Commer Imp Van

Commer Imp Van from 1965 to 1970
Overview
Manufacturer	Rootes Group Commer Cars, Ltd.
Production	1965–1970
Body and chassis
Body style	panel van. some adaptations to special purposes
Engine	Water-cooled inline-4, OHC, 875cc, 36bhp
Transmission	4-speed manual

The Commer Imp Van was a Light weight van with aluminium engine introduced in mid 1965  and was based on the Hillman Imp saloon. It was renamed as the Hillman Imp Van in October 1968, with total production reaching 18,194 units prior to it being phased out in July 1970. The Hillman Husky estate car, which was introduced in July 1967,was based on the Imp Van. Commer Imp Van was priced at £441 plus tax. The van base model was very basic, one seat, one sun visor these could be upgraded for passengers.

The Commer version has the low compression ratio engine, four-speed fully synchromesh gearbox contained within transaxle unit which drives the rear wheels, independent suspension front and rear, and rack and pinion steering. Suspension at front and rear of the vehicle is by coil springs and wish-bone links. At the front, there are king pin mounted stub axles, which form a swing axle with parallel steering, which is of the rack and pinion pattern. The suspension is damped by telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers. 

The engine has four cylinders, in line, is of 875cc capacity and is slant-mounted at the rear of the vehicle. The cylinder block, valve cover and timing case are pressure diecast in aluminium alloy and cylinder liners are cast iron inserts which may not be removed after initial installation, but which may be bored out in service. The gearbox and final drive unit are contained within a single aluminium casing, which is mounted forwards of the engine unit.

The all-steel van body has a flat floor, a top-hinged rear loading door and a low height loading platform. Payload capadty is given as 5cwt, and there is a total loading capacity of 70 cu. ft. The commercial Imp was fitted with a low compression detuned engine, with power 36bhp. so it It could run on the cheapest grade of fuel. The driveshafts were uprated and it got the new 6¼" clutch. Braking by Girlin with two-leading shoe brakes on front wheels, and by leading and trailing shoe drum brakes on rear wheels. The pedal operates an hydraulic system, and the hand- brake operates the rear wheel brakes mechanically, through cables and compensator. 

Based on the well-known Hill-man Imp design, the Commer Imp van was first introduced in November 1965.and Very similar in its mechanical specification to the Imp car, To cope with the extra weight over the tail, the van used both heavy-duty crossply tyres and stronger wheels (12" x 4"J).for a load 5cwt (350 kg) load,  It's turning circle is 29', whereas an Imp saloon takes 30'6". It has an exhaust with the tail-pipe angled down. This keeps the fumes from getting sucked into the car, or blow on the legs of someone loading at the rear.

Only just over 18,000 Vans were produced.