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00:00Oh
00:02Yeah, I don't think I've ever been anywhere more Scottish. It is a very Scottish of shops isn't it?
00:08Might as well embrace the culture. Look at this. It feels lovely as well. Nice and soft. Mate, what are you doing?
00:15What do you mean what am I doing? I'm just getting my Scottish on. I mean you look incredibly Scottish. I'll give you that.
00:21I'm gonna have some haggis later. I'm gonna have some whiskey. Whatever you do, just don't buy a kilt.
00:27That's a great idea. No, seriously, a kilt because you know with a kilt you don't wear anything underneath.
00:35Mate, you didn't pack much did you? Mate, I don't need much. I just need my knowledge and that's all up here.
00:41We packed our bags and our spanners for another globetrotting car-fixing adventure.
00:47We're hunting down some of the world's most iconic cars. Does it get much better than this?
01:03Oh, I can't believe we're standing here in front of an sp2.
01:05Lean in on local wheeler dealers because he really wants it. Would you take the 30 000 euro?
01:11No, impossible. That's my way to do it. To rescue these national treasures on a wheel and a prayer.
01:17Please let me find a set of wheels. That's all I'm asking for.
01:21And make a few euros, pesos. I think we have a deal.
01:24Yes! And real as we go. I absolutely love it!
01:36Right then, fella, this is the only way to travel.
01:41It's not that bad, is it? Told you, it's lovely. You can just sit back, you can relax,
01:45watch the countryside and whip past the window. Watch the raindrops. Watch the raindrops.
01:50Well, we are heading north and the further we go north, it's going to get worse. But I am looking
01:55forward to Scotland, mate. I mean, there's a, there is a lot that Scotland has going for it. Yes,
02:00Scotland does have some stuff going for it. It is going to be, uh... Yes, please. Yes. Nothing
02:05scares Scotland like a tea cake. Like a tea cake. Ah, yes, you beauty. But we haven't come here just for
02:12the snacks. No, we're travelling through Scotland on the trail of its most famous car, the Hill Minim.
02:20Designed by engineering trio Tim Fry, Peter Ware and F1 driver Michael Parks, the Imp was Scotland's
02:29first and only mass-produced car. Built near Glasgow, it was full of brilliant innovations,
02:38including an all-aluminum Coventry Climax engine that was originally designed as a fire pump. But having
02:44been rushed into production, early imps were plagued with reliability woes, not least overheated engines.
02:51It was enough to help taint the car's reputation and overshadow the genius of its design.
02:57But here in Scotland, the Imp is a national hero and we think it deserves to be celebrated.
03:03Have you had any bites on your search for a car? There's a few out there. They're interesting.
03:11Well, let's be careful and let's try and find one that doesn't need too much work.
03:16I've already asked my UK contacts to look out for a suitable car and I'm hoping a specialist in
03:22workshop here in Scotland may be able to help. So that's where we're starting.
03:26Here we go. Nice. Good morning, Sterling. Fantastic.
03:31Cold and wet. Cold and wet. It has taken a mile to get here, isn't it?
03:34Mate, we could have literally got to Mexico quicker than it took to get here.
03:37We could have done. Just one second, one second, one second.
03:42Hello. Yeah, that, oh, that sounds good. Condition?
03:47OK, super. Oh no, I'm really interested. I mean, look, I've literally just arrived in
03:52Stirling, Scotland. No way. Where? Are you kidding me? OK, I'll talk to you in a bit. Cheers, bye.
04:00Mate, honestly, that was a call from the auction. You're going to believe this. I've found a car.
04:06Yeah. And I've got to go back and... Back where? Back. Where is it?
04:11Norfolk. Like hundreds and hundreds of miles away.
04:15Option? Come on. I've got it at an auction. Yeah, I know, that's your wheelhouse. My wheelhouse.
04:20I'm going to be in there, get us a bargain, I'll be back. I know, I trust you.
04:25While Mike goes south, I'm heading to the outskirts of Stirling.
04:31I found these guys online who are massive imp enthusiasts and apparently they've got a workshop,
04:36they've got a spare ramp and all the gear we might need if Mike actually does end up buying us a car.
04:42Oh. This is definitely it. I can see imps everywhere.
04:50John and Patrick own a garage dedicated to the restoration of Hillman imps.
04:56John, thanks so much for having us down. I gather I'm in the right place because there's imps everywhere.
05:01How would you guess? So one or two clues. Is this all you do, imps?
05:05Pretty much. Pretty much imps. Pretty much. That's for the hunters.
05:09Mike's trying to buy us our own imp. I've got no idea when he's going to turn up.
05:13So in the meantime, have you got a kettle or maybe a cup of tea?
05:17John and Pat met at school and bonded over their shared love of this little motor.
05:23How about the love affair with imps? How long has that been going on?
05:25That's been over 40 years now. Has it?
05:28Yeah. Really? Wow. That's a long love affair.
05:30When we went down to Monte Carlo and back. What?
