The sturdy wee Hillman Minx



I recall sitting in these on many occasions in Nicaragua in the late 70's when used as taxis - the drivers swore by them and reburbished everything in sight, upholstery, body parts, and even re-made mechanical parts if they couldn't get spares.

Sorry about the last pic which was intended to show the wood effect door card and bench front seat - but just dig all that chrome front!

Now sitting in Edinburgh south side....

Would that would be a late model one, perhaps Series 111A?

Was this not the base of the upmarket Humber Vogue and Sunbeam Rapier?

There are further photos when googled....it seems to be a 1962 model.

This is Ian Moss, the guy who is fixing my Mini. I'm not sure his Imp is entirely standard! (he held the class record at the Prescott HillClimb for many years)

Ah yes, the natty Imp which impressed us when our neighbours bought one in the 60's - and it wouldn't have come very far from Hillingdon, Renfrew where it was produced.

Having said that we were all astonished to find it had 'optional' heaters (i.e. none) - for the local climate especially.

Optional heaters were pretty well the norm until the 1970s.

I used to buy 150 plus cars a year in the late 60's for company rep cars and as far as I remember lower spec Escorts and Cortinas did not come with heaters as standard.

Morris Minor vans certainly did not, I recall having to pay an additional £15.00 as well as having to pay extra for factory topcoat paint and a passenger seat.

Early Bedford vans and Land Rovers were the same. All of my Fathers company vehicles had 'after market' heaters which burnt paraffin and would of killed you if you didn't have the windows open, which made them pointless really.

There was one of those models "the Rapier perhaps" that had an electronic overdrive button on the top of the gear knob. Or I just imagined it.

The Rapier had that overdrive button, just operated a solenoid to operate overdrive on 3rd and 4th..

My boss at that company had one and I got to use it occasionally.

The Triumph Spitfire had a similar overdrive system, operated by a column stalk on early models and a gear-lever-top switch on later ones, like the one I had. I thought it was a brilliant system.