My first car.

[RogerSB]

Four of vehicles I owned and restored over the years, plus a 1951 Austin Devon and 2 Morris 1000s. All were used afterwards as everyday family transport.

In the photo: 1958 Series 1 Land Rover, 1953 Ford Prefect E93A, 1961 Rover 100 P4, 1954 Hillman Minx Mk VII.

The easiest was the Ford Prefect, as it was on a chassis and I could take the body off, After spraying and all mechanical work it was put back together again.

Worty, My MG Magnette was 1959 and had 1.5 Ltr engine (i think), I also had an Austin Cambridge later. Unfortunately all the Farina range of cars were all prone to rust, mainly wheel arches and sills.

Rog.

[RogerSB]

My first car was a Hillman Imp, which I also liked well because of the ohc engine

Bill, I seem to remember they had the engine in the back? I always fancied one but never got one. I think because a friend and neighbour had a pale blue one. He was a mechanic and helped me to work on my first cars, including the MG Magnette,

Another edit: Forgot to say I remember that my MG had twin carbs.

Rog.

[Worty]

Nice cars Rog   DVLA says the Hillman is SORN, the Ford and Rover have been untaxed for 23 and 17 years, and the Mk1 Landy is still on the road!

[RogerSB]

Nice cars Rog   DVLA says the Hillman is SORN, the Ford and Rover have been untaxed for 23 and 17 years, and the Mk1 Landy is still on the road!

Yes, I check occasionally, sort of sentimental value I suppose. The Land Rover's winch was fantastic, I used it to pull my boat up slipways. It was originally used by SWEB (South Western Electricity Board) to hoist telegraph poles up, then it was owned by a lady to go to horse races (hence the prancing horse on the bonnet). After that by a caravan site in Okehampton, Devon to move caravans around. When I got it the first thing I had to do was replace the front leaf springs because the winch had weakened them, changing one at a time, on axle stands and laying on my back.

I also had this Land Rover County Station Wagon, which I bought off a sergeant in the police. There was no owners record of it for it's first few years and he'd checked the police records and discovered it had been used on the Sandringham Estate. A few years later he was desperate to buy it back and we agreed a price and he was to pay and collect it the following weekend, but he didn't turn up. Two years later he got in touch with me again to ask if I still had it and would I sell it to him. Naturally I was wary and asked him why he didn't contact me before to say he'd changed his mind. He told me he's been in prison for the last two years. Apparently his mother was badly assaulted and he went around to sort him out and very nearly killed him and so he was convicted of assault and sent to prison.

Here's a photo of it.

Rog.

[groily]

[quote author=RogerSB link=topic=18860.msg163795#msg163795 date=1709558168

Bill, I seem to remember they had the engine in the back? I always fancied one but never got one. I think because a friend and neighbour had a pale blue one. He was a mechanic and helped me to work on my first cars, including the MG Magnette,

Another edit: Forgot to say I remember that my MG had twin carbs.

Rog.
[/quote]

In the back Rog, yup. Lovely little single ohc Coventry Climax aluminium job, fitted longways at an angle, with a semi-decent gearbox and nice-to-use remote change.
Some on here may remember the very photogenic Irish rally driver Rosemary Smith, who died at the end of last year  . . . she was a winning act in Rootes vehicles, especially Imps, but also Rapiers and the big V8 Tiger. Up there with the very best, she was.

Thinking of my own Imp  . . . I was in Dorset on holiday when I suddenly only had 3rd and Top gear. Limped it to my old Dad's place 40 miles away in Hampshire and took it apart. (Easier to say than do with all the needle rollers in there.) A small squarish plate, designed to hold a ball-bearing in a small hole in its centre, part of a synchro hub, had broken across the hole. Half the plate was a perfect fit in a fork notch in one or other selector rod - so it  duly jammed itself in. A million to one mishap I'd have thought. A couple of shillings for the plate and a complete weekend gone, just for that. Still liked the car though - and it didn't rust much either.

[berger]

a lot of guys i knew who raced outfits in the 70's  at weekends for their hobby used imp engines

[Rex]

1954 Hillman Minx Mk VII.

I had the same car, but in Slate grey. 1265 cc of brute SV power, and four speed column change although 1st was designated as "emergency low" . I suppose someone in the Rootes design office got the gearing specs wrong as this was a way of not having to buy another load of diffs or gearboxes.
A genuine 45000 miles and two owners when I got it, kept it for two years and sold it in a fit of anger about it's pedestrian performance. The buyer took it home (to a block of council flats) and it was trashed beyond all repair in a week. So ended SKR 193.