05:35One of the most special feelings in the world was driving through Casino Square in Monte Carlo.
05:40And they all went like that with their cameras.
05:43Yeah. Because they haven't seen two imps before.
05:45That would have really upset the Lamborghini owners, wouldn't it?
05:47Yeah. Yeah, certainly. Yeah.
05:59Fantastic, isn't it? What a day.
06:01In Norfolk, I've arrived at Anglia car auctions near Kings Lynn.
06:06You're going to see sales like this almost every weekend up and down the country.
06:11The perfect place to come and buy that classic car.
06:15The imp I'm here to see has an estimate of just £3,000 to £4,000.
06:21There's loads of people, loads of people looking at the car, which shows there's a bit of interest in the Hillman Imp, doesn't it?
06:29If I was to walk over to it right now, start opening the doors, lifting the bonnet,
06:33people would go, Mike's interested in that. So they could be interested in it and the price starts to climb.
06:38Right. Now's my opportunity to get in there and have a closer look.
06:45Tyres look good. Interior's OK.
06:48With just over 230 road-going imps left in the UK, a good one is increasingly hard to find.
06:55This 1971 model has done just 68,000 miles. And on first glance, it presents pretty well.
07:03Let's look at this engine. This is an 875 engine.
07:07I'll be honest with you, the engine bay probably lets the car down.
07:11I think it can really do with having all of this taken out, because that looks a bit of a mess.
07:18That's broken. Rusted through on this side. So that one they're repairing as well.
07:24As this is an auction, I can't drive the car. So as it's been moved round to the rostrum,
07:33I'm going to try and get some intel on the mechanical condition.
07:36So clubs feels good? Yeah. Yeah. Brakes feel good?
07:39Yeah. Yeah. It's biting nicely.
07:42OK. There's nothing nasty coming out the back. Looks sweet enough. Let's get in the auction.
07:47With no test drive and with a shabby-looking engine, this is a real risk.
07:55But we've restored him to sell him for around £8,000 to £9,000. I'm hoping I might be able to snatch a bargain.
08:02Ah. Not the start I was looking for.
08:10That's me.
08:12Bye.
08:12The room's going mad for the car, but if I spend much more, we'll struggle to make a profit.
08:33One more.
08:34That's too much money now. It's too much money.
08:44Go on then.
08:50Thank you. I even got a round of applause for that, but I did pay too much money for it.
09:04It's very mustard, isn't it? This is called Sundance Yellow.
09:17It actually looks really good on the outside. It's really good, yeah. Great, Nick.
09:20I'm very, very pleased with this purchase. There are a few little issues. Of course.
09:24OK, so first and foremost, you can see some of the rubbers around the window have degraded.
09:31Seat's got a little rip in it. It's another job for you, that is.
09:33Yeah, that's easy.
09:35So far, I'm impressed.
09:38Oh, mate, that is so disappointing. The outside's so nice. What's going on in here?
09:44I thought, well, if anyone's going to take an engine out, it'd be you, and then you can tidy all of this up.
09:49It needs it.
09:51As well as a tidy up, we'll have to do something about the inefficient cooling system,
09:56which was the main cause of the imp's overheating problems.
09:59I hope you got the car cheap.
10:01Oh, look. Guide price, three thousand to four grand.
10:05Is that what that says?
10:06Really?
10:06Yeah, go and watch me.
10:07Well, let's get it out on the road first.
10:10You wouldn't have paid the full whack, would you?
10:12I'll talk to you about the price in the car.
10:15Hmm.
10:16Something tells me you're holding this back for a reason.
10:22Keep coming. Keep coming. Yeah, nice. Yes, baby.
10:28Oh, mate, this little car looks absolutely fantastic. Let's go.
10:32Right then, son, put your slipper down.
10:40I hate to break it to you, but my foot is down.
10:42Well, it's only a little Coventry Climax engine. I mean, it's 800 and something cc.
10:48The imp's lightweight aluminium motor was way ahead of its time.
10:52Unfortunately, the cooling system wasn't.
10:55We're actually running at quite a bit of temperature at the moment.
10:58They all overheated. It was one of their biggest single issues.
11:01They all overheated.
11:03The engine feels like it's fluffy.
11:06I think there's dirt in the carburetor or something.
11:08Yeah, it feels like a car from the 1970s.
11:10It certainly does.
11:12So I was actually looking at a bunch of reviews earlier.
11:14Yeah.
11:15From when they were brand new.
11:16There's a guy that did a road test.
11:18During his road test, he said the passenger seat came loose,
11:21the ashtray fell out, water was coming in front of the window,
11:24and of course it overheated.
11:26They had so many problems with production.
11:29It's like it was rushed out the door, you know?
11:31And they've just never recovered from that.
11:33You think about it, a small, lightweight, rear-engine, rear-wheel drive,
11:39slanted-engine, low centre of gravity.
11:42You know, all of the ingredients could have made this an amazing car.
11:46I reckon that's what we should do.
11:47I reckon we should make it the car that it should have been.
