I was employed by Rootes at a different factory in Dunstable way back. We were told the new factory was going there NOT Linwood and what we called the 4 bay extension was planned for it.
Great little car also one hell of a rally car had load of fun in 998 Andy Chesman engined Imp few mods on the suspension astuck to the road like whatsit to a sheet
I started in the motor trade, as an assistant/trainee salesman in a Rootes Group dealership. It was a cracking little car - everything the mini was, next generation. Its development drove Rootes to near bankruptcy. The Linwood plant was built, subsidised by the government, to reduce unemployment in the area. Within a few days of the launch of the 'Imp', when interest & potential sales were 'hottest' - the plant went on strike. The result, eventually, was Rootes went bust, sold out to Chrysler. This was a foretaste of what was going to happen to the whole British motor manufacturing. Nobody could afford the huge cost of research & development of new models, with a work force that would hold the owners 'over a barrel'. When people 'slag off' Margaret Thatcher, I can only say - you weren't there, you have no idea how bad it was!
Yep, mixed work from unions & management.....but then, if you've never done track work, you will never get it. But then this was a car with big holes in it. From management point of view, how much pressure is being put on getting/keeping the line running, if the bow wave of debt, is that big. Management go sucked into it, with grants , sweet deals, and fell into the hole of under developing the the product...,and that was not the unions.It was the same non union effect, that built cars in Northern Ireland....oddly with an engine in the back too.
@@robertwoodliff2536 years later, I was an industrial engineer, working in a brand new car plant in Porirua, New Zealand (I understand it's a shopping mall now - perhaps I got some calculations wrong....). We worked on a timing of 4 minutes per station on the assembly line, so any kind of a hiccough involved serious cost!
@@georgepayne9895......... i must admit that the Imp is such a mixed bag., be it the design., or the pressured test procedure., which did not let engines cool to show up the water pump problems..I met Fry (?)( Pye ) one of the 2 designers., who had a design business in Dunchurch nr Rugby..and the guy who designed the back of the Average., cos the front., he said was designed in the US......the Avenger was so much more a Roots product..I was round Coventry when the Ryton plant had gone to Peugeot and was down near the airport when the buses came past with the guys off night., who were generally asleep..At one point the Cov Telegraph was saying the plant was it's most efficient....but hay., they pulled the plug a couple of years later......but if your are the prancing lion., who's plant will you close., an English one or a French one......odd that..
That lift-off oversteer was actually really *useful* once you learned to deal with it. Saved my bacon a few times when coming into tight corners a little too fast :-)
Well, that just goes to show how ill-informed you are, or just unlucky. Did you maintain it properly ? They are great little cars and far far better than the mini ever was. At least your Imp wouldn't be shaking your fillings out with its shite suspension, and rubbish seating.
In truth almost all economy cars were shite at that time I.e leaky mini, Fiat 500/126, Simca 1000 etc etc were by both measures shite but way way less shite than a Ford Anglia or one of the baby Austin's with only really the Morris Minor/1000 managing to balance mechanical simplicity with an ability to stop and go round corners.
the only thing wrong with the imp apart from being totally unreliable was the poor quality shoddy workmanship installed by the lazy bone idle union orientated workforce whos only objective was to do as little as possible and be as ignorant as possible whilst doing so beteween the constant strikes for any petty excuse. 1 memorable one was when the canteen ran out of mars bars. if they were on the assembly line and dropped a spanner,they wouldnt pick it up as that wasnt their jobmbut would go to the store for another one wasting 3 hours to do so..just bone idle lazy shysters...no wonder the company went bust.
Never owned an Alfa then, or an American Ford, or GM? The tooling in that plant was the most advanced anywhere, fluidic control, in the 60’s! God bless the British union man, he makes a neanderthal look like Jacob Bronowski.
@@freddieparrydrums I‘m sorry, no it didn’t and, yes you’re right to point out that it’s an absolute classic and exception to the generalised belief that British cars are badly designed, shoddy and unreliable.
Jeez, now I want one more than ever.
Nice footage,thanks for uploading.
I owned one as a student. Great little car. But, rust was a real problem. That’s what did mine in. Still, I wish I still had it.
I worked for a rootes dealership when you used to got to linwood to pick up new cars
Why is everyone hating on British cars? There were many great British cars from this period, such as the Rover P5
I was employed by Rootes at a different factory in Dunstable way back. We were told the new factory was going there NOT Linwood and what we called the 4 bay extension was planned for it.
Great little car also one hell of a rally car had load of fun in 998 Andy Chesman engined Imp few mods on the suspension astuck to the road like whatsit to a sheet
It was a nice little car. The motor was not very reliable - but it did not rust. Somehow I am missing it.
I started in the motor trade, as an assistant/trainee salesman in a Rootes Group dealership. It was a cracking little car - everything the mini was, next generation.
