Thinking of buying my first car this hillman imp which is now seriously on the cards now i have somewhere to put it.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=018&item=280016252156&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Im probably going to bid on it sometime in the next few days before i go on holiday.

Wish me luck

A seriously underestimated car. I had one new in 1967, it was so much fun in the snow. Handles really well and of course the engine is derived from Coventry Climax that powered all sorts of sports cars including Lotus (and also forklift trucks I believe). I think the only weakness was a tendency to blow head gaskets. The 997cc Rallye Imp had good results on the Monte Carlo.

Best of luck with the Auction, I hope you get it.

John

I wouldn't go too mad on it. I welded a few of those and helped fix the head gaskets and that was when they were not so old. If you don't get a look round it first be prepared for some work.

out of curiousity how much are you willing to spend on it? im guessing this is the new contender for your first car, personaly id choose a mini but the imp does look very cool and has a great deal of style!!

What kills Imps is rust in the area of the body adjacent to the rear subframe/trailling arm mounts and rear spring pads, first sign is the car usually sits low at the back

Check the front wishbones for rust --- now unobtainable.

Check it isn't jumping out of any gear.

Check the front king pins --- can be a swine of a job. no longer available but new batch has been manufactured for the pwners club.
Check steering rack for wear --- unique part and can be quuite wear prone, also check the steering rack gaitor again unique part no longer available although repro ones might be now sold.

thanks for the advice. As far as a mini is concerned, A) they apparently rust worse than imps because they are made of thinner gauge steel and B) my feet are to large to operate the pedal.

have to reply

I've had a few Imps over the years, they are fabulous little cars and as a first car you cant really go wrong. Simple mechanics (you can drop the engine in 30 minutes) sweet handling, and a lot more style than a mini. Plus, although it will never be top of the classic car wish list, keep it standard and tidy, and your not gonna lose money on it.
As BT says the rear subframe is the killer, this looks like a pretty good example. I'm getting all nostalgic, might have to put a bid in

John

At least with a mini they don't blow head gaskets every five minutes ,Drive shaft couplings don't fail as often (not at all on the post 1970s) you don't need a bag of sand in the boot to make them handle ,all mechanical parts are still available as are body panels . All round they are more reliable AND cheaper to run.

i have to say my abiding memory of my imp was doing the head gasket and roto couplings, not the driving experience apart from lifting the inside front wheel a couple of times round roundabouts

Perhaps Oliver would be better of with a Reliant Kitten , small engine, economical and probably cheap to insure ? If he can find one?

I was looking at reliant kittens but i do want somthing with a little bit of go and something that won't crumble if hit by another car. Imps were quite safe cars for there time

Having driven Reliants 3 and 4 wheeled in the past, although I've never owned one I thought they went pretty well . 850cc Robins accelarate as well as the old Mini Cooper . Have a friend who rolled his Regal van across six lanes of the Newmarket bi-pass before there was crash barriers . He got out , changed the spare wheel and drove home We checked the car including the chassis for damage and apart from scratch marks the drivers door handle was broken .Reliants have a pretty hefty chassis and would probably be better in an accident than an Imp

i wouldnt listen to common sense when i was 16 either! , i bought a singer chamios for ten quid and did three head gaskets in two months before binning it for a rotten minivan which took no end of abuse until it ran out of mot ,this was when riveting plates over rot was ok