Humber

1950 Humber Snipe MKII

by Tubby

oz-20001950 Humber Snipe MKIII   Entrant number 48 Driver Bill Fenney Navigator Leslie Fenney

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HUMBER SNIPE Mark III         1945 – 1952

In 1932 Humber became a fully-owned subsidiary of The Rootes Group, and had been producing cars powered by six-cylinder 4.2 liter engines for over ten years, The Humber was the most expensive car in the Rootes group range, and had a good public image and acceptance.

A Humber was Shipped to Australia for use by Queen Mother visit to Western Australia in the 1950’s. The Super Snipe gained acceptance in Australia as it became widely seen as a high class Auto,. This High Class Image coupled with an

acceptable price base and long legs that suited longer distances was well suited to a section of the market  and the Mark IV Super Snipe was assembled In Australia, beginning with the Mark IV version in 1952…

 

Trivia

There were 240 New Humber registrations in Australia for January 1951

 

 

1927 Humber 9/20

by Tubby

owned by Kurt Hoppe

Kurt bought the Humber in 1995.  He was in England for the 100 year Wolseley rally with his Wolseley 1500 and caravan, and spotted the 9humber/20 Humber it was on display and Kurt’s wife loved the car instantly, but having several other projects underway Kurt decided to think about it for a while. Back in Switzerland a week later Kurt sent a fax to the dealer “Sir we would like to buy the car”

It was about three weeks later that Kurt hooked a trailer on to his everyday car and set off  back to England, a one way trip was 980 kilometer and an English Channel crossing..

Once home the restoration began. The body was in very good condition,  but the mechanicals were in very bad condition.  Kurt restored the engine, gearbox, steering box, front and rear axles. The wiring, hood and the petrol tank were renewed.  Some parts were located in New Zealand after Kurt came across an advert.  Kurt says he had some good luck with screws, nuts and bolts  as they were all metric. The Humber register in England also proved useful for some parts.

The brass lamps had many dents in them and  Kurt found a trumpet maker who was able to make them like new.  There are always countless little problems that pop up when restoring a car But two years later it was finished.

Kurt says he is very happy with the car but being a Wolseley fan and having unsuccessfully  looked for a Wolseley of similar vintage for a long time, It’s a nice compromise.

 

1933 Humber Sedan

by Tubby

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Owned  by Greg and Helen.

Humber was a British automobile marque which was started by Thomas Humber in 1868 and grew into one the largest and most well renowned British automobile manufacturer of all time.

One of the most famous cars coming out of its production lines was the 1933 Humber Snipe and Pullman sedan . The four door sedan’s the power unit was a straight six of 3,948.5 c.c. with a bore and stroke 80×116 mm and over-head inlet and side exhaust valves.

Other mechanical innovations utilized in this car included:

A mechanical fuel pump

Radiator shutters operated by thermostat in the header tank

Engine and gearbox in one unit with Silent-bloc trunnion mountings

A starter motor with 2 to 1 drive to ensure that the engine

was spun rapidly when old

A new frame with deep-section sides had an extra stiff and deep triangulated cross member in the middle

Suspension was, of course, non-independent with beam axles and half-elliptic springs

A new downdraught carburetor.

In 1931 when the Rootes Brothers bought a majority shareholding, the Humber lost its independent innovations , as numerous designers left Humber, lacking the freedom of work space.. But eventually the Humber model regained its market share lost during the depression period and brought “the eccentricity” back into the British Automobile market.