11:50So, £3,000 to £4,000 guide price.
11:55Yeah.
11:56I cannot wait to hear what you accomplished on this.
11:58So, I was standing there, right, with my hand in the air,
12:02and I was still bidding well into the £5,000.
12:05What?
12:06You went into the £5,000?
12:09No, I went well into the £6,000.
12:11And then there's the auction fees on top of that.
12:13Hang on, what have we paid for this car?
12:16What?
12:17This car owes us £7,125.
12:21What?
12:23So, I over...
12:24Double.
12:25That's double.
12:26That's double the guide price.
12:27I got carried away.
12:28I overpaid for the car, which means we need to underpay for all the repairs.
12:34Oh, my goodness me.
12:36Calm down, calm down.
12:44I'm coming.
12:48Do you know what, mate?
12:49I...
12:49Well, I say I slept on it last night.
12:51I actually didn't sleep that much,
12:52because I was having nightmares about what you've spent on this car.
12:54I can't believe you spent over £7,000 on a Hillman Imp.
12:58I mean, mate, it's a Hillman Imp.
13:00A 50-year-old Hillman Imp.
13:02Whoa, whoa, whoa.
13:03Show some respect to the Hillman Imp.
13:05When it's done, it's going to be great.
13:06How are we going to turn a profit?
13:09If we keep costs down,
13:11I'm still confident we'll come out of this the right side up.
13:17Blimey, you boys don't mess about, do you?
13:19Hello.
13:20Hello, chaps. How are you?
13:21This is Mike, everybody.
13:22Nice to meet you.
13:23Pat, Pat, Pat, John.
13:25Nice to meet you, mate.
13:25I don't know you.
13:26I'm Willie.
13:27Nice to meet you, mate.
13:28Nice to meet you.
13:28Pat, John, and Willie.
13:30Yes.
13:30How are you, mate?
13:30Swilly's given us a little bit of help.
13:32More hands, the merrier.
13:33That's amazing.
13:34I bought a good one, didn't I, boys?
13:35You've actually done pretty well, Mike,
13:37to be honest, for a car,
13:38because compared to some of the other ones we've got here,
13:40we sweep them up off the floor.
13:41Exactly.
13:41We're not looking for mechanical force.
13:43We're sweeping them up and putting them in the bank.
13:44He's right.
13:45It would have been a lovely five grand car, that, wouldn't it?
13:49What have you found so far?
13:50Anything interesting?
13:51A fairly standard list.
13:53Rad, couplings, steering components.
13:55It's not running so great.
13:56A nice set of wheels wouldn't go amass.
13:58Tell you what, why don't I start by getting that torn front seat off to the trimmer?
14:06And I'll try to figure out why the engine wasn't running smoothly on our first little test drive.
14:12One of the things I definitely noticed when I drove it was that it was,
14:15you know, it felt like, to me, it felt like the car was blocked.
14:17It was a bit fluffy.
14:18It just didn't give us that clean acceleration.
14:20There's probably a really good chance, Elvis, that the fuel pump is actually blocked.
14:26If there's been debris coming up for the tank,
14:28because these tanks actually drain down to the absolute last drop.
14:32The design of the Imps fuel tank means that when it starts to corrode,
14:36particles of rust can easily be sucked into the fuel pump and ultimately the carburetor.
14:42Oh, there you go. That's what you're talking about. Look at that.
14:47Some nasties.
14:48That is nasty. That's an awful lot.
14:50Or are you saying that's quite common in these?
14:52That's quite common. I've actually seen them almost full.
14:55If that's full of that much rubbish, that probably means the tank is also full of that much rubbish.
15:00And that might need some attention.
15:02To see if our theory's right, we need to open up the top of the tank.
15:09Oh, dear.
15:12It's so rusted and corroded. Can you see in there?
15:15Oh, wow.
15:16And that point, right at the lowest point, is the pick-up where all the fuel goes.
15:20And, of course, you can clearly see it's just going to drag all that stuff,
15:24get stuck in the pump, which is absolutely caked in the stuff.
15:26Yeah.
15:27I mean, either we're going to have to find a way to try and clean that out through a very small access hole
15:32or replace the tank, but we haven't really got a budget for that.
15:34Well, I mean, we could remove the tank.
15:36We could clean it out and then put a tank sealing solution on it.
15:40I mean, yeah. Let's look into that, mate, because we need to save as much money as we can.
15:45For a fraction of the price of a new tank, a chemical sealing kit is the type of fix we need to save the pennies.
15:50Right. You've done the one underneath, yeah?
15:53OK.
15:54Beautiful.
15:55I'll let you take that.
15:56We've drained the fuel out of it, so you should be all right.
16:00OK.
16:00Perfect.
16:01Before we can repair the inside of our tank, we first need to remove any remaining pieces of rust.
16:07And I've got a brilliantly old-school method for doing just that.
16:10I'm going to use some nuts and bolts and some gravel.
16:15I'm going to put that into the hole, put some water in, seed it up, and go outside and give it a real aggressive shake.
