Works Imp for sale

A 1966 racing Hillman Imp that took part in the 1967 Monte Carlo Rally will go under the hammer next month.

Richard Edmonds’ Auctions is expecting the Imp, one of eight works cars built between 1963 and 1969, to make around £50,000.

Its engine has also been verified as the one prepared for rally driver Rosemary Smith when she drove in the UK’s first televised rallycross in 1967.

It finished the 1967 Monte Carlo Rally second in class and 46th overall. It also competed in the Tulip Rally the same year, coming second in class and 10th overall, but retired from the 1967 Coupé des Alpines.

Its appearance in the inaugural televised rallycross event came about after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease caused the RAC Rally to be cancelled at the last minute.

Owner Mark Trudge says: ‘I was lucky to buy it. I was on holiday in Wales in 2013 when I saw an advert in a local paper. As it was in Cheshire not too far away, I met the retired banker owner. He wouldn’t sell the car to me for about a month until he was sure that I was going to look after it.’

The Imp will be put up for sale at on 4 March.