It's a strange phenomenon, but it seems old rare cars are always able to attract more of their kind whether the owner is conscious of it or not. Sometimes it takes a few years, but usually similar old rusty project cars have a way of attracting others of their breed. Somehow this trio of Hillman Imps, currently listed on Ebay, found each other at some point. Accordingly it seems only appropriate they are all being sold together.
Those of us experienced with buying old rusty things know the phrase "Great winter project" included in an classified ad can only mean one thing—certain project car hell. It seems only appropriate that this collection of disassembled rare Hillman Imps include the tell tale phrase in the listing. Winter projects sound like great ideas when you are reading a classified ad. At that point you have no concept of cold garages, endless frustration and unexpected expense that will inevitably go along with that phrase, you are just thinking ahead to the spring when your winter project will naturally be completed.
By our calculation much of the same awaits the future owner of these Hillman Imps. Although they were sold in the US as Sunbeams, Imps were designed and built by Rootes Group in Europe and later Chrysler Europe after they acquired the company. Imps were introduced in direct competition to Mini's but never caught on with buyers. The small cars had rear mounted all aluminum engines and found some motorsports success. All of this translates to a car that is extremely rare and has no significant parts support.
Included with this project car hell starter kit collection of Imps are three shells, three engines (one of which is the sport model) and a whole lot of parts. Presumably from this collection you could eventually create one or two running vehicles. Although Imps, even in sport form, were never particularly powerful they are well known for being fun to drive because of their size and handling characteristics. Something to keep in mind throughout the long process of getting one to the point where you can discover the fun of driving an Imp for yourself.
Best of all, in true project car hell fashion Hillman Imps are anything but valuable, even when in nicely restored or original condition they bring mid to high 4 figure prices at best. We're sure you'll spend more than that getting one of these cars to any kind of comparable condition when you can use them on the street or the racetrack, not to mention the initial $5000 it will cost you to buy them. With all of this in mind it is important to point out these Imps also satisfy perhaps the most important project car hell qualification—in a sick way we want to own them.
[Ebay]