16:25The nuts, bolts and gravel, combined with the water,
16:28help to dislodge the worst of the corrosion from the surface of the tank interior.
16:34It's got to be enough, innit?
16:37Oh, look at the colour of that!
16:40And whilst the tank dries, we're going to take the engine out so we can give it a proper clean.
16:49Go on, William, you get it.
16:50In we go.
16:51I bet you must have taken hundreds of these things out over your time.
16:54One or two.
16:55I wish all engines was as easy as this to come out.
17:02That's us off.
17:04Hopefully, fixing that imp's front seat will be just as simple.
17:08So, I found the lady. She's the interior trimmer in this area.
17:12So, I've got the seats in the back. I'm going to whip over there.
17:15Hopefully, she can just sew up the tear for us.
17:17Quick job, in and out, and it won't cost too much money.
17:22Lionheart Custom Interiors is one of Scotland's premier upholsterers.
17:26Let's just hope it's one of the cheapest as well.
17:29Hello, are you Sharon?
17:31Yes, hello.
17:32Sharon, how are you? I'm Mike.
17:33Hiya.
17:34Nice to meet you.
17:35Nice to meet you as well.
17:36Right.
17:37This is one of my seats. This one's got a rip in it, so we've got to do something with it.
17:43I'm hoping if we can replace just a small section of the material, we'll be able to keep costs down.
17:48You can get the material, but you can't get it with an embossed pack.
17:54Right. This is unobtainium. We can't get it.
17:57That's correct.
17:57That's such a shame, isn't it? So, how do we get this texture then? How do we get those lines?
18:02I can stitch that in.
18:03You can?
18:04Yep.
18:04Okay, that'd be good.
18:07So much for an easy fix. Stitching in the lines will be painstaking work,
18:11and it turns out that that's not the only problem. This seat, I've noticed,
18:17it's got to be supply board. So, it's needing some strapping on it.
18:23Why do I have a feeling this job's going to get me into trouble with Elvis? Look at this old seat,
18:28isn't it? Look at it.
18:28It is.
18:34Sharon is not meant to be like this. It's really not meant to be like this.
18:40Don't say I don't graph around projects, Elvis.
18:44Do you know what? It's amazing how clean the inside of this tank actually is now.
18:51As well as a good wash, I've rinsed the tank with a solution of sodium hydroxide
18:55and hydrochloric acid to remove any remaining contaminants.
19:01It's all now completely dry as well, which means I can move on to the next stage,
19:05which is this. I've sealed up all the holes once more. I'm going to pour this
19:09in and then rotate the tank in as many directions as I can,
19:17giving us that nice good seal that we're after.
19:22This sealant is a compound of moisture curing polyurethane that will leave a solid plastic
19:27light coating on the inside of the tank once it's been hung up, drained and dried out.
19:40At the tremors, my hope of a nice quick seat fix has now turned into a full scale strip down.
19:45It's short.
19:49Somebody had a deep fried Mars bar.
19:55With our seat base beyond repair, Sharon first needs to fit new webbing,
20:01followed by new foam for the seat cushion.
20:03This stuff here, yeah, that's better. I mean, you can already feel that's going to be much better.
20:10With both seats needing this level of work, I'm dreading the next conversation.
20:14So if I was to leave you with the two front seats, new cushions, new webbing,
20:23all the rest of it tidied up, how much would it come to? In fact, don't tell me out loud, whisper it.
20:33Okay. Right. Okay. Well, I might need to, I might need to take Elvis for a little.
20:39Dram. A little dram. Yes, that's a good idea.
20:46I have a feeling that the price of the seat repairs isn't going to go down well with Elvis.
20:50So I've decided to warm him up with a nice little idea I've had.
20:55It had such a bad wrap, this car, didn't it? Because it just wasn't built very well. So
21:00what if we're doing what we're doing, like rebuilding the car? What if we got
21:05a journalist to come and re-review the car? So come and drive it and correct that review?
21:12So yeah, that's not a nice idea. It's a quiet idea. So you could review it now,
21:15having added the upgrades. That's a good idea, mate. We've come up with a plan. Good idea.
21:22Some of the bottles in here look like they cost a fortune. Importantly, at the moment,
21:27I haven't spent any money. So I think even though we've overspent on the car,
21:33it's looking like we're going to probably get away with it. Right, now for the bad news.
21:37I have spent some money. I did, I've spent some money. You know the driver's seat was ripped?
21:42Yeah. So I took the driver's seat off to a lovely lady called Sharon. There's only a tiny little rip.
21:47You can see where this is going. So Sharon has got the same material, but she has to sew in that
21:52pattern and it's quite complicated to sew in. And you can't do one seat without doing the other seat.
21:58We are going to put new web in, new pad in. So essentially we're getting two new seats.
22:02Just hit me with it. How much was it? Have another drink. No, come on, that's enough.
22:06Just have one more drink. All you've got to do is have one more drink. I'll literally be drunk.
