Vintage Thing No.147 - Imp-powered dragster.
Tony Gane looks quietly confident at Santa Pod in 1968. (Photo : M Wheeler) Twas at this year's Powderham Show, I got talking to Peter Batty, organiser of award winning MCC stand, when he told me about an Imp powered dragster that he'd campaigned in the sensational seventies. It sounded nuts. He said it would run a 12 or 13 second quarter mile, with a terminal speed of over 100mph. There is a tendency to think "Yeah right!" when you hear about some mechanical marvels but this one sounded stranger than fiction. I wanted to believe it, too, and Peter Batty is a gentleman of the MCC, for heaven's sake! Then he sent me some pictures. With those people in the background, my eyes go funny. Is this a model of a full size dragster? Or are they giants? (Photo : Peter Batty) The Imp dragster looks much bigger than it was. Those rear wheels are actually 10" Mini alloys. Measure them up against the Imp engine that sits between them if you don't be...