John Ashford
Rootes Group designer reveals the secrets of the Hillman Imp
Iwas born in Birmingham in 1934, and my uncle was trim superintendent at Austin’s headquarters at Longbridge,’ says John Ashford, best-known for his part in sculpting the Hillman Imp. ‘Other members of the family, including my father, were also employed at Longbridge, and as a youngster this got me interested in cars generally – and in particular sketching them as a hobby. My passion for drawing actually came from my mother – she went to art school and concentrated on floral still life subjects. I also had an exceptionally gifted uncle who was a very competent copyist of famous watercolour paintings.’
There was never any doubt in John’s mind that he would work in the motor industry, and after leaving school in 1951 he applied for a design position with the Austin Company, confident that an enquiry would elicit a favourable response. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Rebuffed at the first hurdle, he then had a series of jobs in local government and other shortterm appointments before his mind returned to cars and design.
‘In 1958, aged 24 I had the opportunity to join the Rootes Group based in its styling studio at the Humber factory at Binley, Coventry,’ he explains. ‘It came about through an advertisement for a clay modeller. I don’t remember having an interview but there must have been one, probably with chief stylist Ted White and chief body engineer George Payne.’
After a painstaking six-month wait John finally heard that his application had been successful. On his first day John’s instructions were to report to the personnel department; from there he was taken to the styling department. ‘I recognised Ted White, who was known within the studio as Jack for some reason I never got to the bottom of. As I began to walk towards him to introduce myself he just turned and hurried away.’
Looking on at the proceedings with some amusement was Ted Green who was, along with Ted White, the most mature stylist in the department by some years. ‘I was then taken into the styling studio where I was introduced to other members of the team, most of whom were also in their twenties, including William Towns [who later designed the Aston Martin DBS and the wedge Lagonda] and Roy Axe [later design director of the Rover Group].’
When John joined Rootes the use of clay to produce models was a new technique and had only just been introduced. ‘I was one of the first two clay modellers within the company. The introduction of clay had been initiated by stylists who had recently joined Rootes from Ford. I’d never done any sculpting before and we had only basic tools, such as a scraper with a serrated edge on one side and a conventional blade on the other. We certainly didn’t use slicks to scrape off unwanted clay to refine the form; those came later. If I wanted to smooth away a large area I used a 12-inch steel.’
Clay was delivered from the suppliers in cylinders approximately 12 inches long and three inches in diameter. Says John, ‘It was mid-brown in colour with a formula which apparently contained sulphur and a form of elastication; the material was placed in an oven to make it malleable for use as it was needed. Its major bonus was that, once warm, it was easy to work and quick to adapt to the desired shape.’
Rootes’ cars of the early Sixties were mid-market models comprising saloons, estates, convertibles and a sports car. They were badge-engineered as Hillmans, Singers, Sunbeams and Humbers to attract brand-conscious customers. Few observers could have imagined that in 1963 the range would be joined by a totally new small rear-engined two-door model.
‘The decision to go rear engine with the Imp design was based on several factors. Newly appointed engineering director Peter
‘We worked by trial and error, acquiring the necessary clay skills as we progressed’
Ware had experience of rear-engined cars, and small-car design of the Fifties had been migrating toward rear-engine layouts – for example the VW Beetle, BMW 700, and Fiat 500/600s.’
What ultimately emerged as the Hillman Imp began as a concept for a small car developed by two junior Rootes engineers, Tim Fry and Mike Parkes. Full of youthful optimism, they told Rootes’ technical director BB Winter they could design such a car, and were somewhat taken aback when he told them to proceed. ‘Called Slug, reflecting its appearance in prototype form, initially it was powered by a rear-mounted Citroën 2CV engine and gearbox. However, the Rootes board deemed it too rudimentary a solution.’
The specification for ‘Slug’ duly matured into an all-new model, codenamed ‘Apex’. The body and interior would be designed by Rootes’ styling studio while the power unit was an overhead-cam Coventry Climax slant-four developed by Leo Kuzmicki, designer of the Vanwall GP engine. Instructions to instigate the new small-car programme were issued by the Rootes board in 1959. ‘We received a set of engineering drawings of the packaging layout, including dimensions for track, wheelbase, length and width.
‘Armed with this information the Experimental Department produced a 0.3-sized wooden “armature”, which was a framework comprising the basic shape with hard points that we used as reference guidelines as we shaped the clay. It was placed on a moveable turntable – purpose-designed for scale models – which could be swivelled and locked into position. The armature was then covered in clay and design work begun. There were sketch proposals from all members of the studio. Bob Saward’s was the one selected by the board to go forward as a clay model in 0.3 scale. I can’t say for certain that it was the first use of clay at Rootes but I saw no evidence of it having been used before.’