22:09Just tell me £780. What? I'm repairing two front seats. Are you kidding me?
22:21I still can't believe you spent, what was it, £780 on those seats? Yeah, it was expensive.
22:27How are we going to turn any sort of profit? If we make a tenner out of this, I'll be amazed.
22:30Whoa, whoa, whoa. Just stop here. Stop here. Right, just on the corner here. I just want to run in this,
22:34uh, this little shot. Two sets. Hurry up. Two sets.
22:43Well in Scotland, you've got to have the Scottish drink. I'm not so keen to be honest,
22:48this time in the morning, but you know, if you're in the sis. This is made with gurdas.
22:53Don't open it in here. Wait till we get to the world shop. This is a traditional drink. They love this stuff.
22:56No, mate. Oh my God, what are you doing? Mate, it's gone everywhere. Look at the state of you.
23:06That really has gone everywhere. And the car. That really has gone everywhere.
23:12I'll clean the car, I promise. Yeah, well, you can do that later,
23:16because right now I need you to go and pick up some spare parts.
23:18I love Mike's idea of a journalist reviewing our imp, but the car will need to be nothing short of perfect.
23:31Can you see where it's leaking from under there? Yeah, it's run over the gators, but it's kind of,
23:36they're all perished. They're all torn, perished. But we've discovered a new problem. When I came in this
23:42morning, the boys had already had a look underneath and found a couple of leaks from the steering rack.
23:49I've been hoping to tackle the imp's overheating problem this morning. Instead,
23:53Willie and I must now get the steering rack off to see if it can be salvaged.
23:57These ball joints are dead, very worn and tight as well. Yeah, yeah, okay.
24:02All right, well, again, they're not expensive, so we can replace those.
24:06Well, that's one of the nice things about these cars, isn't it? They were very serviceable.
24:10Yes, it's pretty easy to work on.
24:13It's had a leak, and you can clearly see where that was coming from. It's got splits all over this rubber gator.
24:25At around £170, a new steering rack is something we can ill afford, so I'm hoping we can get away with a cheap fix.
24:33I think I'm just going to text Mike with a little list of consumable bits that I can replace on this.
24:38And that's not all we need to add to Mike's shopping list.
24:43How are you getting on, mate?
24:45Yeah, I'm just taking these rotor flex brushes off.
24:47Yeah, they have definitely seen better days, haven't they?
24:50These rubber couplings, known as doughnuts, connect the gearbox to the driveshaft to reduce vibration.
24:57I'll add it to the list of things that Mike can get for us.
25:04Armed with my shopping list, the guys in the workshop have sent me to a rather special farm, 40 minutes from Stirling.
25:11I mean, I've been to plenty of car spares and parts stores in my life, but I don't think I've ever seen one quite like this.
25:22This rural Aladdin's cave belongs to a man named Chick.
25:25As well as selling new spares, he also salvages second-hand parts wherever he can.
25:31He is one of the people that keep our classic cars on the road.
25:35All this stuff is going to get used again. Absolutely incredible.
25:39Sir! Hello, Mike.
25:42You must be Chick.
25:43I am indeed.
25:44Chick, it's an honour to meet you. It really is.
25:48You're like an environmentalist, aren't you?
25:50Because you're taking old cars and you're recycling them, aren't you?
25:53Yep. Fantastic.
25:53It's cheaper to repair an old car than it is to make a new car.
25:56Exactly. That's exactly what I keep saying. So we are the ultimate eco-warriors.
26:01Chick!
26:02Chick!
26:02Chick!
26:03Chick!
26:03Chick!
26:04Chick!
26:04Chick!
26:05Chick!
26:06Oh, blimey.
26:07Hello, young lady. What's your name?
26:08Kate.
26:09Hello, Kate.
26:10You're all right?
26:11Nice to meet you. That was a good surprise, wasn't it?
26:14Is that how you respond to him wherever he is?
26:17I can never find him.
26:18All right, so you just...
26:19I need to get up!
26:20Yeah, my neighbours can hear it.
26:21I'm sure they can.
26:22Right, so listen, I've got this list of parts for a little hillman in 1971.
26:30If I just start at the top, we work our way through them.
26:32We've got radiator hosing, rear window hatch struts.
26:35Okay.
26:36Can we start there?
26:37Yeah.
26:37Just follow me.
26:40Oh, yes, baby!
26:42This place is just incredible.
26:44Stuff like this, look, steering...
26:46Racks and racks of steering wheels, rubbers.
26:50This is going to be great.
26:52Donuts?
26:53Donuts, then, that's great, yeah.
26:54That's exactly what I'm looking for.
26:56Two if you're finest.
26:57Yeah, lovely.
26:58Okay, donuts.
26:58How would you know where everything is in this building?
27:02I'm pretty good at remembering where everything's put as long as nobody else moves it.
27:06Right, so, uh, brake shoes.
27:09Where am I going to find those?
27:10Eh, that's a set of imp brake shoes there.
27:14Okay, hoses?
