![]() Petrol rationing returned to the UK in December 1956 and people began to clamour for more economical means of travel. ![]() The upshot of this was that all oil supplies from the Middle East would need to be transported in giant oil tankers around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. In the ensuing war, the Arabs blew up the Syrian pipeline which provided 20 per cent of Britain’s petrol supply. ![]() The British tried to stop him, the Americans pulled the rug from beneath them and the Arabs decided to close their oil pipeline across the Mediterranean. The situation blew up in September 1956 when Egyptian President Nasser decided to nationalise the Suez Canal. What, though, was the Suez Crisis and why did it affect Britain so badly? In a word, it was a situation that arose when the Arabs discovered that they could hold the world to ransom by using their control of the majority the world’s oil supplies. The Rootes Group certainly felt that way and, as a response to these hard times, it was decided that the utmost priority should be given to its new economy saloon. The Suez Crisis of 1956 certainly had a lot to answer for: petrol shortages in the UK meant that those cars that could eke out the most from a gallon of petrol were judged to be the most desirable. However, as Keith Adams explains, the project was riddled with setbacks and issues that stopped it achieving anywhere near its full potential. The Hillman Imp was the Rootes Group’s great white hope to beat the Mini at its own game.
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