Vintage Thing No.39 - the Gillie

Continuing the occasional theme of Hillman Imp off-road thingies, this device is probably the ultimate. The Gillie was designed around 1970 by the Rootes group and endowed with hub reduction gearing and a shorter wheelbase. This combination gave it exceptional off road performance but made it a bit slow on the road. It also hadn't been consciously styled by the Rootes Group stylists so had a kind of honest-to-goodness lack or pretension. This photo is from a newspaper article supplied by Gary Henderson via Franka's excellent site. You can read more about the genesis of the Gillie here.

The Gillie never went into production and remained unique. After a brief period on Lord Rootes' country estate, the one-and-only Gillie fell into obscurity. There were tantalising glimpses of it by Imp aficionados from time to time but it led a secret existence unrecognised for many years until recently, when it turned up - like so many things - on Ebay. And by now you'd never believe that it was the same vehicle.

It's been extensively "pimped" and while it would look out of place on Lord Rootes' estate, and would probably frighten the horse more than my Llama ever did, for a sensational seventies party this thing has to be the ultimate. Petrol-finish round glasses, a head band, long hair, droopy moustache and loon pants with flares to match those rear wheels - and you'd still be under dressed.

But before all that (necessary) frivolity there's quite a lot of work to be done. There's a gaping void at the front where an automatic Metro engine and gearbox once lived and at the back is another hole where an Imp engine would've been and only partially filled by a fuel tank.

There can't be many cars that have been re-engined at either end.

The Gillie has found a new owner in the form of Ricky Walden of Daventry who was pleasantly surprised to find what an incredible survivor and piece of history he'd acquired.

"I wouldn't know half of what I know now if it wasn't for James Henderson and Tim Morgan (Imp Club enthusiasts par excellence). I'm going to keep the body the way it is because trying to re-create what it used to look like would be a long and trying process. I'm slowly restoring it and swapping the engine over to the back. The bloke who had it before thought it'd be a good idea to stick a Land Rover fuel tank in the back (with an Imp fuel sender unit bolted to the top of it!)."

To provide an accurate read out no doubt.

"I'm going to spray it as close to it's original color as I can get.

"It's still got part of a Mini sub-frame in the front. The current "engine bay" had to be made wider to accommodate the Metro engine. It looks like quite an unskilled job using bit of old Imp floorpan.

“The hub reduction gearbox was thrown out with the arc. It was built to cut the top speed of the car down but to enable it to climb quite steep hills. I don't think the gearbox exists anymore. I think it was a one off.

“From what I can gather about 18" has been cut out of the body to reduce the wheelbase. Pretty much after the front seats, there’s the bulge in the floorpan /chassis to accomodate the engine. It’d be interesting to park an Imp next to it to get an idea exactly how much the factory removed and to compare notes.”

In the photo of the Gillie in its original state, some of its panels look familiar to those of us who have chopped them up or undertaken extreme welding experiments on them. But they're all covered up again now after a succession of owners have had a go at realising a dream of theirs using the Gillie as a basis.

I just think Ricky's vision for the Gillie is the clearest of all. It certainly looks wild, actually, although I can't say I really like it but it'll be a BRILLIANT laugh to drive!

It's still a shame that it's been cut around so much but it's morphed into something even weirder than the original rather worthy concept of the Gillie and what Ricky’s got now is still – like an amp that goes up to eleven – even more unique.

Make that an Imp that goes up to eleven.

I remember a Ford Cortina Mk1 when I lived in Kent in the 90's that must have been customised in the 70's. It had all the old custom mods like murals and sun strips. I hope it still survives because it was a perfect period piece. Nobody does that to Mk1 Cortinas these days.

“I found the wide Dunlop racing wheels at the back quite appealing. (They're about 14" wide.) It looks a bit like a Hummer at the front I like to think. The purple colour didn't really do it for me. I liked the idea that this would really be something I can get my hands dirty with. Now I'm Imp-obsessed and would quite happily fill my drive with them!”

Yeah, Imps get you that way.

Good luck with the re-Imping of the car, Ricky. I reckon once it’s done you’ll get a great reaction when you’re behind the wheel.