I-Spy Classic Cars/Bikes-What have you spotted?

[NewcastleFalcon]

The Rear



Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

I have been DDGing since I posted and now I have discovered it was Zagato but I was in the right country!! I have come up with a comprehensive write up from Brightwells when they auctioned the car:

Lot number 83
Hammer value £15,000
Description Hillman Zimp by Zagato
Registration 9053 PG
Year 1963
Colour Red
Engine size 875 cc
Chassis No. B411007821
Engine No. 411007821
One of the most revered of all the Italian coachbuilders, the Milanese firm of Zagato is also one of the most idiosyncratic with designs that range from the sublime to the (er, how shall we put this?) difficult.

While cars don’t get much more beautiful than Zagato’s renderings of the Aston Martin DB4 and the Bristol 406, they also don’t get much more challenging than their reworking of the Aston Martin V8 and the Bristol Beaufighter. What all their designs have in common though, is an unfaltering commitment to light weight and aerodynamic efficiency.

The Zimp concept was born 50 years ago when Zagato saw the potential for an aluminium-bodied GT based on Rootes Group's impressive new Hillman Imp – a brilliant rear-engined coupe that could have been Britain’s answer to the Porsche 911 if only Rootes had been allowed to develop it. Keen to boost sales and sprinkle some Italian glamour on the Imp, Rootes gave Zagato the thumbs up and supplied them with three second-hand Imp Deluxe models sourced by Rootes marketing man, Peter Thomas.

Zagato transformed them into Zimps in just nine months so they could be exhibited at the 1964 Earl's Court Motor Show. While the floorpan and running gear were all standard Imp, the aluminium coachwork was designed by Ercole Spada (of Aston Martin DB4, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint, Giulia TZ and Junior Zagato fame) and was pleasingly light and airy with an almost push-me-pull-you symmetry when viewed from the side thanks to the droop-snoot nose and tail.

Weighing just 630kg and powered by the fantastic free-revving 875cc all-alloy Coventry Climax FWMA-based Imp engine, the Zimp had a top speed of 87mph. A 'Small Car' road test from January 1965 (copy on file) praised the Zimp for its "splendid driving position, well-padded seats and very good handling" which "never gave us a moment's anxiety even on unexpected bends." They also praised the elegant looks and the aerodynamics, noting how quickly and thoroughly the bodywork shed rain, and how it seemed "to cut through the air rather than elbow it aside."

Unfortunately, shortly after the prototypes were shown (with a projected retail price of £1,200), Rootes fell prey to the industrial unrest that was to plague Britain for the next decade. With losses mounting by the month, there were no funds to spare for such a frivolous exotic and by the time Chrysler came to the rescue, the Zimp project had been consigned to the scrapheap.

All three prototypes were given away to Rootes employees engaged on the project in lieu of wages and, remarkably, all three still survive to this day: two in the hands of an owner in Hampshire and this one, which the vendor acquired in the mid-1970s.

The first of the three prototypes to be made, 9053 PG is unique in having adjustable 'eyebrows' over the headlamps (operated via a dasboard lever), although the reasoning behind these has been lost in the mists of time. The vendor, a noted Zagato enthusiast, a personal friend of the Zagato family and a frequent visitor to the Milanese workshops, has questioned many people involved in the development of the car, including Ercole Spada himself, but none can recall just how these eyebrows came about.

When acquired the car had spent several years in a chicken coop on a farm in Bedfordshire but was then dumped outside when the farmer's son, whose car it was, went to university (dad clearly believing that chickens came before Zagato prototypes where accommodation was concerned!).

Luckily the Zimp had not deteriorated too badly and the vendor embarked on a leisurely restoration which eventually saw the car returned to the road in 1995 looking exactly as it had when it left the Zagato works in 1964 and also benefitting from a rebuilt engine and gearbox.

With less than 1,000 miles under its wheels since the restoration was completed, the car remains in very good order throughout and is said to run and drive well although it has not been used on the road since its last MOT expired in 2006. It comes with a few spares including a new water pump, new clutch assembly, new headlamps and new aluminium door kick plates.

A very well-known car that has been featured in numerous magazine articles over the years (several of which are included in the history file), this intriguing prototype also comes with original black-and-white photographs showing it being built at the Zagato works in 1964 and a copy of a sketch of the car that Ercole Spada dashed off in a matter of seconds while at a dinner party with the vendor just a few years ago.

A fascinating machine from the ‘what might have been’ drawer of motoring history, this unique prototype has excellent provenance, would grace any collection and is sure to be of interest to all Zagato aficionados.

