23-04-2014, 09:23 PM
The Hillman 'Imp / Californian': an attempt to make a 'sporty' version from the standard model - but it didn't work: a total design failure. 
More bits 'n' pieces are coming back to me now from a long distant memory.
Part the trouble with this car was lack of ventilation for the engine and an inefficient cooling system. Radiator at the front of the car; engine at the rear. I seem to recall that the piping, radiator to engine, was situated in the sills. And then there was the aluminium engine, so you had to have anti-freeze in the engine all year round to combat corrosion. But I do believe that the manufacturer's manual didn't mention that. Then there was the near impossible task of removing & re-fitting the spark plugs: rear engine, hardly any room to get in there, let alone see what you were doing. And then there were the damn awful 'doughnuts'. You always knew when another one had failed 'cause of the racket: bang-bang-bang! And, just to cap it all, above about 60 m.p.h., the handling was a bit unnerving and the ride wasn't exactly comfortable either.
Al.
More bits 'n' pieces are coming back to me now from a long distant memory.Part the trouble with this car was lack of ventilation for the engine and an inefficient cooling system. Radiator at the front of the car; engine at the rear. I seem to recall that the piping, radiator to engine, was situated in the sills. And then there was the aluminium engine, so you had to have anti-freeze in the engine all year round to combat corrosion. But I do believe that the manufacturer's manual didn't mention that. Then there was the near impossible task of removing & re-fitting the spark plugs: rear engine, hardly any room to get in there, let alone see what you were doing. And then there were the damn awful 'doughnuts'. You always knew when another one had failed 'cause of the racket: bang-bang-bang! And, just to cap it all, above about 60 m.p.h., the handling was a bit unnerving and the ride wasn't exactly comfortable either.
Al.