27:15A set of hoses next to it.
27:16What, all of those? Take all of them?
27:18That's a car set.
27:19The other sundry items, I mean, obviously, I've still got to get an oil,
27:22filter, an air filter, gaskets.
27:25Gaskets, I could do there, yep.
27:27The oil filters are downstairs.
27:29Mm-hm.
27:32Well, that's a few things ticked off.
27:34But with a long list from Elvis, I may be here for some time.
27:37At the workshop, I'm finally ready to tackle a job that, for the imp, is literally make or break.
27:46One of the Hillman imp's inherent problems was the fact that it overheated a lot.
27:50I mean, every single review that I've read about this car, in every one of the test drives that any
27:55journalist was doing, the car did overheat.
28:01John told me this.
28:01Almost every car that's still in existence today has had an engine swap because the first one
28:06overheated and probably blew up at some point.
28:08Partly, it was because the cooling system just wasn't up to scratch.
28:13Upgrading the system will cost money that we don't really have,
28:16but it's the only way to ensure the car can keep its cool.
28:19I've got a radiator here, which, if I hold it up and compare it to the old one,
28:25the same sort of shape and size as in it fits in the same mounting points on the car.
28:29But, importantly, the core is thicker.
28:32This old original one, about 38 millimeters thick.
28:36The new one, 45 millimeters thick.
28:38It means that we've got more cores to flow water through.
28:40We've also got more surface area in which we can pass over the cooling fan-driven air,
28:46giving us a greater cooling efficiency or cooling effect.
28:51For added protection, I've also fitted a secondary electric fan,
28:55which will kick in if temperature starts to rise.
28:57The new kit has cost a hefty 300 pounds, but it fits neatly into the existing cowlinks.
29:06When I, quite frankly, still find it amazing that any car in Scotland overheats.
29:11But what we do now know is this one won't.
29:16Overheating may have been the imp's main Achilles heel, but it wasn't the only one.
29:25When the car rolled out the Linwood factory back in the 60s,
29:28it had a dynamo to charge the battery on the move.
29:31It wasn't particularly efficient, but on top of that, it wasn't even that reliable.
29:36But the biggest issue was the concept of the dynamo itself,
29:39and it's something I can easily demonstrate.
29:41I'm not just out here getting my daily exercise regime in. I've got a dynamo hooked up to the rear
29:48wheel. Remember those? And it's charging all this headlight on the front of the bike. And with me
29:52pedaling relatively quickly, you can see the lights operating perfectly well. It's shining brightly.
29:58Now, what happens if I slow things down and take a break? You can see the light gets a lot dimmer.
30:05It's no longer producing the same level of current because the back wheel on the bike is going
30:10slower. And that's because the way the dynamo works is using direct current, it's only producing a
30:16limited amount of voltage when the rear wheel is going slowly. And the same happens on the car.
30:21The dynamo is linked to engine speed. So as the engine speed drops,
30:25the amount of voltage produced by the dynamo also drops.
30:34In modern cars, dynamos have been replaced by alternators,
30:37which are more efficient and produce a much stronger output lower engine revs.
30:43This is a classic car. We want it to stay looking like a classic car.
30:46And so someone has come up with this, a wonderful little idea. It's called a dynamator. And as the
30:52name suggests, it's got the components of a modern day alternator on the inside in the casing of a
30:581960s dynamo. It's a lovely little solution. And with the looming prospect of our car being reviewed by
31:05a modern day reporter in a classic car magazine, well, this might edge us a little bit closer to getting
31:10a positive result. So all I've got to do now is bolt this onto our engine.
31:18With some of the imp's biggest issues addressed, the car is starting to come together.
31:24Down a little bit more then, please. But with plenty more to do, we won't be going home anytime soon.
31:31Don't worry, Elvis. I've got a perfect little energy boost for you all.
31:35So what I'm after, I hear up here in Scotland, a delicacy is deep fried Mars bar. Is that a real
31:43thing? Yes. Okay. Okay. So that is a real thing. Can you deep fry anything else?
31:48Agis, spicy agis, jumbo agis. What? What else can you deep fry? Can you do a sausage?
31:55Pizza. Pizza and batter. Stop it. Stop it. Yes. That must be sacrilege. You're an Italian.
32:00I know. You take a pizza, you wrap it and batter and deep fry it. Of course. I'm having one of those.
32:06So, Jeff, make me some nice healthy food. Oh, and a little side salad for me.
32:11Right. That's supper sorted. Let's just hope the boys are hungry.
32:16All right, fellas. I've got everyone some food. I've got you some food as well. Hello, fellas. How are you?
32:21How are you? Deep fried pizza up here. Yeah, of course.
32:24This is a standard dinner after I have these. Right, here we go, boys. Here we go.
32:29Italian prepared. This is strictly dessert. Oh, look at that.
32:34That's a deep fried Mars bar. I'm going straight in. Go straight in.
32:38That's good. That's very good, isn't it? It is surprisingly good.
