The Imp Site

V.W. Derrington Ltd.

Derrington was:

Racing-Car Show 1965

The catalogue and guide to the 6th annual Racing-Car Show lists V.W. Derrington Ltd. as exhibitor of Stand No. 21

Location: in West Hall, Olympia, London
Date: January 22nd - 30th 1965
Org.: British Racing & Sports Car Club

V.W. Derrington Ltd.

159/161 London Road, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey

As Main Distributors for Weber carburettors and development engineers for the application of this carburettor for use on British cars, there will be a full range of Weber carburettors of all types, together with suitable inlet and exhaust manifolds for most popular makes and models.

[...] There will also be a complete range of Weber conversions for all Rootes group cars up to 1600 c.c.

A fully-converted Imp engine will be shown, similar to the units used on the continent, which have been most successful during the past season's racing.

[...].

  • Extractor exhaust manifolds for a large range of makes and models.
  • Modified high compression, standard cast iron and light alloy cylinder heads.
  • Special light alloy replacement engine parts, high compression pistons, tubular push rods, rockers, oil radiators, oil, fuel and radiator filler caps.
  • Oil cooler kits complete and ready to fit.
  • Range of light alloy rocker covers.
  • Aero and racing screens, racing mirrors.
  • Anti-roll or sway bars, adjustable shock absorbers.
  • Exhaust pipe extractors, revolution counters, all types of instruments.
  • 'Lightweight' and 'Slimline' wood-rim, and leather-covered steering wheels, introduced by us sixteen years ago and regularly supplied to many of the numerous car manufacturers as optional or standard equipment.

In attendance: V.W. Derrington, J. Passini, W.C. Bastick, L.K. Sears, P.W. Harris.

 

Letter in CCC 1966 April, p. 616:

On Imp Tuning

Dear Sir,
Checking back on the February issue of 'Cars and Car Conversions', I noticed a very informative article on 'Tuning the Imp', and on page 470 a list of firms offering special equipment, without mentioning our name, whereas on page 465, under review of the stands at the Racing Car Show, mention is made of our 998 c.c. Imp engine.
To put the whole matter into perspective, we were the very first firm to offer specialised equipment for the Imp in September 1963, the first firm to have their tuned car tested at M.I.R.A. by Rootes Competition Department, and thereafter to be recommended by the Group to customers, Overseas Agents, Distributors and Rootes Inc. of North America, supplying probably more than 100 sets throughout the Group and its associates. Many successes in racing have been achieved Overseas and on many occasions we have been told of the superiority of the results over other types.

V.W. Derrington
Managing Director
V.W. Derrington Ltd.
Kingston upon Thames

 

Advert by Derrington, Sep. 1975
[source: CCC Sep. 1975, p.103. Yellow marking by me.]

Sportscar December 1965: 'An acknowledged expert in the manifolding field is Vic Derrington.' (p.393)

Imp improvements. - CCC, Sept. 1966:

Pioneers when it comes to tuning the Imp, as the firm has been pioneers in almost every conceivable tuning direction, are V.W. Derrington Ltd., of London Road, Kingston-on-Thames. Vic Derrington was comfortably among the first to appreciate the potential of this engine, with its favourable bore/stroke ratio, sturdy short-throw crankshaft, adequate lubrication system and overall good design.
Working on the sound basis that the first improvement should be to the breathing, he has fitted a twin-choke Weber carb-two-stage, in fact on a specially-designed manifold with a built-in chamber for even distribution and a platform on which either the older-type pneumatic throttle operation, or the current cable operation, is fitted. A choke control is not necessary. This unit can be fitted using the standard cast exhaust manifold and silencer, and is also supplied as a combined inlet and tubular-steel extractor exhaust manifold with a straight-through large bore silencer and tail-pipe. This design, by the way, has been approved after thorough testing by Webers at Bologna.
Although the standard mechanical fuel pump will give a sufficient head of fuel with the Weber unit on its own, Derrington recommends the fitting of an electric fuel pump, since starvation is likely to occur over 5000 r.p.m. with an overlap camshaft.
Then you come to the head. The Derrington-modified head includes enlarging and reshaping the inlet ports to venturi form, enlarging the valve throats, reducing valve guide bosses, fitting larger inlet valves of improved shape, reshaping the combustion chambers and machining the head face to raise the compression ratio.
With the head goes a range of special camshafts for road use, rallying and racing. Roadholding, too, has received his attention, and Derringtons also do a conversion kit for the 1,000 c.c. engine, which enlarges the cubic capacity to 998 c.C. by means of special sleeves and pistons and a head gasket, enlarged combustion chambers and other mods to the head for racing.
Outside the engine-room, the firm does a lightweight laminated wood-rimmed steering wheel with a dished boss or as a flat wheel, a special seat for extra support and a walnut interior trim. In fact, everything to turn an Imp or a Chamois -all the bits and pieces are interchangeable­ into a comfortable, fast and generally impressive small motor-car.

They shut down business in the early 80's.

Literature

Autocar, 15 May 1964
Peter Garnier takes Gordon Horner to visit that pioneer engine tuner, V.W. Derrington. Series: "Old Hand"

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