Vintage thing No. 129 - V8 Hillman imp Californian

With a wider track and longer wheelbase this car looked planted and certainly had presence. (Photo : Hot Car)

This car appeared in Hot Car magazine in 1980(?) long before I got my first Imp. My original copy went the way of most things but I managed to get hold of another recently because this car made such an impression on me (groan).

Well, wouldn't it you at such a tender age?

It's cropped up in various Impish discussions with friends of mine over the years but probably does not survive. At least, nobody in the Imp Club knows (or will admit to knowing) about it.

Bob Baxter adapted a VW variant box  to fit (Photo : Hot Car)

It was built by Bob Baxter who was in the motor trade in Deganwy, North Wales. He was able to mix and match a fascinating variety of parts to create this car and finding some of them today would take some doing. Nowadays, you might find some even better parts but the choices were sound and the ensemble sound.

The engine was of course a Rover V8 putting out around 175 bhp and the gearbox was from a VW Variant.

The exhaust system was home made and featured a pair of Sunbeam Rapier silencers. (Photo : Hot Car)

Unfortunately the article doesn't describe how the gearchange was achieved or what driveshafts were used.

The Rover V8 had an Offenhauser manifold and a Holley carb. The engine and passenger compartments were sealed off by plywood and aluminium. A full rollcage was also a feature of the beefed up shell. (Photo : Hot Car)

Squeezing this in behind the rear seats made the wheelbase much longer but the rose-jointed rear suspension was a new design featuring a lot of current Formula 3 thinking but with Herald springs and Spax shocks. The front suspension was largely Imp but with disc brakes from a Herald (Viva discs were a common mod backalong). Rear brakes came off a Fiat and were apparently the only things that would fit. Braking performance was described as "adequate"!

Cooling was taken care of by a Standard Vanguard radiator running two Simca electric fans.(Photo : Hot Car)

The impressive flares were by a mate of Bob's called Colin Griffiths and made out of double curvature sheet steel brazed into the bodywork. Plexiglass replaced the side glass and the doors were GRP, too.

Note the external door hinges, bonnet vent and the much longer wheelbase. Wheels were 8" and 10" Minilites front to rear. (Photo : Hot Car)

The VW box took the strain but initially the clutch couldn't. In the end, an Autocavan 3 pad friction plate and matched pressure plate stepped up to the mark. Gearing was very low and top speed not much more than 70 mph but the 0-60 time was about 6.5 seconds.

The wide front wheels seem to have caused a problem with kickback on the standard Imp steering as the article (written by  Andrew Kirk) suggests a steering damper would be a good idea. Handling, though, was bloody good and traction - as you might expect - exemplary.

The car was for sale at the time of the article at £2500.

So what happened to it? There's this pic on the net, which shows the car from the rear, as well as a lady who could be Bob Baxter's wife, Lynn, who gets a mention in the Hot Car story. A rudimentary search on the DVLA website using the number in this picture only results in a "not found" message.

There are some other V8 Imps known to exist. There's Paul Hughes' drag racer (10.2 seconds at 140 mph) and this beauty from New Zealand has a 350CID Chev on a Renault Fuego transaxle. Franka's site also mentions a rallycross V8 imp campaigned by Nick Jesty and there was the Australian Sprt Sedan V8 Imp that ran a racing Ford Cobra motor - unfortunately this car was written off years ago.

And if you like this sort of thing, you'll lurve V8 fools!