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1963 Hillman Imp

1963 Hillman Imp in Today in Britain, Documentary, 1964

Class: Cars, Sedan — Model origin:

1963 Hillman Imp

00:15:30 Minor action vehicle or used in only a short scene

Comments about this vehicle

Author	Message
dsl ◊ 2014-08-16 01:37	1960s Government propaganda - voiceover says 150,000 cars a year from this new factory. Total Imp range production 1963-76 was 440,032.
Q-Ball ◊ 2014-08-16 03:11	I wish it was 150k a year. I've always wanted to buy an Imp. They seem like interesting little cars.
dsl ◊ 2014-08-16 03:45	They are. The Linwood factory was one of the most cutting-edge in Europe when it opened - apparently the first in UK to have computer-controlled production lines and there was a lot of hype at the time about it being an example of Britain leading the world. The 150,000 capacity figure was frequently stated but very inflated - something like 100,000 a year would have been more realistic in terms of actual capability. Over 65,000 Imps emerged by end of Year 1 in May 64 when production peaked at 2,300 per week. 252,510 were made by end of Year 3 (July 66), but rate had fallen to 1600 per week and it was downhill from then.
Q-Ball ◊ 2014-08-16 17:10	Well it had a production range of 13 years without any major changes to its design. Perhaps the casual approach to its upgrading was to blame for the failing numbers. Did these figures include the Hillman Husky Van variant or was that completely separate. British automotive procedure seems rather complicated. -- Last edit: 2014-08-16 17:12:06
Ingo ◊ 2014-08-16 17:16	dsl wrote The Linwood factory was one of the most cutting-edge in Europe when it opened - "Made in SCO" then?
dsl ◊ 2014-08-16 17:58	@Q-Ball - agreed. Chrysler takeover in 66 stopped Rootes from going bust, but the incoming US management thought baby cars were a waste of time so killed any real development. Added to all the other Imp problems (underdeveloped when launched, consequent reputation for unreliability, Linwood workforce and management failures) so it became walking dead. And Chrysler basically had no idea how to successfully manage a UK car firm anyway. Yes the 440,032 figure is all Imp versions, including Singer, Sunbeam and Commer and all saloons, coupes, vans and estates. @ingo - yes. It's going to be interesting working out all the Made-In-Scotland stuff after independence. Rootes things will be fairly easy compared to eg Leyland buses & trucks, Nuffield tractors (see docket in /vehicle.php?id=729756 thumb), Volvo P1800 from Jensen era and a raft of diddy makes.
Ingo ◊ 2014-08-16 18:15	dsl wrote ...And Chrysler basically had no idea how to successfully manage a UK car firm anyway... Not only in the UK, elsewhere they failed epicially, too - Simca in France. Or the South American derivates. Quote @ingo - yes. It's going to be interesting working out all the Made-In-Scotland stuff after independence. Hopefully you will have time for the IMCDb-user-meeting among all that work, caused by the masses of Imps here. Anways, you have two weeks between the two dates, will that be enough?
mike962 ◊ 2014-08-16 18:38	Quote @ingo - yes. It's going to be interesting working out all the Made-In-Scotland stuff after independence. Rootes things will be fairly easy compared to eg Leyland buses & trucks, Nuffield tractors (see docket in /vehicle.php?id=729756 thumb), Volvo P1800 from Jensen era and a raft of diddy makes. errr it's a bit senseless we have a lots of stuff listed as Soviet Union at time of production and wasn't retro changed if that is what you suggest same applies for East Germany stuff , they were left that way and not retro changed to Germany -- Last edit: 2014-08-16 18:41:20
Q-Ball ◊ 2014-08-16 20:21	ingo wrote Not only in the UK, elsewhere they failed epicially, too - Simca in France. Or the South American derivates. Which is too bad. I feel that the Simca 1100 is a very handsome little car as well. @dsl Thanks for the information. Living in Japan and now the USA, I've never seen an IMP, or any of the small Rootes cars, for that matter. Around here, the Omni/Horizon is as close to the Talbot/Simca/Rootes cars we ever came recently.
dsl ◊ 2014-08-16 21:44	Rootes in Japan: a 1968 range brochure (pictures provided by paykanhunter a couple of years ago from an ebay listing) This was a total surprise for me when he found it, and I've not found any other reference to 1960s sales in J (but Ford UK sold Cortinas there, BMC did some Minis, there were some late 50s Standards etc - so UK cars did trickle in. Plus the J-assembled Isuzu Minxes and Nissan Austins). All cars in this brochure look UK spec (and assembled - nothing from eg Aus or NZ) with UK names - no Sunbeam export rebranding; the only odd name is Sunbeam Imp Stiletto (but that matches the name used in I according to a comment from e225). [Note to sir admin - I'd have put this in the forum but I can never get the hang of posting pics there properly] Mid-late 60s Rootes in US: Imp sold as Sunbeam Imp Sports Sedan 1963-67 Hunter in various versions as Sunbeam Arrow67-69 Rapier [Arrow] sold as Sunbeam Alpine 68-69 - /vehicle_319748-Sunbeam-Alpine-Arrow-1968.html plus lots of earlier 60s Alpines and Tigers. plus there was the Avenger as Plymouth Cricket 70-72 Loads of 50s-early 60s Rootes sold in US as well - lots of Minxes (including Convertibles and Californian coupe), Rapiers, Huskys - even a handful of big Humbers and Commer PA vans/campers
Q-Ball ◊ 2014-08-16 22:43	Very interesting, dsl. I suppose they sold the Rootes cars under the Sunbeam marquee to capitalize on its already-known presence in the US market with the Alpine and Tiger. Unfortunately, most of them have either been sold, scrapped, or simply left to decay away. Here's a picture I found of one of these Sunbeam-badged Imp's rotting in a scrapyard in the midwest (photo credit goes to curbsideclassisc.com) And thank you very much for the Japanese brochure for the Rootes products. I suppose they did not sell especially well because they rarely appear nowadays. However, since users like Weasel1984 have been uploading a stream of old Japanese movies, some JDM Rootes cars may show up on the site. I'll keep my eyes open.
dsl ◊ 2014-08-16 23:02	Nice Imp photos. Simca 1000 was sold in US and we had a dedicated US owner in our happy band - see this selection and his comments. Simca 1100 was sold in US as Simca 1118 and 1204 If we ever find a 1960s UK built J market Rootes, I think we should declare an international day of celebration. @ingo - keep me in touch with dates etc for user meet.

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