While we supply plywoods and epoxies,general related stuff,plus our list of boat kits,we also have other interests,mainly related to old cars,as may be seen if your a regular to this blog spot? One of my great interests is in the Rootes Car Company and their great design,the Hillman Imp http://www.theimpclub.co.uk/ this little gem was conceived back in the early 1960s and was released to the british public in May 1963, Prince Philip was one of the cars early drivers as was Cary Grant in the USA. The car was designed by Mike Parkes (Ferarri driver) and Tim Fry,two very young designers (26 and 24 years old) ,it was a car well ahead of its time. and given that it weighed just 710 kgs and had an all alloy four cylinder power plant with an engine size of just 875cc,based on a Coventry Climax engine, it was a pre design to all the Micro Cars we see today but Mike Parkes and Tim Fry came up with the design basics long before computers were the tools available to modern designers,proof indeed of their genius.
The car was a well recieved introduction to a world of humdrum designs,only the BMC Austin or Morris Mini could claim to be inovative at that time,once the motoring press had tested the new Hillman Imp it was clear to see that such a car had competion possiblities.It took the then world of private motor engine tuners,no time at all to develop tuning parts,one such company,Janspeed, was the best at producing a combined inlet and exhaust manifold,a sample of the exhaust side I have kept since my days when I raced a Hillman Imp in the Argus Championship,here in Cape Town around 1972.
Using the sample as a base tool,we have had a local specialist company fabricate a full race set of pipes to take two twin choke Webber dcoe 40's,with the exhaust side taken out below the carburetors.This is a trial set,itended to proove we can offer as good as is on offer anywhere else,if you need a set,or just the fabricated exhaust,either small or large bore,please contact me.
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