Perhaps inspired by Ford's sales of a few thousand California Special Mustangs here in the US of A, Hillman decided that slapping the name of Richard Nixon's home state on a fastback '67 Imp would somehow convince legions of British car buyers to part with 650 for the thing. Sadly, the Imp Californian lacked the…

Yes, people, we have here the car whose development shuffled Rootes into the arms of Chrysler, and eventually off to Peugeot to die. It's the Hillman Imp, a rear-engined British-designed, Scottish-built rear-engined econobox that never displaced more than a rear-mounted liter, had a reputation for fragility and having…