Several years ago while visiting a steam event I became intrigued by this little devil. One of the impressive traction engines used it as its mascot. Unfortunately I forgot to make a picture of the vehicle itself, but I suspect it was a Ruston & Hornsby steam roller. The manufacturing company was based in Lincolnshire, so it was logical for them to adopt this imp as their emblem. The Lincoln Imp is in reality a grotesque gargoyle that can be found on one of the pillars in Lincoln cathedral. It is a nice legend and nowadays the imp is almost synonymous with the city of Lincoln and is sold as a souvenir to visitors of the city. Ruston & Hornsby not only made traction engines, between 1919 and 1924 they also produced automobiles and during the 1920’s some of the cars had the Lincoln Imp mounted on the radiator cap. On the back of the car mascot was the inscription RH (mascot-mania.co.uk). It was a reminder to the driver what kind of automobile he was driving. But imagine what the oncoming traffic must have thought when seeing the imp standing on one leg leering at them.

photo Rutger Booy

February 24, 2007