Minis and Imps

[John McKechnie]

Would I be correct in assuming thats a Chev in this-red rocker covers, dizzy at the back. AMCO72 would love the size of this radiator-solves all mini cooling problems. Great pic Ellis, where die you pick this up from? The J rail behind looks severely under powed next to it.

[Paul Wilkinson]

[Paul Wilkinson]

Rover V8 transversely mounted in a Clubman without the firewall being cut!

[Steve Holmes]

A bit of a handfull I would imagine...Wodonga car

I'm nervous just looking at that thing! That is wild!

[Habu]

Period mid/late 60's racing Mini engine bay

[driftwood]

Some info for you following Imp wagons posting
1 George Bevans Imps wont the BTCC 3 years on the trot with Bill McGovern 70 71 72 ( i think without checking!)
2 George built my fathers Imp engines 75-82 and many other local racer engines but he also had some German and Scandanavian customers too
3 John Homewood original used Ian Carter built engines he didnt use Bevan engines till 77/8 season when he was then running the Davrian floor pan Imp which he had specially built for 76 or 77 season
I know John had 2 steel shell Imps the 2nd car i was told was now in Ireland
4 Ginger Marshall used the Mini traveller chassis for the LWB over the Mini
His first car was steel shell with Mini A series circa 75/6
he later had a Space frame traveller mini built and he then fitted the Imp engine to the mini gearbox circa 78/9
This car later went Hillclimbing
His last car was a space frame Reliant Kitten shaped car and he then had his own alloy engine block cast up and Imp head fitted to it
He still retains the car but has recently been racing Clubmans sport racer

George Bevan died around 97 ish
Last year i was racing FFord at Brands and in Parc Ferme a bloke came up and spoke to me- It was Georges son Peter and he and his son had built a replica Gp 2 Imp and it has been running at a couple of demo events

[Imp Wagon]

Some info for you following Imp wagons posting
1 George Bevans Imps wont the BTCC 3 years on the trot with Bill McGovern 70 71 72 ( i think without checking!)
2 George built my fathers Imp engines 75-82 and many other local racer engines but he also had some German and Scandanavian customers too
3 John Homewood original used Ian Carter built engines he didnt use Bevan engines till 77/8 season when he was then running the Davrian floor pan Imp which he had specially built for 76 or 77 season
I know John had 2 steel shell Imps the 2nd car i was told was now in Ireland

Here is Johns second steel bodied Imp with a Rawlson fibreglass front. This car replaced the written-off Kent Messenger Imp

And here is the Davrian based Imp which John nicknamed the "plastic pig"

Here is a link to more information on the Imps forever site: http://www.imps4ever.info/racing/races/john-homewood.html

[driftwood]

I remember the Blue yellow Rawlson bodied car ( i was 10/11 yrs old)
Plastic pig was written off by the 3rd owner dicing with my father at Lydden in 1979

[Steve Holmes]

Here is Johns second steel bodied Imp with a Rawlson fibreglass front. This car replaced the written-off Kent Messenger Imp
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10207[/ATTACH]

And here is the Davrian based Imp which John nicknamed the "plastic pig"
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10208[/ATTACH]

Here is a link to more information on the Imps forever site: http://www.imps4ever.info/racing/races/john-homewood.html

Beautiful photos. Got any more?

[Steve Holmes]

Some info for you following Imp wagons posting
1 George Bevans Imps wont the BTCC 3 years on the trot with Bill McGovern 70 71 72 ( i think without checking!)
2 George built my fathers Imp engines 75-82 and many other local racer engines but he also had some German and Scandanavian customers too
3 John Homewood original used Ian Carter built engines he didnt use Bevan engines till 77/8 season when he was then running the Davrian floor pan Imp which he had specially built for 76 or 77 season
I know John had 2 steel shell Imps the 2nd car i was told was now in Ireland
4 Ginger Marshall used the Mini traveller chassis for the LWB over the Mini
His first car was steel shell with Mini A series circa 75/6
he later had a Space frame traveller mini built and he then fitted the Imp engine to the mini gearbox circa 78/9
This car later went Hillclimbing
His last car was a space frame Reliant Kitten shaped car and he then had his own alloy engine block cast up and Imp head fitted to it
He still retains the car but has recently been racing Clubmans sport racer

George Bevan died around 97 ish
Last year i was racing FFord at Brands and in Parc Ferme a bloke came up and spoke to me- It was Georges son Peter and he and his son had built a replica Gp 2 Imp and it has been running at a couple of demo events

Thanks for that info, now you've explained why the Traveller was used, it makes total sense!

