Melvyn Adams racing against a Bevan Imp (the purple people eater) and a Mini

The Imp Site

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Melvyn Adams

A friend of George Bevan. He raced his home-built Imps.

Melvyn Adams obituary on the previous Imp Club forum, with a reaction from his son. (Google cache)

1971

NCR Trophy Brands Hatch, 30 August 1971
John Turner managed 1 m 53.8 s in only a few laps on Monday, the Guys Automobiles Imp breaking a camshaft after only a handful of laps. The all-Imp eighth row was shared by Trevor Willcocks (1 m 55.6 a) and Melvyn Adams (1 m 55.8 s) while the Minis of Bob Riley, Mac Ross and Bob Jones were next up with 1m 56.0 s, 1m 56.2 s, and 1m 56.4 s respectively. Adrian Webb (Imp) and Jeremy Nightingale (Escort GT) did 1 m 57.0 s while Mike Drinkwater led the rest with 58.0 a. Littler pulled up well to take ninth ahead of the ultra reliable Bevan Imp, although McGovern did seem to slow towards the end with a suspect doughnut.

Peter Baldwin and Melvyn Adams
Oulton Park Gold Cup meeting 1971
Peter Baldwin, Mini Cooper S, and Melvyn Adams, Anthony Charnell Sunbeam Imp.

1972

Privateers Championship
Melvyn Adams won the coveted private entrants award in the British Saloon Car Championships in 1972 with a Group II Imp.

British Saloon Car Championship, 1972
Melvyn Adams finished 2nd in class (Bill McGovern won) and came 6th overall.

Brands Hatch International Circuit, Kent, Great-Britain
19 March 1972
Bill McGovern in the 1-litre Bevan Imp dominated the smallest class - could this be the start of a championship hat-trick for the team?

Oulton Park, Cheshire, Great-Britain
30 March 1972
Heavy rain

Motoring News:
A caption in Motoring News a couple of weeks ago has offended Imp ace Bill McGovern, who tells us that nobody ever outbrakes him and wants us to apologise for suggesting such. Whatever, Bill won the 1-litre class with the Bevan machine by 17 seconds from Mo Mendham's Mini. The result put McGovern and Matthews into the joint lead of the Championship

Esso Uniflo Trophy
Thruxton, Hampshire, Great-Britain
3 April 1972

Touring Cars
Pos	Pos in class	#	Team / Entrant Car- Engine	Drivers, Nationality	Engine vol. (cc)	Engine Type	Group	Distance, time	Qualifying position	Qualifying time	Fastest lap	Reason out
1	1	5	SCA Freight Ltd. Chevrolet Camaro Z28 Mk2	Frank Gardner, AUS	5736	V8	D	25 laps, 36.42,2	2	1.26,8	1.25,4
9	1	1	George Bevan Hillman Imp	Bill McGovern, GB	998	L4	A	23		1.37,0	1.36,6
12	2	80	Hillman Imp	Melvyn Adams, GB	998	L4	A	23		1.38,6
DNF		78	Stapleton Motors Racing Promotions Hillman Imp	Adrian Webb, GB	998	L4	A	18

GKN Transmissions Trophy
Silverstone, Great-Britain
23 April 1972

Bill McGovern's George Bevan Sunbeam Imp scored maximum points in the sub-1000 cc category to hold on to the joint championship lead with Matthews

Crystal Palace, Great-Britain
28/5/1972

By winning the 1-litre class again Bill McGovern moves into a clear lead in the Wiggins Teape Paperchase, for Dave Matthews crashed his Escort and thus spoilt his points record.

John Player Grand Prix Support Race
Brands Hatch International Circuit, Kent, Great-Britain
15 July 1972

No drama in the little class: Bill McGovern just got on with the job of scooping up yet another maximum point score in search of his third Championship title in the George Bevan Imp.

Oulton Park Gold Cup
Oulton Park, Cheshire, Great-Britain
16 Sept. 1972

Round 7 of the ten-race Wiggins Teape Paperchase. It was a race of attrition and there were only 15 finishers but Bill McGovern kept up his unbeaten record this season with the George Bevan Imp in the 1-litre category.

Esso Uniflo RAC Tourist Trophy
Silverstone, Great-Britain
24 Sept. 1972

SKF Trophy for Group 2 cars
Mallory Park, Leicester, Great-Britain
1 October 1972

In the closing laps, McGovern closed right up to Montague but just failed to take him. In the smallest class, Ivor Greenwood (Imp Sport) was the closest to McGovern but by the finish he had been lapped by the leaders.

John Player Victory Meeting
Brands Hatch International Circuit, Kent, Great-Britain
22 October 1972 

Gardner, Matthews, Buncombe and McGovern had already won their classes in the championship before the event but in any case all four won their respective sections.  

1973

British Saloon Car Championship, 1973
Melvyn Adams won his class and came 3rd overall!

Esso Uniflo Trophy
Thruxton, Hampshire, Great-Britain
23-Apr-1973

Sadly, reigning RAC champion Bill McGovern was badly hurt when his Imp crashed after a start line collision.

Literature

Melvyn Adams' Sunbeam Imp. - Cars and Car Conversions 1973, 2 (February)
On the cover, the last bit of text: Gp 2 Imp
Profiles + drives of 2 1000cc racers - Paul Green Sony Mini + Melvyn Adams' Sunbeam Imp

Melvyn Adams and Jon Mowatt at Crystal Palace 29 May 72. Quite a capacity crowd.

From: Richard Evans
Sent: Monday, 7 November 2011
Subject: Re: Melvyn Adams Imp Site

I saw Melvyn race at Crystal Palace and Brands Hatch several times. That's my picture with Jon Mowatt along side where I was a start line marshall for the BARC.

Where was Melvyn's workshop?

Does anyone know what happened to Mike Drinkwater & Jon Mowatt, mini-racers?

Regards
Richard Evans

Non-Imp info

Sponsored bij Cars and Car Conversions magazine, he raced a VW Passat in 1974. - Like Bill McGovern did for George Bevan.