32:42There's no way that should work. No. But it's amazing. It is like feeding time at the zoo.
32:50With the crew filled up, we better crack on.
32:52We're tantalisingly close to finishing our imp, but we still have several key jobs to complete.
33:01With a strainer fitted to filter out any debris, the renovated fuel tank is ready to go back in.
33:06There we go. Right, that's now back in place. I've just got to get it all plumbed in, of course,
33:14but then we should have a fully working and operational fuel system that won't cause us any problems anymore.
33:21After a successful parcel at Chick's Farm, I've got us a new set of brackets for the rear screen,
33:27which was another cause of the imp's poor reviews. One of the journalists said that he was driving along
33:32and the rear window popped open as he was driving along. So hopefully these new brackets do the job.
33:42Let's just see if it closes now, Mike.
33:47Lovely. That is absolutely perfect, isn't it?
33:50It's almost back to the recommended way of closing it. That won't be popping open.
33:54Mike's also managed to get new gaiters for our steering rack. So for around a tenner in parts, it's now as good as new.
34:03It's only really the seats that have cost any serious money and they're worth every penny.
34:08I'll tell you what, isn't this job absolutely astonishing? Sharon has stitched this pattern in
34:15to the seats and it just matches the rear seats perfectly.
34:18Look at these, like them.
34:22Aw, yeah, that is pucker, that is. Yeah.
34:26No, mate, we're on the right track. Nice one.
34:28But we'll also need to do something about the car's weedy looking wheels.
34:34So I've had a spare set of mine shipped up from home.
34:37John!
34:40Ta-da!
34:41I dug these out of my container and I thought it saved money on the build.
34:46Love it. Love of money, like. Only problem is, Mike, it's two inches too short.
34:51So I've got the wrong size wheel. So what size wheel do I actually need, then?
34:5512. 12 or 13-inch. Pretty much like these ones here, Mike.
34:59All right, so I need to find a set like this. Is there any possibility that I can swap my four wheels for your four wheels?
35:23I'll tell you what, that looks absolutely perfect now. It's all complete.
35:27What do you look like? Well, I'm in Scotland.
35:31We're at Stirling Castle. This shows respect.
35:34Didn't know it was dressing up day, but, mate, you've pulled it off.
35:36Mate, he's dressing up and dressing down because, like all true Scotsmen...
35:41Oh, my God, you haven't. Oh, yeah.
35:43No, get them off now. Anyway, what do you think?
35:47Because the car looks amazing. On a grey day like today, here in Scotland, this car just sings.
35:52When I bought our little Hillman Input auction, it was a far cry from the Scottish pin-up that stole the country's heart.
36:02But with help from every corner of this proud nation, it's been transformed into a car any Scot would be proud of.
36:09Sharon's seats have transformed the interior. And the new wheels complete the look.
36:16But most importantly, we've addressed some of the mechanical issues that blighted this otherwise brilliant car.
36:25That sounds like our cue to get it out on the road.
36:39It's a good little bit of road, isn't it?
36:41Oh, yeah. This is a wicked little car. This is...
36:45The way it handles, that is fantastic.
36:48It's really good, isn't it? Even though the engine's all down the back, they handle really well.
36:53It's fan-bloomin-tastic, this car.
36:56It really is. I think the point is, every single thing that we've both done to this car has just made it a little bit better.
37:03That fuel tank's been cleaned out. If you remember when I drove it, it was a bit stuttery.
37:07And there was so much rubbish being dredged up from the fuel tank.
37:11And it doesn't feel like this car's going to overheat at all.
37:13I know it's a little bit colder up here in Scotland, but you can feel that the car actually has got a lot more pep.
37:19Steering's lovely as well. You can see the way it's turning in.
37:23Do you know what? With the work we've done in tidying everything else up, it looks amazing.
37:27Now I've seen the seats, Sharon's craftsmanship is second to none.
37:31It's quite incredible. And you have to pay for that, don't you?
37:34Oh yes, the thorny issue of money, which has been a challenge on this one, thanks to your auction antics.
37:43Will I ever be allowed to forget it?
37:46It's a rough ballpark idea of how much we think we're up to in terms of spend.
37:50Yeah, I reckon we're approaching eight and a half grand, just under.
37:55Just under?
37:56Yeah, around there.
37:57OK, alright, good.
38:00Right now though, making money's the least of our worries.
38:03Because we've got a respected motoring journalist coming up to drive our car,
38:07and we're hoping the Imp finally gets the great review it deserves.
38:14So I reckon we've addressed every problem.
38:16Yeah.
38:17But it still doesn't make me feel any less nervous than the fact that David Simister,
38:23editor of Classic Car Weekly, is on his way.
38:26And he's coming to drive this car and give it a proper review, like it was back in the 70s.
38:31And it will be a proper review, he won't mess about.
38:33He's not going to fudge the numbers, he's going to give us an honest review of what this car feels like.
38:38It's making me feel more nervous now.
38:43Well, fortune favours the brave.
