Restoration of my Hillman Imp Californian

[PJF220]

As some will know, I have been restoring a Hillman Imp Californian. It was built in 1967 and I took ownership in 2000. It was really Ocober 2003 when the main work started and the old wings came off and new ones welded on. Then came a new bonnet and two new doors. The welding was done by my mate and then his mate resprayed it for me in the original factory colour. I got the car back in March and hoped to get it completed for it's club's National event in August but sadly I got a contamination in the fuel so missed it this year. The car is now just about completed and should be going for it's first MOT in over 20 years next week. It has to be the first car I have ever owned for 3 years before finally driving it!!! I have added up the majority of the bills and I have spent the best part of £5000 ($10000) though when I think about the small things like new nuts and bolts, tins of paint and other consumables, I guess I easily broke the £5000($10000) mark. It's all been well worth it and I now have a brand new car that was first built in 1967 and then rebuilt by myself some 37 years later:














And this is the most recent photo I have right now. It was taken when my mate and I fitted the new doors on...please excuse his rather rude jesture

[MagicRat]

Congradulations!!
It looks great, thanks for the pics.
Its pretty rare for anyone to complete such an extensive project.

Finally...uh....rare astronomical event...daytime full moon........

[tigermiata]

Beautiful car that reflects your hard work. Imps and its derivatives are underappreciated Rootes gems IMHO.

[Thunda Downunda]

It's rare to see an IMP these days - especially one as nice as yours looks - but they always put a smile on my dial

You see, thirty years later I still have the fondest memories of fanging around in my modified IMP GT. I wish I still had it today. Only a motorbike was faster around town and that fantastic little Coventry Climax engine gave 50mph in 2nd and over 75mph in 3rd which isn't bad going for '875cc of pure muscle' is it? Nor was a highway-best of 62.5mpg! Such a fun machine -among other mods, mine had extractors & stubby dual exhaust & the glorious sound it made at peak revs caused my friends to nickname it the "Sonic Boom Car". I doubt you will regret your fine efforts or expense

Lucky you (appropriate smilie eh?)

[GJM]

Lovely restoration mate. You in the Impclub or any of the yahoo groups?
Im getting to be a big IMP fan at the moment, dont own one YET although hope to get one this next summer, hopefully a Calli like yours or a Sunbeam Stiletto. You've got to admit the coupes look 10 times better than the Hillman Imps normal shape

[taranaki]

A lot of good work there.I come from a family of Hillman enthusiasts,Dad is very busy with the Hillman Owners' Club, and has just taken delivery of a rather nice pre-war Aerominx.


He's also got a 38 Minx that I found for him in New Zealand and shipped back a few years ago.


He's got a couple of Superminx convertibles from the 1960's that they use as weekenders, but I don't have pics off those.

If you're ever passing thrrough East Sussex,and want to hook up with a fellow Hillman nut, shoot me a PM and I'll put youy in touch.

[Frankwdt]

Hi All A friend of mine owns a 1967 Hillman Imp Californian coupe, for which the 50mm Yazaki rev counter I was gifted, when it's connected to the coil shows no movement on the indicator needle. The inside of the unit looks ok and with no signs of burning or broken wires, does anyone know of a tech guy who could repair it please?
No photo description available.