Re the Ginger Marshall Reliant, I think I know the car you're referring to. Good to know its still about.

[Steve Holmes]

What happened to George Bevans Imps? Do any still survive?

[Imp Wagon]

Beautiful photos. Got any more?

I sure do, here are a few:
Plastic pig with it's transporter

In this shot John is surveying some damage to the side of the Imp. This was inflicted by the Mini obscured behind the Imp. This mini was Peter Baldwins 1300 BDA powered version which had just been beaten by John's 998 Imp. Apparently, he was so annoyed, he punted John on the slowing-down lap!

And here is a 1973 shot of the old and new George Bevan imps, the one on the right is the triple championship winning car which was sold to Les Nash and the twin headlight car on the left is the replacement for it, which never enjoyed the same success. From memory it was destroyed in a crash during the season.

[Imp Wagon]

What happened to George Bevans Imps? Do any still survive?

In theory the triple championship winning car survives somewhere, but no-one, including the Bevan family know where it might be, which is why the Bevan family built a "continuation" replica to commemorate the original hat-trick winning Imp. I believe it was sold recently to a collector in Scotland for a very significant amount of money. Continuation is the term given because it was built by the same family, even though George Bevan was already dead by then. It is a similar story with the original Fraser Imps, which went to Teneriffe and then seem to have disappeared into the mists of time - a pity really.

[KiWinUS]

I remember a real fast Mini at Ruapuna & Levels driven by Lin Neilson , anyone have pics or more info ? Mid 70,s maybe
Thanks
Cheers
Tony

[Steve Holmes]

I sure do, here are a few:
Plastic pig with it's transporter
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10243[/ATTACH]
In this shot John is surveying some damage to the side of the Imp. This was inflicted by the Mini obscured behind the Imp. This mini was Peter Baldwins 1300 BDA powered version which had just been beaten by John's 998 Imp. Apparently, he was so annoyed, he punted John on the slowing-down lap!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10244[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10246[/ATTACH]

And here is a 1973 shot of the old and new George Bevan imps, the one on the right is the triple championship winning car which was sold to Les Nash and the twin headlight car on the left is the replacement for it, which never enjoyed the same success. From memory it was destroyed in a crash during the season.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10245[/ATTACH]

These are just amazing! Each and every one. This period of British saloon car racing is completely fascinating to me.

The third photo down with the grid line-up, the white and blue Imp next to the Plastic Pig actually looks a little like Homewoods earlier Imp.

[Steve Holmes]

In theory the triple championship winning car survives somewhere, but no-one, including the Bevan family know where it might be, which is why the Bevan family built a "continuation" replica to commemorate the original hat-trick winning Imp. I believe it was sold recently to a collector in Scotland for a very significant amount of money. Continuation is the term given because it was built by the same family, even though George Bevan was already dead by then. It is a similar story with the original Fraser Imps, which went to Teneriffe and then seem to have disappeared into the mists of time - a pity really.

A shame the original championship winning car is away in hiding. Would be nice if it someday surfaced again. Of course, all these cars, no matter how significant, went through a period in later life where they were effectively worth little money, many were broken up to build new cars, some just scrapped.

[Steve Holmes]

Not sure where the heck I picked these up from, possibly Frank de Jongs excellent website.

[Steve Holmes]

[Ellis]

The 289 Lefoe Imp from Albury /Wodonga
I think I may have posted pics of this before ...but I like it.

Pic credit unknown

[Steve Holmes]

Lafoe was possibly the worlds bravest man, building and driving that thing!