In the early days the lack of specialist tools was a real hardship for John and his colleagues and they enlisted the help of the experimental department to make special tools to their designs. ‘We worked by trial and error in acquiring the necessary skills in applying and shaping the clay as we progressed. In fact, during this period there was insufficient work to keep us all fully occupied. I found some space to put my design ideas on paper and gradually I spent more time sketching than modelling.’
Within a year of his joining Rootes, BMC launched the Mini. ‘When we first saw it some of us were horrified, especially by the external weld seams and the basic interior with its pull string-type door releases,’ reveals John. ‘It was the kind of basic cute little car that Rootes would never have made, yet it knew it needed to compete in the small car market. I remember that the recently introduced DAF 600 was liked by the Rootes family, and an example was wheeled into the styling studio for our comments. If anything, we thought it no better than the Mini.’
In the early days of Apex, Rootes did a lot of testing with a Mini and was impressed by its handling. ‘It made it all the more difficult to understand why Rootes still insisted on the Imp being rear-engined, but by that point the drivetrain configuration had been set. Parkes and Fry both bought themselves Minis, but they were confident that they could match its handling by adopting swing-axle suspension. There was also a cost and timing benefit in adopting the Coventry Climax-type engine from the existing portfolio, as well as freeing up additional passenger and luggage space in the front, albeit in a slightly larger body envelope.’
Continues John, ‘It’s a little-known fact that there were two proposals for Apex; one was designed by Bob Sayward with me as the modeller, and the second entrusted to an American, Don Bruce, with David Keepax as the modeller. Bruce, who had worked for Studebaker, had been invited to join Rootes specifically to
‘I could see that leaving was my only option. I just wasn’t enjoying working there any more’
shape the Imp and was given a Sunbeam Alpine company car and luxury accommodation in a local hotel. He was something of a mystery man and was only rarely seen on site, which meant that David was left very much to his own devices to work on that model. It ended up looking like a truncated Studebaker Avanti.’
Meanwhile, Bob Saward’s design proceeded apace. When Don Bruce finally disappeared, having abandoned his Sunbeam at Coventry railway station, Saward’s design was carried forward unchallenged. John recalls, ‘I contributed towards the shape of the roof, the wheelarches, wheels and the rear lamps, which it was later decided had to incorporate standard Lucas products for cost reasons. Often, Ware would visit the studio to check on Apex’s progress, accompanied by the Rootes family and Mike Parkes.’
The shape of Saward’s design drew its inspiration from the Chevrolet Corvair, a blunt-nosed model with its powertrain in the rear. ‘The Corvair had less chrome with cleaner lines and no indication of the then-prevalent American fashion for exaggerated rear fins. Quick reference to the Corvair’s front, prominent shoulder treatment and rear can clearly be seen on the Apex.’
At this point the bare 0.3 clay form was presented to the Rootes board and given approval, before a full-sized clay was also signed off. ‘This was the car that finally reached the market as the Hillman Imp and remained in production until 1976.’
Significantly, during the Imp’s development, work also proceeded on the Super Minx family. ‘This started as a fairly minor facelift on the existing series-three Minx of the Fifties, but developed into a seemingly unstoppable progression to an all-new-sheet-metal programme,’ John reveals. ‘One of the controversial design aspects suggested by the Rootes family, which was not appreciated by the designers, was for a sun-visor type fitment over the windscreen. The car was not what the styling team would have produced had they been given a free hand at the start.’
Recalling his reason for leaving Rootes John explains, ‘During a conversation with Ted White I explained quite forcefully that I thought there were several areas for improvement on the Super Minx saloon- and estate-variant clay models. Ted didn’t agree and suggested that I should leave. I could see that this was my only option; I just wasn’t enjoying working there any more.’
Walking out of the Rootes’ factory for the last time John recalls thinking that of all the cars it was the Sunbeam Alpine that continued to impress him with its fresh, modern feel. ‘Later I owned a Sunbeam Tiger, the V8 version. It was an entertaining car with poor roadholding but good handling.’
From 1961-63 John worked for Ford on the Cortina MKI facelift, the Transit van, D-series truck and Super Dexta tractor before moving to Joseph Lucas. In 1968 he joined Standard Triumph at Canley, where he worked on projects involving the Spitfire MKIV and GT6 MKIII, as well as styling the aborted Tr7-based Lynx V8 and participating in shaping the 2+2 Broadside. He retired in 1999. ‘The car that I am most proud of designing is the Montego Estate, which was the UK’S best-selling estate for three years. I was influenced to some extent by the Volvo estate car of the period.
‘I always look back on my time with Rootes and the Imp as being a very significant period in my career because it was my first job,’ reflects John. ‘I was working in 3D with modelling clay, it was hugely exciting. The atmosphere was totally relaxed, which was completely different to when I moved to Ford in 1961.’