For many Scots the Hillman Imp was their first car. The factory employed mostly Scots and even though the design company was based in Coventry it was felt by many to be a ‘Scottish car’. In total, 440,013 cars were built by the time the last Imp was made in 1976.
The Hillman Imp factory opened at Linwood near Glasgow in 1963. It was part of the government’s plans to help unemployment in Scotland due to the closure of many heavy industries, like shipbuilding.
The launch of the famous QE2.
After the second world war Glasgow was still known as the "workshop of the Empire" but by the 1960s there had been a drastic decline in the shipbuilding industry in Scotland. A lack of investment in the industry, foreign competition and an increase in air travel all had a disastrous impact on the yards.
Whole communities were devastated as unemployment levels rose and places like Govan had almost no work.
