tuning advice as a penniless student back in the late 1970's.... Did about 90 mph in third and you could then change up and pass most Minis of the time.... great times. Oh and forty to the gallon in "Grandad" mode....
My first car was a '66 Super bought in '73. It got the 1" lower Monte Carlo springs, stiffer bushes and decent radials, a rebuilt engine with some Chrysler Comps bits, a 13" Moto Lita steering wheel and so on. Enormous fun to drive on twisty roads and given a long enought straight it would peg the 90mph speedo.
One of the cars I wish I'd kept instead of selling it to my BiL when I got a company car in '80. He broke reverse and sold it to banger racers. It was rust -free too.
Exactly the same as my mum’s old imp. First car I ever drove, up at Detling airfield aged 15. Got about 300 yards then stalled it and the bloody thing wouldn’t start again. Needed a tow home. Some things don’t change by the looks of things 😅
Kitch goes to the midlands and gets "hands on" with a Coventry Climax.😁
I remember this car from 1968. A friend's mum had one. Coincidentally, the weather was about the same as it was when you drove this one the day I was given a lift in it.
My first car was an 875 imp. By the time I had finished with it I had put a front rad in and a will ringed 998cc engine. Was a little flier.
Never had one but I have always liked these cars. The history of it's power unit is well known, Coventry Climax fire pump engine, and I have a 16mm film of some blokes at Arley on the river seven testing one out.
The Singer Chamois was quite special too. Fella I knew rallied one in the 1970’s
I love that imp dashboard. Very cool
That's a very nice Imp. Sounds wonderful. A very fine and entertaining video by you both. That bit at the end. 😄
That was my wife's idea!
@@UPnDOWN Your wife did a super job with the filming. 👍
Reminds me of my childhood...mum had a white imp.
must say i like the imp, had a corgi one when i was young think it was blue, I wish I'd had a real one when i was younger.
I drove that car last Year and absolutely loved it I'm quite fortunate that I only lived 2 miles away from the great British car journey. I am trying to work my way through them all if I can
Very cool!
Marvellous stuff - Linwoods finest.
Love an imp I've had 2 and my Dad had 2👍
My only problem was changing the doughnut drive. A real hard job unless I was doing it wrong. They were great for getting up a hill in the snow when other cars lined the roadside. You had to ensure the little o ring under the head was ok otherwise you had a warped head being alloy. Still I loved it
Cracking video 😊, my recollections of the Imp are very positive ,smooth & quiet, better than my Dad's cortina 😊, love the end of the video 😂
Bought 1967 Singer Chamois in 1969
Dark green with black interior
I sound proofed it with a kit I saw in one of the motor magazines of the day
One of the best things I did was I fitted Koni shock absorbers all round .. fantastic improvement
Added a Phillips car radio also changed the king pins and remember how light the steering was afterwards. always changed oil, air and oil filters, plugs and points twice a year
Best memory? driving to Cornwall with my girlfriend (now my wife) to visit her brother and his family
We used to leave about midnight to arrive St Agnes 5 - 6 am a journey of around 250 miles no motorways back then, I recall the petrol tank held 6 Gallons and that was plenty of fuel for the journey
Great memories of, IMO, a great little car
Pity about the "inclement" weather 😂
Good to see you enjoying yourself 😊
Yeah, lol, as "insm" isn't the same.
You do know he has an SM don't you? 😂
I had the opportunity to see an Imp at the Retro Classics in Stuttgart a few years ago. At the same day there also was a Reliant Scimitar. Lovely and rare cars here on the continent... Thanks Kitch. For the ride. And the sound! See you --- Martin
Back in the late 70's the neighbours eldest son had an Imp which had head gasket failure and was parked up in their front garden for about 2 years in the end.My 10 years old self and his younger sister spent hours going on imaginary road trips in it. Never owned one but always liked them especially the Sunbeam variant❤
Great video I'm sure you were making the most of the handling seemed a lot faster than that HubNut Chap in the Granada 😂😂😂
My Father had an Austin 7 , a ford Zepher and a Ford Anglia until 1979 when he had his first Citroen an Ami 8 super he bought used from Slough Citroen garage once he discovered citroens he never looked back, Id love to have a go in a Ford Zepher one day they are beautiful cars, he used to pinch the engine oil from submarines in the dockyard in Portsmouth to service his car and he changed the oil every 3 thousand miles because it was free a perk of being a submariner on the old Astute submarine. He was also a diving instructor in the HMS Dolphin Tank in Gosport A very mechanically minded manm and he taught me a lot about engines and how to maintain a fix them, yup it would be nice to drive a Ford Zepher if they hsave one. what a shame its only British cars can you imagine a place that has citroens to drive?
