Thanks for the Hillman Imp story!
Be carefull of what you wish for!
"The factory was offered to British car makers and they did not want it. "
Sadly.
Later "Hillman " a brit car manufacturer at some later point taken over by
Chrysler manufactured its own " People's Car" The Hillman Imp. It also had a rear engine. Originally a " Coventry Climax" fire engine pump, all aluminum
hi revving and very susceptible for high power tuning. I believe the first all aluminum engine sold in a production car. IIRC formally used in racing. It was breakthrough in other areas in that it was in some sense the first "hatchback". If you have such a term in the US. I had one. really good handling, and I drove it like crazy and in its time a very successful rally car.
Because of its " Hatchback" status, my then wife and I traveling and holidaying in Cornwall could fold down the rear seats and camp, sleep, perchance to make love in it.
Thats what a " peoples car is REALLY all about.
More history for the buffs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillman_Imp
I knew that Chrysler took a brief foray into ownership in the British market in the 1960's. GM had a huge German arm, the Opel, and Ford had a large arm featuring the Taunus and other models. Chrysler wanted to play suit and go international so they bought Sunbeam, I believe it was, in England. They did build in Canada, of course, but they wanted the overseas type of International Company.
I remember ads for the Sunbeam Alpine sports car under the Chysler banner in the 60's. The Chrysler venture in England did not get too far and then they sold out. Did they sell Sunbeam to the British or was it a French company which bought it up.
I do remember the Hillman Minx, perhaps in the early 50's. Before VW started to get big in the US marketplace, the British sold the only foreign cars you would see in the USA except perhaps for a handful of exotic Italian sports cars.
The MG and the Jaguar were probably the two biggest import sellers in the US. Also sold were the Morgan, the Hillman Minx and I believe the Sunbeam. I have a picture of the Hillman Minx in my mind and know what they look like so they must have been sold here when I was a kid.
Minx is a catchy name for a compact car. A guy could buy a Minx as his first car, move up to a Mercury Cougar and then when he was a yuppy and was making big money, he could move up to a Jaguar. Such a kid would be a very Kool Kat!
NEW REALIZATION!!
Lots of car lines are named for cats but none have ever been named for dogs. Why is that? Why, there could be a VW Dachshund or a Buick Bulldog. The Chevrolet Cocker Spaniel as not good for obvious reasons.
YIKES I DO REMEMBER A CAR THAT WAS NAMED FOR A DOG IN THE EARLY 1930, THE WILLYS WHIPPET! Whippets are sleek and quick, almost cat like. How about the Dodge Greyhound, that might make sense?
Here is something more on Willys, containing mention of the Whippet:
"The Short Flight of Aero Willys
The name “Willys” conjures up thoughts of Jeeps and their many variations, not ordinary passenger cars. This is despite the fact that the Jeep’s ancestor, the Overland, was second only to Ford from 1912 to 1918, and that until World War II Willys trucks were relatively rare. The company’s Whippet was the third-best selling car in 1928, and in 1933 all large cars like the Willys-Knights were ditched in favor of the compact and low-priced Willys 77, which progressed through several stages, the last of which were called “Americar.” Trucks during this period comprised pickup versions of the cars.
After the war, Willys had hopes of returning to cars. In fact, some attractive designs were penned by designer Brooks Stevens and a prototype sedan was built. However, the difficulties of resuming production dictated concepts that were simple to manufacture, and so the perpendicular wagons (another Stevens design)were the closest thing to cars to emanate from the Toledo factories. Later on, of course, came the sporty Jeepster, a passenger car for sure.
Model year 1952 marked Willys-Overland’s return to cars. Styled by Phil Wright, whose prior art included the Pierce Silver Arrow and the 1935 Ford, and engineer Clyde Paton, the new Aero model was a small (108-inch wheelbase) unibody car with lots of interior room. There were three series, entry-level Lark, mid-range Wing and top-of-the-line Ace, the latter with a wrap-around rear window. An Eagle hardtop coupe was added in mid-year, with its own upmarket interior. Powered by the Willys 161 cid six-cylinder engines (L-head in the Lark, F-head in Wing and Ace), the cars were decent performers, and cheaper, though less well appointed, than Nash’s Rambler.
For 1953, a Falcon series was added above Lark, and four-door models became available in all series. In 1954, cars got new taillights and bumper guards. The Falcon was dropped and Deluxe, Custom and Special trim levels were added.
Willys Motors was acquired by Henry J. Kaiser during 1953. Kaiser was mostly after the Jeeps, but a spiffed-up Aero was trotted out for 1955, the hardtop now called “Bermuda.” After some 6,000 cars were sold the dies were shipped to Brazil, where, with new Brooks Stevens sheet metal, production continued until 1972. Thereafter, however, the closest thing to a passenger car to emanate from Willys in the USA was the Wagoneer."
Lakey (The story on Willys is not by me. I Googled it and cut and pasted it here.)
