page_title: Hillman Imp
section_title: Mark I Imp: 1963–1965
hierarchical_section_title: Hillman Imp / Mark I Imp: 1963–1965
caption_attribution_description: All British Day, Kings School, North Parramatta, NSW August 2015
context_page_description: The Hillman Imp is a small economy car that was made by the Rootes Group and its successor Chrysler Europe from 1963 until 1976. Revealed on 3 May 1963, after much advance publicity, it was the first British mass-produced car with the engine block and cylinder head cast in aluminium.
  Being a direct competitor to the BMC's Mini, it used a space-saving rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout to allow as much luggage and passenger capacity as possible in both the rear and the front of the car. It used a unique opening rear hatch to allow luggage to be put into the back seat rest.
  It was the first mass-produced British car with the engine in the back and the first to use a diaphragm spring clutch. The baulk-ring synchromesh unit for the transaxle compensated for the speeds of gear and shaft before engagement, which the Mini had suffered from during its early production years.
  It incorporated many design features which were uncommon in cars until the late 1970s, such as a folding rear bench seat, automatic choke and gauges for temperature, voltage and oil pressure.
  This unorthodox small/light car was designed for the Rootes Group by Michael Parkes and Tim Fry.
context_section_description: The Hillman Imp was officially announced on 2 May 1963 when HRH Duke of Edinburgh was invited to open the factory in Linwood. After the opening, he then drove a silver Imp to Glasgow Airport. One of the first Imps produced is currently on display at the Glasgow Museum of Transport. Another early example from 1963 is at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu with the registration 1400 SC.
  Before and after its announcement, the Imp garnered significant attention from the motoring press. In 1962 the Small Car & Mini Owner magazine published an article titled "Enter the AJAX!" making notability of the all-aluminium water-cooled rear engine. The same year, The Express published an article titled "It's the new 'baby'", calling it "the first baby car ever built by the Rootes Group". In June 1963, the Motor Sport magazine commented on the press' reaction to the Imp who strongly favoured the Imp in terms of its engine, gearbox and competitive price; at launch, the standard model cost £508 1s 3d, while the deluxe version was £532 4s 7d.
  The name 'Imp' was originally the name of an engine produced by Ailsa Craig Ltd; a manufacturer of marine engines. In 1962 the company was acquired by Warsop Fram Group, and all of Ailsa Craig Ltd's assets were up for sale. The Warsop Fram Group traded the Imp name to the Rootes Group in exchange for a new Humber Super Snipe motor car. The namesake was to emphasize its small-size, and to help it sell as the obvious competitor for the Mini.
  The water-cooled four cylinder power unit was based on the Coventry Climax FWMA fire pump engine featuring an all-aluminium alloy over-head cam, combined with a full-syncromesh aluminium transaxle. This combination was very advanced at the time.  Sir Alec Issigonis, designer of the BMC's Mini, had recently described the fitting of syncromesh on all forward gears as "impossible". Besides the engine's unique design, it was canted at a 45° angle to keep the center of gravity low and optimise road-holding.
  As reported in tests such as The Practical Car and Driver, rear-engined cars generally suffer from oversteer handling characteristics to some extent, and to counteract this as much as possible, the Imp has a semi-trailing arm independent rear suspension system. This relatively costly and sophisticated solution, atypical for small-car design at the time, was insisted upon by its designers after testing at length a Chevrolet Corvair with swing axles. To attain balanced handling, the Imp actually uses swing axle geometry at the front, but this initially led to too much understeer and the camber was later reduced by lowering the pivot points.
  Gradually increasing in popularity in the UK, Mark I sales in 1963 estimated 33,000 and increased to 50,142 in 1964.
   However the Imp had decreased in sales in 1965 to 42,663. Reliability problems, mainly due to poor cooling of the rear engine, had soon surfaced, and the public image of the car was becoming negative. This was extremely worrying for the Rootes Group who were trying to compete with the Mini when its production had already totalled 1,190,000 during the 1960s.
  The Mark I was introduced as a 2-door saloon and appeared in two models; the Basic and De Luxe. In October 1964, a luxury edition was introduced known as the Singer Chamois.
caption: 1965 Super Imp (Australian)
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