1. Hillman Imp to the Beaulieu motor museum.
The first Imp photo was sent over by Les in 2009. He was lucky enough to acquire a collection of paperwork relating to the Canterbury Motor Company, a firm that traded in cars from 1904 through to the 1970s. In the 1960s they were a Rootes dealership, and amongst the many albums and files that Les has found, was this photo, showing a handover to Lord Montagu of Beaulieu of a Hillman Imp saloon, registration 1400 SC.
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The photograph isn't dated, but their attire looks like it is late 1970s. The car's registration suggests an early example - a check on the National Motor Museum site confirms that 1400 SC is believed to be the first production Imp, of 1963. The Imp was restored by the Canterbury Motor Company, and presented to the museum on completion, presumably at the time of Les' photograph above. A date sometime in the '70s or very early '80s therefore would make sense.
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2. Another Imp, this time on a car ferry.
The next photo is one I bought a while back. It shows three cars, and a lady in an eyecatching outfit, just as the barrier was moving behind her. The car on the left is an Imp, or Imp-derivative, sporting an August 1969 tax disc in the window. To the right is a Ford Corsair, but I'm not sure about the car nearest the camera - Ford Anglia estate?
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3. A chap with his brand new Hillman Imp.
Steve found these two photographs of a Hillman Imp at a car boot sale in Brighton, and kindly emailed them over. Both were taken by a Peter R Smith of Calderbank, Airdie. Who the man in black is I don't know, he looks a little like Roy Orbison in the second photo, but it seems unlikely that "The Big O" would have chosen an Imp as opposed to a Cadillac, Buick or Pontiac! :-)
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The first photograph is a side-on view of this classic 1963 Imp, registration XHS 27, with its driver behind the wheel. Note the whitewall tyres.
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| (Please click the thumbnail to view full-size image.) |
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The second of Steve's photos is a head-on shot of the Imp, with its owner looking very dapper, stood alongside the diminutive rear-engined Hillman.
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Imp enthusiasts may also be interested to see a period photo of the Imp-powered Costin-Nathan GT.
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Return to Old Car Photos section, Page No. 10.
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