Reproduction Imp News

As I promised, here are the shots of the Imp replica that is going to be produced by Unique Supply of Redlands, CA. All of the pictures below are linked to larger, more detailed versions. So if you want to see more detail of the body, just click on the picture.

	This particular picture is of the rear seat area. You'll notice that the replica is based upon the '70 and later style Imp, as evidenced by the rear seat divider and lack of battery storage area. One thing they haven't reproduced is the bracket that EMPI designed to support the rear seat area. It bolted to the floorpan and to the body over the transmission.
	Here's a front view of the body and hood. You'll notice that the hood has the vertical license plate area and has the tachometer mounting place, all signals that the hood was modeled from a '70 or later. Also visible in this picture is the molded EMPI logo, which will be eliminated from future casting due to legal reasons from Mr. Bug, Inc., the current owners of the EMPI name and trademarks.
	Now we're looking at a front 3/4 view of the body. You get the overall picture here of how the body looks. You notice the front area has bosses to drill through for mounting a stock windshield wiper assembly, tachometer mount, and headlight mounts. The rear seat features a split bench seat, ready for paint and seats.
	Now we're looking in at the body to the front firewall. You'll notice that there is no dash mounted to the hood at this time. They are waiting for the dash to be shot at the fiberglass company and hopefully will be done soon. Also noticable is the ribbing on the front footwell which acts as a stiffening point for the body.
	From the rear 3/4 view on the passenger side, we can see the area for the American license plate and the flat areas for the '68-'70 Beetle taillights. The original ones used '68-'69 taillight housings that were chromed.
	Here's a front 3/4 view from driver's side with the side pods in place. I want to illustrate how the body looks with the side pods and how it can change the look of the body.
	Here is a rear 3/4 view from driver's side with the side pods and engine cover installed. This is our first glance at the engine cover. There is a piece missing from this picture. Unique has reproduced the engine access cover (to fill the large rectangular opening in the cover), but sold it. They're waiting for the next one to be made.
	This rear 3/4 view from passenger side with the side pods illustrates the wide wheel openings on the rear with both of these components installed. A 10" wheel (like a Sprint Star) with a large tire should fit in that opening.
	Here's a close up shot of sidepods installed on the body. If you look carefully, you'll see an EMPI emblem molded into the fiberglass, but thanks to Mr. Bug Inc., that will be removed on the production models for legal reasons.
	Looking at the engine cover head on gives you an idea of how wide the Imp is. This shot is missing the access panel but it will be soon produced and I will share the pictures here. Please remember that these body panels were just leaned into place and that's why part of the hole is obstructed on the exhaust openings. We kind of just sat everything in place and took the pictures. When properly installed, these panels will fit right up and look nice.
	Close up shot of engine cover dismounted. The two holes in the engine were for an exhaust system that EMPI sold. The exhaust tips would come through the holes, protecting passerbys from hot exhaust tubing.
	For those of you original Imp owners, I took a picture of the side pods off of the body. The owner stated that he was open to selling these seperate from the body, so you can spruce up your Imp with this original accessory. Once again, the EMPI emblems will not be on the pods because of legal reasons.