Greetings all,
Having been a long time subscriber to Grassroots Motorsports magazine (back to the days when it was called Auto-X), I was quite thrilled about a year ago when a freelance writer contacted me for info on Sunbeam Imps. He proceeded to write his article and highlighted the Imps of myself and Brent Kasl. Brent and I built our respective cars at about the same time and therefore exchanged a lot of information. Brent did an outstanding job on his near stock car, while I went the modified route.
Unfortunately for me, I sold the car so do not get credit for its construction in the article. So I just had to boast about the car in a public forum, as well as point out the article to those of you who may want to read more about Rootes' fabulous little rear engined car.
So bear with me while I toot my own horn: The white with red/blue/yellow trim Imp on page 67 of the Feb. 2003 issue was rescued from a field in Albuquerque where it had been parked for about 17 years. What a find! I then spent 7 years stripping the car to bare metal, top to bottom, inside and out, then rebuilding/restoring/modifying every component. The finished product was a hoot to drive and a big attention getter. One of the more entertaining aspects of driving it was the response of little children! Everywhere I drove, they would always point and wave. Great fun!
In any case, it is great to see "my" car, even if it isn't mine any longer, as it brings back many fond memories.
Tony Fontaine
"impster" (the license plate that I had on the car)
Having been a long time subscriber to Grassroots Motorsports magazine (back to the days when it was called Auto-X), I was quite thrilled about a year ago when a freelance writer contacted me for info on Sunbeam Imps. He proceeded to write his article and highlighted the Imps of myself and Brent Kasl. Brent and I built our respective cars at about the same time and therefore exchanged a lot of information. Brent did an outstanding job on his near stock car, while I went the modified route.
Unfortunately for me, I sold the car so do not get credit for its construction in the article. So I just had to boast about the car in a public forum, as well as point out the article to those of you who may want to read more about Rootes' fabulous little rear engined car.
So bear with me while I toot my own horn: The white with red/blue/yellow trim Imp on page 67 of the Feb. 2003 issue was rescued from a field in Albuquerque where it had been parked for about 17 years. What a find! I then spent 7 years stripping the car to bare metal, top to bottom, inside and out, then rebuilding/restoring/modifying every component. The finished product was a hoot to drive and a big attention getter. One of the more entertaining aspects of driving it was the response of little children! Everywhere I drove, they would always point and wave. Great fun!
In any case, it is great to see "my" car, even if it isn't mine any longer, as it brings back many fond memories.
Tony Fontaine
"impster" (the license plate that I had on the car)