I agree about having one over a mini
That's the most I've laughed this year.....!
Looking fwd to the next installments
Derby, "up-north". We used to consider anywhere from South Yorkshire, south as "south". Did not know this museum was there, thanks, may take a visit as 'local' 🙂
Anywhere above Basingstoke is the north. Facts.
Brilliant little roadtest Rich, need to revisit this place and actuallly drive dads car aka a Escort and compare it to mine, but think i also would have a shot of a Imp as it was made in Scotland.
Definitely have a go in the Imp, it's huge fun!
LOL @ Furious message and nicking the gearbox. Great review too, I want to drive one now and see how it compares to a Mini and a Beat, both of which I have owned in the past.
Have driven all three, the Imp feels like it's a decade or two newer.
My Dad had one in Harvest Gold - GFR 208 D which I am sure was the reg - we all loved it
Just brilliant, not your usual test drive.
Radiator fan on the rear of the waterpump pushes the air forwards through the rad, it doesn't draw it through from the front. Negative air pressure underneath the car when driving helps to suck the air through.
Critical info, makes a huge difference. Cheers.
You might have to get Hilda a brother in standard trim Kitch - call it Howard
Don't, I'm tempted!
Well done Rich. I'm delighted you found the Imp to be a special car.
I bought a new Imp Van in 1970, my first car, and it was a delight. The engine was superb till a bolt came loose in the induction system and bounced around on one of the pistons! What a racket!! Fixed under warranty and I had no further problems, just loads of fun chucking it round corners. Having learned to drive in a Mini 1000 I had a direct comparison and the Imp was much more fun to drive.
Great, and much underrated cars.
I realise you don't get out often, but thanks for making the effort! More practice may help...
I really did, I enjoyed it so much. So different to the other type of small cars of the time. Quite a bold and brave move by Rootes, really. It deserved better.
Everyone who's driven an Imp seems to say they're great fun - they seem to be getting more popular in the practical-classics world, as well as racing.
I totally agree my first car was an Imp and I swapped it for a Mini, which was smaller slower and rusted quicker. Really underrated
Nice car, and you were correct in saying you'd get wet for our amusement - made me smile 😄
I'm sure my dad had some form of 'gt' version with twin carbs. Once it met its end of life due to its fondness to rust away, a chap bought the car to use the engine in a racing power boat of some kind. Great vid if a little wet.
A nice comparison test.
A sweet car with a sweet engine, great combination 👏
Imps bring a smile to your face
yes I had both and I preferred the imp to a mini
Another good video 👏👏👏👍👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️
I love these older cars - I'm pushing 70 and have driven quite a few different cars for the past 40 odd years. My father in law and I would have a great time doing minor fettling on his cars from the 70's. I have settled on a little 2010 Honda CR-Z now which is cheap as chips to run and insure. It's a hoot to drive on B roads.
I do like the CR-Z! Really smart looking car.
my first car was a mk2 1968 super imp in red it was the reason i subscribed to this channel, actually i have to say i was a bit disappointed that you changed the engine to non standard the original engines had such a huge tuning potential .
I'm guessing you didn't watch the videos about how/why Hilda was made?
Thank you for this video
You're welcome, Phil.
My wife drove the imp and the mini whilst I drove the Austin 7 which was utterly fantastic. Ticked a bucket list box for me….I don’t get out much.
You're gonna like the next video then...
Wow you've got your self a camera Operator?
I have staff now.
I've always thought Rootes Group had a particularly sad end. An innovative company who overstretched themselves developing the Imp, and were subsequently swallowed up and spat out by Chrysler!
All true,, though they weren't spat out by Chrysler; Chrysler Europe ran out of money themselves and got swallowed up by PSA. It was PSA that knocked it all on the head in the 80s with the end of the Talbot brand.
@@UPnDOWNThe whole lot was sold to PSA for $1 I think?
