I had two Hillman Imps - well, one was a Singer Chamois, and I liked driving them. Except when, for some reason, they decided to unload the contents of the radiator header tank on the forecourt of service stations. It was like having a horse. The Chamois needed a bit of bodywork, which I could cope with. I could do the sort of maintenance it required (though I did nearly take a finger off replacing the fan belt on the side of the Maidstone bypass.) The Imp was much flimsier, thinner metal, less sturdy. It died after a low speed rear end impact from a Volvo pushed the tow bar into places it didn't belong.

I heard a joke on the radio once, about car prospectors going out to search for veins and seams of vehicles. One came in claiming to have found a deposit of Hillman Imps. "Them's not Hillman Imps," said one of the old timers. "Them's fools' Hillman's Imps." Pause. "There's only fools' Hillman Imps."

But they are still about.