For a mere 45 of your finest pounds you can have a 20min/ 6 mile drive... assuming that the Top Gear crew don't spot it and drop a piano on it.
The moggy vans fetch good money ...big money fully restored . I had 2 back in the late seventies ..an H reg maroon one and a rare Austin badged moggy van the ones with the rippled grill ,had a gold seal engine ...sold it to a painter and decorator who had it all sign written up K plate one
My first car was an Imp in 1977, I paid a tenner for it as a non runner without a bonnet, got it on the road for 20 quid or so and ended up rolling it into a field after hitting a tree stump coming down a country lane on the way back from the pub. I had a cunning plan to switch off the lights when I came to a bend in order to see if anything was coming the other way to save unnecessary slowing down. Sadly I had the plastic extensions on the toggle switches to look cool and on this particular occasion I switched off the lights, saw it was clear and went to switch the lights back on but the extension flew off and in the dark I hit the stump and rolled int the field. All 3 of us in the car were unhurt but I did feel a bit of a cock I must admit
I once drove an Imp with the clever* hydraulic throttle linkage which appeared to work along the lines of ALL or nothing.
Had a couple...1st car was £50 second one only a couple of hundred. Always breaking down...but did all my courting in them .... surprisingly roomy in the back with the seat folded.
And how many pints had we had The fuel tank is in the front if i remember . A fellow apprentice i used to work with had a mate who hit a wall with his imp caught fire and just managed to get out before it went up . Another guy i know had a metallic kingfisher blue imp a right wreck ....he took it to the local garage to get it sorted for MOT ...went to pick it up ,the mechanic said it just wasn't worth touching and just said....What We have Here is a Very Very Sick motor ..we both just burst out laughing .
Coming back from the pub, the gearstick came of in my hand...though I could get home in 3rd...well I got home, but misjudged the drive and took the wall out.
I can't believe how many on here have disaster stories revolving around Hillman Imps, surely just a coincidence that we all went on to own Bays
No ...they were terrible motors ...you would be better for the Hillman Avenger Tiger . Now they are worth a lot of brass up with the Mexicos by all accounts .
My first car was also an Imp. We went all over in it including going on our honeymoon. The water pump failed (again) on the day before the wedding. My brother in law and I changed it after tea and still got out for a couple of pints. We went to Cornwall the next day without trouble.