[BagONails]

The Imp was a very promising design in its day but unfortunately the government forced Rootes Group to build a new plant up in Linwood 300 miles away from their base which caused delays and a lot of problems.

A friend of the family won one as a prize in a Guinness promotion ran it for years and gave it to us for my sister to use. They didn't say anything about the time it boiled up...
A year or so later it blew a head gasket and of course Dad started stripping it. All fixed and it ran for another 3 months and blew again...We tried everything but the achilles heel of those otherwise brilliant engines was cooling (engine in the back) and the wet liners. The cylinder head would warp from an overheat and the liners start to shuffle. We rebuilt ours about three or four times in all, even planing the head flat again made no difference. In the end my brother turned it upside down in a country lane and that solved the problem!  He was OK but the Imp was beyond economic repair and somehow we just couldn't be bothered with it.  Having said all that it was a nice drive when it was going and a very economic, comfortable and spacious little car for its size.

[RichardL]

I can't remember in which order they came so, shown here, '50 Ford and '56 Plymouth. I wish I still had both, particularly the Ford, as you might imagine. I tied to pick photos close to the colors I remember. Of course, they were much bigger heaps than these beauties. Just noticed the Ford is a Claifornia car, as was mine, of course, having lived there at the time.

Richard L.

[Topdad]

When I worked asa car salesman back in the day next tous at Horsmans was Cowie -kirby who were routes dealers . My Boss and there boss got on and one day he came in pissing himself and told us come have alook at this car . Before us stood an Imp ,one of there rental cars. It had been dropped off by an irrate american woman who threw the keys at the manager shouted it was a heap ofn junk and cost a fortune in petrol ! She left he got bin tomove it and found the gearstick wouldn't move from 1st  a mech at had a lookat it and it looked like the gearbox was welded in 1st /Apparently she had driven from liverpool to Glasgow in 1st  cos she'd never driven a floor change ! engine still sounded ok ! 

[Rex]

Many years ago I read somewhere that VW staff came to look at the foundry making the ally engine blocks for the Imp as they couldn't believe the low reject rate of the castings. The Beetle reject rate was apparently a lot higher.
Wasn't the Imp the last British car to come with a winder handle as standard?

[BagONails]

I can't remember in which order they came so, shown here, '50 Ford and '56 Plymouth. I wish I still had both, particularly the Ford, as you might imagine. I tied to pick photos close to the colors I remember. Of course, they were much bigger heaps than these beauties. Just noticed the Ford is a Claifornia car, as was mine, of course, having lived there at the time.

Richard L.

Hey Rich, Is that one of them there Plymouth Babararacucudada's? 

[berger]

not my first my second 1978 then it got stolen in north wales , a milkman found it half blocking a track to a farm and it was a wreck, they had destroyed the inside but it was drivable. i got rid and bought a mini that i subsequently turned right over on it's roof then back on it's wheels. i ended up in the passenger foot well fag still burning and a gaping hole in my jeans idiot where the gear leaver got me. it snapped the rear sub frame i nursed it home at 15mph and ended up 1 hour late for my afternoon shift

[BagONails]

Ah the old MkI Crapi GT with the rostyle wheels ! Nice one Bergs although it sounds like you are safer on a bike, certainly safer for the rest of us

My old man had a lovely Cortina MkII 1600E of similar vintage in the same dark blue, same wheels. He ran it for over 20 years with only a set of rings and a cylinder head recon. until the rot around the rear arches extended down into the spring hanger areas and that was that.  These days someone would spend a fortune and reconstruct it all but back in the 80's nobody was interested. Sad end for a wonderful old car.

[olev]

Those cortinas are fetching good money these days.
They had a nylon hydraulic clutch line.
The exhaust pipe on my old girl would accasionally fall out of the manifold and burn through it.
The sudden exhaust blast and cloud of white smoke need a change of underpants.
I eventually fixed the thing with a wire coat hanger.
Can't remember, but think I gave it away to someone I hated.

cheers