<VV> THE HILLMAN IMP

[Tony Underwood]

At 10:57 PM 6/9/2012, Arlette Pat wrote:

>Hi everyone, It's not often that I can offer much to Virtual Vairs 
>as Corvairs of any description are a rare find down under here in 
>Australia. However the Hillman Imp is one vehicle that was sold in 
>Australia and in quite reasonable numbers. As many of you will 
>already know the front end styling of the Hillman Imp following 
>closely 1960-64 Chevrolet Corvair styling but without dual 
>headlamps. In Australia the Hillman Imp was sold as a cheap entry 
>level car selling at the time directly against the VW beetle, Morris 
>Mini Minor. Not long after its introduction in 1964 it was also 
>offered in GT form. The Hillman Imp GT had a more powerful engine, 
>carpeted floors and additional external body trim. It was considered 
>quite advanced, but the survival rate has not been good and they are 
>a rare sight on Australian roads in 2012. They were never really 
>valued and often had a hard life as student transport etc. Added to 
>this was the fact that Chrysler took over the maker of the Hillman
>  Imp which was Roots Group in 1968 and then started to close down 
> the brands of Humber, Sunbeam, Hillman, Singer and Commer trucks. I 
> came close to owning a Hillman Imp as my first car but my first car 
> ended up being a VW beetle. I think I still have the original 
> dealer supplied sales literature in my collection for the Hillman 
> Imp and Hillman GT Imp. Thats about all I can add, but would be 
> happy to provide further information on the Hillman Imp if anyone 
> is interested.




This is interesting stuff.  I knew Chrysler had a hand in Hillman and 
Sunbeam as well as Simca but never knew to what extent.

Thanks for posting this.  Very informative.



tony..