[NewcastleFalcon]

I have been DDGing since I posted and now I have discovered it was Zagato but I was in the right country!! I have come up with a comprehensive write up from Brightwells when they auctioned the car:

Didn't know half of that Mick thanks for digging it out. Its a very good write up. The car appeared here on the thread Page 8, 24th July 2015

viewtopic.php?p=455885#p455885

Regards Neil

[Dormouse]

Well spotted. It is a Zagoto Zimp. It uses the fixed rear window coupe style and was intended as a lower priced coupe contender. It never made it!

[mickthemaverick]

The reason I recognised the Zimp was because Bob's first car was a rather sporty Imp and so we tended to follow Imp tales and stories in the magazines. Here is a reasonably authentic representation of Bob's first steed:

Own creation from blue and white image

[NewcastleFalcon]

Triumph Herald and a Triumph GT6 on Saturday one after the other but that was the extent of the convoy. Not the brightest of GT6's sort of a dull green, sort of like this...

Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

This has reminded me, I passed a beautiful cream Austin Westminster which may have been the big Wolseley. It was coming towards me round a bend and by the time I'd recognised the shape it was gone but it looked lovely!!

[mickthemaverick]

I've just researched it and it was the Wolseley 16/60 similar to this one:

BFTW

[Dormouse]

I have had a good read on the Imp site and found this https://www.imps4ever.info/cars/zagato- ... _180b.html
It gives a better set of views of the Zimp from different angles and the white body colour shows the shape better I think.
Amazing the fascinating things that come up on this forum.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Amazing the fascinating things that come up on this forum.

Random links, from random links and many chipping in with contributions, very enjoyable. In the back catalogue of virtually all of the threads cropping up on the Off Topic Chat Lounge in particular, some fascinating stuff has been covered.

Regards Neil

[Dormouse]

The Imp site photo also contains 2 Nymphs, a Ginetta and a Clan Crusader - all Imp based. There is a blue car beside it in a couple of photos . It is a Sunbeam Stilletto probably But Rootes also did an Imp Coupe for a short while. So the Zimp wasn't completely a waste of time. Lovely photo of the Wolseley as well. A 70 year old customer of mine in the late 1970's had a grey A60 automatic which he kept garaged and turned over on the starting handle every week and then started it - on the starting handle! His car was absolutely immaculate with no welding whatsoever on it and he kept it on crossply tyres because that is what the car came with originally. I checked it over every 6 months and I was sad to be asked to sell it by his Widow when he passed away. I had a great affection for him and his car.

[NewcastleFalcon]

This is my spot in May 2018 of a gorgeous Peugeot 504 Coupe, dug out today because I came across this version of the breed apparently for the US Market and described as a Peugeot 504 Sports Coupe.

Its orange perfect offset for the blue one I spotted, and its the only pic I can find, and quite marina-esque at the rear but quite striking.

Regards Neil

[Forrester123]

I owned 2 Imps, a Hillman & a Sunbeam & enjoyed them when they were working without problems.
My most embarrassing breakdown was losing a front wheel at the round-a-bout opposite the Fire Station in B'Ham. at rush hour!

[NewcastleFalcon]

I owned 2 Imps, a Hillman & a Sunbeam & enjoyed them when they were working without problems.
My most embarrassing breakdown was losing a front wheel at the round-a-bout opposite the Fire Station in B'Ham. at rush hour!

Welcome to I-Spy Classic Cars Forrester, plenty threads to chip in with on the Off Topic section of the forum so join in where you can. Only one car I have had where the wheel came off, a sheared king pin on a Triumph GT6. Thankfully it was in a 30mph zone and it just ground to a fairly slow and undignified halt.

REgards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

I owned 2 Imps, a Hillman & a Sunbeam & enjoyed them when they were working without problems.
My most embarrassing breakdown was losing a front wheel at the round-a-bout opposite the Fire Station in B'Ham. at rush hour!

I mentioned my mate Bob's first foray into the Imp family with his first car above. Later after getting married and moving to Luton he bought himself a "posh" imp, the Singer Chamois which he used to commute with his wife up and down the M1 to work in Watford.

As I was getting ready to leave my house in Watford one morning I had a call from him to say that he was stuck on the exit slip road at junction 9 with a disintegrated water pump. I called the exchange where we both worked and told them we would be late, then went down to Midnight Motors in Watford to get a replacement pump. I took the pump and tools up to find him, which involved me reversing up the exit road hard shoulder about 30 yards from the roundabout. I gave him the stuff and took his wife to work while he set about the repair. On my return to him he was almost done so I helped him by collecting water from the local stream. I hadn't thought to bring any with me so we made do with finest Hertfordshire stream water collected in his coffee flask, only 8 or 9 trips to and from the stream across the field from the slip road!! All done he fired it up and we went back to work......just another day in our varied and often bizarre motoring lives!

The car was the same as this:

BFTW