People trying to push start me was my memories of my old imp😂
1973 imp super was my first car
My second (four wheeled) car was an Imp, pretty much identical to that. Same colour and everything but on an 'M' reg. I seem to recall mine had cloth seats though. Sadly don't have any pics. It was such a sweet drive (was only 8 years old at the time).
Unfortunately, when approaching MOT time, I discovered the floor was basically made of filler! I couldn't weld, Imps were cheap (think I paid £125 at Brentford auction) so down to the scrappy it went😢.
Hilda's pretty much identical, but on an 'M' reg! Brother from another mother!
Such a smooth review, more please.
Entertaining as always. Good to see that you don't change, even when you're off on a fancy CZcamsr junket!
The day I start 'acting' for the camera is the day my wife will slap my face.
Will get around to doing this at some point as this place is lest then a hour from me
Definitely worth a visit.
You are going to end up upsetting Hilda when she finds out lol
Quite literally "Mum's car" for me. There were a couple. But in a household of boys, the Imps were "borrowed"a lot.
When these came out I was a teenager (no, I was never a teenager: adolescent) just building up to my first car (1938 Austin 12, since you ask: stately), and my one experience of the Imp was hitching a ride with an enthusiastic owner who was very convinced they were better than the Mini, though he claimed to have a length of rail track in the boot (frunk? -- never) to improve the weight distribution. He also asked my to put my bag on the floor in the back to lower the CoG.
The word on the street was that they were a better car than the Mini (the marketing point "Coventry Climax engine" stirred hearts in those days), but Rootes couldn't match the BMC build quality. .... And that is the history of the British car industry.
The earlier Imps had some trick front suspension geo which was designed to promote understeer (to reduce snap-oversteer) but when they realised the car needed to sit higher due to light regulation failures, the trick geo became dodgy geo! People used to think they were weighting the front end down, but in reality they were lowering it. The fact that the driver weighed much more than whatever they put in the front end (railway track/bag of cement/sand) and had the biggest effect on weigh distribution seemed to pass them by entirely.
The later cars corrected the geo (which this car has). Check out the videos of Imps racing around Cadwell Park with the Minis, that's what they can really do!
I think the Mini was a more clever car, certainly in terms of packaging, but the Imp had better componentry and was much better to drive. Unless you really needed the car to be smaller than an Imp, I can't really see the advantages of the Mini (reliability withstanding, as I know the earlier Imps were a bit of a mess straight out of Linwood!)
@@UPnDOWN Thank you, that's very informative. It hadn't occurred to me until now that the Imp is a standard rear engine, rear wheel drive, Euro tiny car. And the motto is, I gather, if you have an Imp, slam it.
With you there, I'd much rather have an Imp over a Mini. Mainly because I think Minis are hateful little boxes, so the Imp wins by default. 😉
I don't 'hate' Minis, I actually really respect them, but I just much prefer the Imp. The engine's better, the steering's better and it feels like a proper car. I think the fact the Mini is so popular kinda takes the shine off them for proper petrolheads.
Oi, that's hate speech! Say sorry 🤣
All cars become unreliable starters if they are paked up too long. My friend kind of has the same problem with his less than one year old Toyota hybrid. (Was a hall demo before he bought it) Usually toyota hybrids consistently have the best battery life of any lead acid batteries I have ever encounered.
Hilda has a french starter motor and it works? LOL
It did, it now has a Chinese one (which also works!)
When I come down I actually drove this car because it was my dad‘s first car.
What, that actual car?!
@@UPnDOWN no not that actually car my dads one was dark green on a original F plate
If there ever is a reason why i support your channel, this video proves it.
There is no script, no polishing, no perfection. Just a very genuine bloke spilling, with passion, his guts about what he's doing.
Just being yourself on camera. Love it. Please don't change🙏
Loved your little interview with Ian, @hubnut, who's just as down to earth.
Thanks mate. I don't expect I'll ever hit the bigtime, or become 'mainstream', but from what I've learned so far, very few people can be authentic AND achieve that level of 'success' (however you define success). I'll just do what I do until I don't enjoy it anymore (or can't afford to do it anymore, more likely!)
Ian is totally genuine, exactly the same off-screen.
What are you doing? I need a gearbox! 😂
went to the petrol station in a L reg one of these could'nt find the filler cap never occured to me to look under bonnet lol
I've had funny looks pulling up and popping the bonnet open!
