Vintage Thing 22.3 - Siva Llama

Some black and white publicity photos of the Siva Llama turned up on eBay a few weeks ago. I watched them after being tipped off about them by Graeme Pearson the editor of the Imp Club magazine. I didn't bid but they've found a good home though because they now appear on Franka's site.

The registration of the car depicted is a new one on me. I have a short list of known cars and hope that this one is an unknown survivor.

There's something that inspires camaraderie between the owners of obscure motor cars. At the ARCC (Association of Rootes Car Clubs) Rally at Blenheim Palace in 2000, I met an affable chap from the Clan Crusader owners club called Jim McEwan. I was attending with my Siva Llama at that particular show and he was fascinated by it. Jim was the club historian for the Clan Crusaders and we had a long and enthusiastic talk. Over the next 18 months or so, he sent me a number of articles that featured a Siva Llama. These weren't just photocopies -- they were the original pages from ancient and long-forgotten magazines such as Car & Car Conversions, Custom Car and Hot Car. This full page image came from some seventies car magazine that he'd plundered on my behalf. I think it originally appeared in Custom Car but isn't adorned by naked women so I could be wrong. It shows the saloon version of the Siva Llama and I hope that this one is another undiscovered survivor, too, that will soon emerge into the lime light and be properly recognised.

Vintage Thing 22.2 - yet another Siva Llama

It's happened again. Each time I blog about Siva Llama's, another one turns up. I stated on VT 22.1 that the total of known survivors was 4. Well I was wrong. There are in fact 5.

This example features on Franka’s website which is well worth visiting if just for all the information on the many Imp specials that exist. She has even tracked down information on the Whomobile, Dr Who's hover car that was really an Imp powered trike underneath some 1970's space age glass fibre. Thanks for digging up this splendid example of a Siva Llama, Franka.

It was spotted by an “Imp enthusiast from Porto, Portugal” in the town of Porto near the gardens of “Palácio de Cristal” (Crystal Palace), on 25th April 2008. It’s a very smart van version like mine although mine doesn’t have a tailgate, just a roll down PVC curtain with a vinyl window let into it. The headlamps look like they fit properly, unlike mine, and so do the doors – again unlike mine.

The doors are different, too. On my van, they hinge on the upright supporting the windscreen frame. On the Portugese example, they appear to extend to the leading edge of the windscreen surround and look like they fit properly, too. Mine were so drafty – even when standing still – that I never bothered using them.

The rear tailgate looks like a professional moulding and the thick rubber seal would suggest its window is glass.

The anonymous “Imp enthusiast from Porto, Portugal” says that the registration number dates from the mid to late 1970s and wonders if this left hand drive car with a Super Imp dashboard was imported from Angola. As the "Imp enthusiast" works close to where this car was spotted more details may be forthcoming later.

Have a look around Franka's site for if you're into specials and Vintage Things of any sort, she's gathered many interesting creations for your automotive edification and delight.