Dinky Toys 214/138; Hillman Imp

The Rootes Group was popular with Dinky right through the 50s and 60s, the Hillman Minx, the Sunbeam Rapier, the Singer Gazelle, the excellent Humber Hawk and at the latter days of the Marque came this little car that probably killed the Rootes Group off.

Why did a company which made mid and upper range cars with nice wooden dashboards and fine sporting saloons like the Rapier and the Sceptre in factories around Coventry open a new factory in Glasgow to produce a sub compact car with an all-alloy engine developed from a fire pump and a racing car and rear mounted? What made them think it would work? especially as BMC had just re-written the rule book with the brilliant Mini. Rootes were all but finished by the end of the Sixties and were absorbed into Chrysler and then Peugeot and are now forgotten.

The Dinky car was made from 1963 to 1972 in metallic green and a sort of metallic orange, a rally version was made from 1966 to 1968.

Dinky Toys 138; Hillman Imp; Metallic Green	Dinky Toys 138; Hillman Imp; Metallic Orange	Dinky Toys 214; Hillman Imp; 1966 Monte Carlo Rally DNF; Smith & Domleo-Morley; RN107

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Last Edit: 31/05/2022		Page Added 31/12/2020