Before the Imp, Rootes had never really offered a small and cheap car. Humbers were luxurious (though never over-the-top extravagant like a Daimler or Rolls-Royce), Sunbeam and Sunbeam-Talbot represented the sporty side, while Hillmans were the family cars, though never the cheapest on the market. Singer was added to the Rootes portfolio in 1956 and became a more luxurious variant of the Hillmans.
Rootes’ strategy of building quality cars that could be sold at a premium price and were styled and marketed with flair served them well for many years, but by the second half of the 1950s, society was changing. More and more people aspired to car ownership, but this desire combined with successive fuel crises to put pressure on bigger, thirstier and more expensive motors. By 1955 Rootes had recognised that they would have to enter a new market sector if they were to survive – what they needed was a small, cheap car produced in large enough quantities to turn a decent profit.
Remarkably, the task of designing it was given to an extremely youthful pairing of Mike Parkes (just 24 years old at the time)