38:46Time then, to bite the bullet.
38:50David!
38:51David, how are you?
38:52How are you doing?
38:53I'm good to see you.
38:54Good to see you, how are you doing?
38:56So David, thank you for giving up time, I know you're a very busy man.
38:59First impressions?
39:00I think it's looking really straight, it's a really nice example.
39:02Thank you very much.
39:03I mean, the proof's in the driving, but I think visually, it's really, really working.
39:07With this lots of little touches, all the sort of things that were inherent problems when this car
39:11rolled out of the factory, we hope we've fixed.
39:14Exactly that.
39:15So we're going to set you off on a test drive.
39:18We want you to just review it, and just come back and tell us what you think.
39:22There you go then, David.
39:24Your chariot awaits.
39:25Oh, it sounds sweet.
39:29Looks good for me, doesn't it?
39:32Well then, here we go.
39:33We're in the lap of the gods now.
39:35Let's just hope that little imp behaves itself.
39:37Rylan Hillman, let's see what you've got.
39:47We are stuck in a satellite, this is a good chance to test the Hillman imp's famous cooling issues.
39:53I hope he's getting on all right.
39:54The pressure we put ourselves under here is immense because he's driving the car and he's going to review it as if it's like a new car.
40:01I know, and that is going to account for a lot, right?
40:03The steering is nicely weighted.
40:07There's no bumps or plunks from anything underneath.
40:10While David's out in the car, I need to let Mike into a little secret.
40:16Oh, you're kidding me.
40:18Dan, how are you, buddy?
40:20Yeah, lots of fun.
40:21Great to see you.
40:22Good to see you, mate.
40:23Now, you kept that one from me.
40:25How did that happen?
40:25I did.
40:26Well, listen, I know he's a fan of classic cars, so give him a ring.
40:29Classic car nut Dan bought our Paddy Hopkirk tribute mini last year,
40:33and I've lined him up for another potential sale.
40:37You want to add a Hillman imp to the collection?
40:38To the family, yeah.
40:39So why a Hillman imp?
40:41Rear engine.
40:42It was always a rival for the Mini.
40:45Yeah, why not?
40:45Why not?
40:46I love that.
40:46Just try it.
40:47Why not?
40:47Yeah, why not?
40:49Oh, there's just one more thing I haven't told you.
40:53We've already kind of agreed a price, so the money...
40:56Hold on.
40:58This is my job.
40:59Yeah, yeah.
40:59What's going on?
41:00You don't see me going in the workshop and pulling an engine out.
41:04So if we've got David Simister coming back and rolling in and saying,
41:07what a great car, lads. I mean, it's going to be deal done, isn't it, Dan?
41:10Yeah, yeah.
41:11Really?
41:11Especially that kilt, yeah.
41:14Oh, hang on. I forgot to ask what price you agreed.
41:18Oh, how the tables have turned. I guess you'll just have to wait and see.
41:23Okay, so here we go. A moment of truth. Come on, go and see the car.
41:30So, David, what do you think?
41:31I think you've done Scotland proud.
41:32Oh, yes.
41:34Get in, eh? I knew it was a good little car.
41:36Do you know, it is a really well-sorted, sweet little example of an Impa drink.
41:39You've clearly done a lot of work. It feels cherished. It feels sorted.
41:43Probably one of the best examples of an Impa drink.
41:45Oh, David, you have just turned yourself into the smartest salesman.
41:49You just heard from the horse's mouth there how good the car is.
41:52It's pretty good, yeah.
41:52First impressions? I love it. I like the colour.
41:54I didn't think I would, but I do like the colour.
41:56Yeah, it's really good. It really does stand out here.
41:58We teed this up on the phone.
42:00Yeah.
42:00Mate, you can-
42:01I feel like a spare party.
42:05You two have done this deal without me knowing.
42:08I don't know if you've seen how this works before, but Dan, are you happy to-
42:11No, wait.
42:11All right, go on.
42:12You've cut yourself a deal.
42:13That was my part.
42:14You just sold it.
42:16Dan, congratulations.
42:18Thank you, David.
42:19Always a pleasure.
42:20Thank you, David.
42:21Absolutely awesome.
42:22Well done.
42:23It's a brilliant result and a great way to round off our global adventure.
42:33Cheers, buddy.
42:33Cheers, mate.
42:34Sounds amazing, Elvis.
42:37Seeing you, we can fix anything.
42:40I am super dealer.
42:41That's basic.
42:43Yeah, that's not food, is it?
42:46Well, I've got to say this world tour has been one of the best things this
42:53ever happened in my lifetime.
42:54It's been incredible.
42:55Unbelievable.
42:56And there have been some amazing places, including right here in Scotland.
42:59Met some great people and the cars we've done have been spectacular.
43:03But come on, Elvis, put me out my misery.
43:05Did we make a profit on the imp?
43:07So let me remind you again, the car owed us 8,492 pounds.
43:15Which is great news because it does show us a profit.
43:19That profit is in my pocket.
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