Gordon Murray The legendary engineer has bought a Hillman Imp. Why?
Car design is all about the packaging, says Gordon as he chooses another small but perfectly formed icon to join his rapidly growing classic collection
Packaging, or use of internal space, has always fascinated me. Over the years there have been some cars with dreadful packaging and then there have been milestone vehicles with such a great use of space that they kicked off trends in automotive design. The 1984 Renault Espace, the original Renault Twingo – with its sliding rear seat – and the Mercedes-benz A-class introduced in 1997 are among those that spring to mind.
Formula One teaches a designer a packaging lesson in the extreme, with all the mechanical elements and the driver shrink-wrapped in a shape that is driven by regulations and aerodynamics. But for me the most interesting and challenging automotive package work is best exemplified in city-car design.
Some of the most iconic classic city cars are masterpieces of design and packaging and a section of my classic collection is dedicated to them. Interestingly, nearly all of these milestone designs were the work of a single strong-willed team leader – which is arguably why the vehicles were so pure and so focused.
The first and most obvious is the Issigonis Mini from 1959. I had a red 850 when I was 18 years old and I now own a red 850 built in October 1959 – a very early car. The packaging of this little car is phenomenal for an overall length of just ten feet. If a designer wants to make a step change in vehicle architecture then moving or re-arranging the powertrain is almost always a requirement. The innovation in the Mini layout that allowed such a great package was the front-wheeldrive transverse ‘gearbox in sump’ engine and rubber cone suspension. The car was also a revelation from a dynamics point of view – and it had timeless styling.
Another in my collection is the Fiat Cinquecento, also a single-designer car from the great Dante Giacosa. It pre-dated the Mini by two years and was also a great piece of design and packaging, once again by re-arranging the powertrain, in this car a parallel-twin rear engine. The design is timeless and iconic, yet another example of an engineer with styling capability.
Then there is the often-overlooked Hillman Imp. I had never owned an Imp, but I can remember being fascinated by the package and the design when it was launched in 1963. It was the creation of Mike Parkes and Tim Fry and once again tore up the rulebook.
With a lot of automotive firsts, such as a Coventry Climax all-aluminum overheadcamshaft engine mounted north/south and inclined over to the right at 45°, an all-synchromesh aluminum gearbox, a folding rear seatback for extra luggage capacity accessed by a rear hatch that was separate from the engine access cover, the Imp was a great piece of car design. Once again the styling was both different and good, this time by Bob Saward.
I recently found an early Imp (1964) in very good condition and, having never owned one in period, I was delighted to discover that the car drives very well, is great fun and it is a proper four-seater package. The Imp was my missing link in the small city sector and it has now joined its peers in the iconic small-car part of my classic garage.