Before you existed Mum usually did not have a car, she likely would have got to use "Dad's" car once or sometimes twice a week if Dad was feeling generous...by the 80s things had changed.
I suppose a hypothetical could be - Could you have as much fun in Hilda with an original - tuned engine?
Oh yes, absolutely. Potentially more fun, but when Hilda was conceived, the goal was 100bhp, reliably. The Imp lump can be tuned to 100bhp (and it creates a wailing banshee of a thing) but naturally reliability and everyday drivability go out the window somewhat, whereas the engine in Hilda will shrug off pretty much anything I throw at it (at the detrement of the gearbox...)
The difference here is that I'm not sure you need the tuned engine. This standard car was a giggle! You can razz the arse off it, and not be breaking the law!
@@UPnDOWN "Power. Less is more"
Now, where on Earth have I heard that before. 😉
My father Willim white and Alec wise done the test drive of first hillman imp
Wow, really? Factory workers or the motoring press?
I’ve always fancied driving a Rover SD1 but I’m worried it might be rubbish.
Only ever been a passenger in one. Rattled a lot, but rode well.
Tahiti blue I think
I looked at the prices for "Drive Dad's Car" - is that price per car?
20mins per car, though I think if you pick more than one they do a bundle price.
My first car and I loved it to bits. It sadly just rusted away. Great engine, handling was good, reliable to a point, but rust buckets in the end.
Weren't all cars back then? Especially the British ones!
In Australia unfortunately the Hillman lips are not worth that much and another with the Hillman lip its a case of what the Imp could have bean but it the car that killed Rootes Group
The Imp could have been a Lip, you say?!
I always felt the imp was better than a mini, brilliant one up but put passengers in it and it became a bit pedestrian 875 when the mini made it to 1275 certainly didn't help.
Just add a R22 Cam, 1 1/2" Stromberg - Peco Exhaust - selt-built Electronic Ignition - Safe to 7,500 rpm and she flew.
What has confused my little brain is that here, 'Deluxe' is a lower trim spec than 'Super' - but go back 11 years to Vauxhall and the FB Victor and the 'Super' was a lower trim spec than the 'Deluxe'...?
See, I would have thought 'Deluxe' meant posh, and 'Super' was basic, but not in Impland!
If only the workers in Scotland didn’t sabotage the engines.
The imp would have out sold the mini.
How do you mean? The engines were only cast in Glasgow, they were assembled in Coventry.
Imp Sport anyone?
Would be a hoot!
To all you mini haters. The mini won! Get over it! 😝🤣
I do love an imp though 😍👍
Just cos it MASSIVELY outsold the Imp and was WAY more popular? I mean, come on, who's the real winner.....?
Nothing broke, everything worked perfectly, sort of. You're spending far too much time with Mr HubNut, disaster is rubbing off. I hope you're impressed that I resisted the temptation to impart the usual stream of imperfect imp based humour? No? Suit yourself.
Mums might (understandably) be a little upset at the misogynistic naming of this scheme! 😄
Ah, they needn't worry their pretty little heads about it!
@@UPnDOWN as Harry Enfield said in one of his informative and educational films, "Look, listen and take heed! Women, for pity's sake, don't drive!"
@@CaseyJonesNumber1 I😆
This was very much a “Mum’s car”….
Not a mums car.... have you ever seen a woman push starting her own car 🙄
Didn't think so 😊
The imp is vastly superior to the mini. A better OHC engine that, if serviced correctly, would go and on.
An all synchromech gearbox, a short positive gear lever.
Much more interior storage space.. and you can remove the engine and transmission with no special tools in about 30 minutes.
Folk that moan about the engine never read the workshop manual re tightening the headbolts some 500 miles later.
Hubnut beat you to it
Beat me to what?
And Steph?
Yes, Steph drove this one (as I said in the vid). Quite a few YTers have!
I had an imp, it was dreadful. Nowhere close to the quality of the two minis I owned. It was an unreliable rust bucket.
Here you are in my recommendations AGAIN. What a laugh you are. When i was in college some 10 years ago i had a mate called Steve, was exactly like you with mannerisms etc. Top bloke and you too. Brilliant vid hahahahaha
Maybe I was Steve? Maybe we are all Steve?
@@UPnDOWN haha maybe lol