Vintage Thing No.124 - V8 Hillman Imp
Stephen Cuff's Imp looked so good in black. Only in strong sunlight could you see that the front end was almost totally mesh for the rather - as it turned out - undersized radiator This year is the fiftieth anniversary of the Hillman Imp and since I've had a long standing association with these under-rated little cars there will be one or two featuring on Engine Punk over the next few months. From a distance it looked like any other Imp This particular example is unfortunately no more. It was built to prove a BOBO (balls out, brain off) TVR Tuscan engine that reputedly put out 450bhp from its 4.5 litres. The Imp was pretty well filleted to take the drivetrain and Jag back axle so wasn't really a Hillman Imp at all but still - whoar! though eh? I regret asking what front suspension this thing used. Judging from the track and lack of room in the front (note the cut out for the air cleaners!) I'm pretty sure it wasn't Imp. I saw it at Tregrehan H...