One of my commenters, Nick Goodspeed, had the wonderful idea of racing the tiny Tata Nano when it is released into the market. It brought back memories of the Minis that dominated saloon car racing in the early sixties and the incredible fun they were to drive. But, for me, another memory came to mind, one that was inspired by that vision of a horde of Minis jostling for a corner, a squabbling, brawling bunch of pure enjoyment.
An Imp leads the pack
In those days there was one interloper in the crowd, a lone ranger who refused to bow to the front wheel drive revolution. And it all began in the most unlikely place of all - the Rootes Group of marques, long since extinct, including such forgotten names as Hillman, Singer, Sunbeam and Humber. There was still life in the company back then and they conceived a plan to beat BMC's wunderkind, the Mini, at its own game. The result was the Hillman Imp.
Released in 1963, the Imp was the exact opposite of the design concepts of the Mini. Instead of a transverse engine driving the front wheels, it had the engine in the rear, canted over at 45º to keep a low profile. And what an engine it was! Unlike the ancient lump that powered the Mini, the Imp's engine was developed from a racing Coventry Climax motor, was built entirely of aluminum alloy with overhead cams and had the potential for extensive tweaking. The result was a car that cried out to be raced.
I was approaching the legal age for driving when the Imp came out and it became the object of my desire immediately. I had learned to love rear-engined cars in my mother's Renault Dauphin and, besides, everyone wanted a Mini and I was never one to run with the crowd. After a long campaign of persuasion, my mother made the mistake of buying an Imp as her next car. It was all I had expected it to be - exhilarating in its performance and just as much fun as the Dauphin around corners. The fact that the gorgeous little engine used to go bang quite regularly was a minor inconvenience to me.
In Britain, it seemed that only one driver saw the potential for racing in the Imp. He became a regular entrant, a lonely upholder of rear wheel drive tradition. This was Roger Nathan, a driver of considerable achievement in sports and saloon cars, and the Imp did not let him down; he was often the victor over those swarms of Minis. He went on to build a business around tuning and race-preparing Imps.
But Roger is also my excuse for writing about Imps at all - he is the one link with F1 that excuses this post. In 1961 he had tried his hand at motor racing and liked it; he bought a Lotus Elite and an Elva Formula Junior from a well-known used car dealer. That slick salesman was Bernie Ecclestone and we all know how his silver tongue was to enable him to become Mr Formula One in a later age.
So that is what Nick's comment brought back to me - the days when the Mini was the diminutive king of the race track yet was challenged by one man driving a car that bucked all the trends. In later years I did own a Mini and it is true that they were the ultimate fun car. But the Imp was just as good and what is more, it was different!