Its development drove Rootes to near bankruptcy. The Linwood plant was built, subsidised by the government, to reduce unemployment in the area. Within a few days of the launch of the 'Imp', when interest & potential sales were 'hottest' - the plant went on strike.
The result, eventually, was Rootes went bust, sold out to Chrysler.
This was a foretaste of what was going to happen to the whole British motor manufacturing.
Nobody could afford the huge cost of research & development of new models, with a work force that would hold the owners 'over a barrel'.
When people 'slag off' Margaret Thatcher, I can only say - you weren't there, you have no idea how bad it was!
Yep, mixed work from unions & management.....but then, if you've never done track work, you will never get it. But then this was a car with big holes in it. From management point of view, how much pressure is being put on getting/keeping the line running, if the bow wave of debt, is that big. Management go sucked into it, with grants , sweet deals, and fell into the hole of under developing the the product...,and that was not the unions.It was the same non union effect, that built cars in Northern Ireland....oddly with an engine in the back too.
@@robertwoodliff2536 years later, I was an industrial engineer, working in a brand new car plant in Porirua, New Zealand (I understand it's a shopping mall now - perhaps I got some calculations wrong....). We worked on a timing of 4 minutes per station on the assembly line, so any kind of a hiccough involved serious cost!
@@robertwoodliff2536 yes, but that factory was SET ON FIRE. Protection racket, probably
@@georgepayne9895......... i must admit that the Imp is such a mixed bag., be it the design., or the pressured test procedure., which did not let engines cool to show up the water pump problems..I met Fry (?)( Pye ) one of the 2 designers., who had a design business in Dunchurch nr Rugby..and the guy who designed the back of the Average., cos the front., he said was designed in the US......the Avenger was so much more a Roots product..I was round Coventry when the Ryton plant had gone to Peugeot and was down near the airport when the buses came past with the guys off night., who were generally asleep..At one point the Cov Telegraph was saying the plant was it's most efficient....but hay., they pulled the plug a couple of years later......but if your are the prancing lion., who's plant will you close., an English one or a French one......odd that..
I have spent nearly 40 years in the motor trade and never drove an Imp. Were they good to drive ?
They are great fun to drive. As standard and well maintained they have a flick switch gearchange, turbine smooth engine and go-kart like chuckability.
@@byronmills5952 Thank You (:
My first car, loved it despite blown head gaskets and awful heating in winter. Drove all over UK in it for 2 years.
My friend put a bag of sand in the front of his.
@@nicksutton2964 Haha that bad eh (:
Spun my Mum’s Imp once.
Lift off oversteer.
Put me off 911’s for life......
That lift-off oversteer was actually really *useful* once you learned to deal with it. Saved my bacon a few times when coming into tight corners a little too fast :-)
Apart from being designed back-to-front, the Imp was a nice little car.
To Paul Sutton, wasn't THAT the point, to have the engine at the back?
@@nygelmiller5293
It was. But I still deem it a mistake.
Hillman imp engine performance specs
It was an old Coventry Climax design, I believe.
We had an Imp. It was shite.
Well, that just goes to show how ill-informed you are, or just unlucky. Did you maintain it properly ? They are great little cars and far far better than the mini ever was. At least your Imp wouldn't be shaking your fillings out with its shite suspension, and rubbish seating.
In truth almost all economy cars were shite at that time I.e leaky mini, Fiat 500/126, Simca 1000 etc etc were by both measures shite but way way less shite than a Ford Anglia or one of the baby Austin's with only really the Morris Minor/1000 managing to balance mechanical simplicity with an ability to stop and go round corners.
the only thing wrong with the imp apart from being totally unreliable was the poor quality shoddy workmanship installed by the lazy bone idle union orientated workforce whos only objective was to do as little as possible and be as ignorant as possible whilst doing so beteween the constant strikes for any petty excuse.
1 memorable one was when the canteen ran out of mars bars.
if they were on the assembly line and dropped a spanner,they wouldnt pick it up as that wasnt their jobmbut would go to the store for another one wasting 3 hours to do so..just bone idle lazy shysters...no wonder the company went bust.
The Brits are famous for designing horrible, shoddily built, unreliable cars, and this model is really a classic example.
Never owned an Alfa then, or an American Ford, or GM? The tooling in that plant was the most advanced anywhere, fluidic control, in the 60’s!
God bless the British union man, he makes a neanderthal look like Jacob Bronowski.
Excuse me? Remember the Rover P5B, or did that fly over your head?
@@freddieparrydrums I‘m sorry, no it didn’t and, yes you’re right to point out that it’s an absolute classic and exception to the generalised belief that British cars are badly designed, shoddy and unreliable.
@@flippop101 I have a Talbot Sunbeam Lotus and I love this car, especially the Lotus engine
Philip Hearn, how COULD you talk of our cute BABY CORVAIR like that!