What is an Imp?

The EMPI Imp was a fiberglass dune buggy manufactured by EMPI of Riverside in the mid '60s through the early '70s. It and the Sportster represented EMPI's attempt to penetrate the highly lucrative dune buggy market popularized by Bruce Meyer's Manx.

The Imp was constructed of a fiberglass body and two piece hood/dash bolted to a shortened Volkswagen Beete floor pan. The floorpan needed to be shortened by 12" (30.5 cm), but otherwise everything else remained stock VW. This contrasted with the majority of dune buggies being manufactured at the time, as they all used a floor pan shortened 14" (35.6cm) to 14.5" (36.8cm).

One popular misconception among buggy onwers is that Imps only came with certain wheels, interiors, etc. or have to have a floorpan the same age as the body. These are all false. The Imp was available in many different kits, from the basic body to everything except the rolling floorpan. Sprint Star wheels are just as stock as a set of Cragar SSs or American truck wheels. It real common for someone to buy a new '70 Imp and use a floor pan from '67 or '66. The earlier cars were inexpensive and easy to find at a wrecking yard.

If you are looking to build a "period correct" Imp, you can use any part that predates the body. For example, it would be ok to use a '70 Imp with a '65 Porsche 356 engine or '66 Corvair engine. You could not use a 2.0L Type 4, as they didn't appear until 1972. Likewise with a '67 Imp, you could not use an IRS floorpan, as the IRS rear suspension/transaxle wasn't introduced until '68.

The Imp is truly a "fun car" and it will provide hours of driving pleasure. Driving down the road is run and the look of passerbys and other drivers is great. But be prepared to answer questions, as people will inevitably be inquisitive about it.