One of the pioneering British
automobile manufacturers. Started out making bicycles
in 1867, amoung them the Pennington 3-wheeler.
Released their own single cylinder car in 1899,
then experimented with front-wheel-drive and shaft-driven
DeDion powered cars. Took control of truck manufacturer
Commer in 1926 and Hillman two years later. Introduced
the larger 6 cylinder Humbers in 1930, but was
taken over by the Rootes group in 1932.
The wonderful
unitary constructed 4 cylinder Hawk was released
in 1957, alongside the similarly bodied 6 cylinder
Super Snipe. The Humber identity was lost during
the 1960's as the cars became re-badged Hillman's.
When Chrysler took control of Rootes they allowed
the marque to fade into obscurity.
1957 - 1967
While the Hawk was generally a sound and solid car, there were some minor irritations noted by motoring journalists of the era. These included a sub-standard rear view mirror, poor gear ratios and heavy steering. Many of these minor issues were remedied with the release of the Series 1A in 1959. More>>
1958 - 1967
The Series I Super Snipe was introduced in 1958 with
a 2655cc Six Cylinder engine, and sharing the same bodyshell
as its smaller engined stablemate, the Humber Hawk, which
used a 2267 cc four cylinder engine. Although mainly
sold as a "saloon", other versions of the vehicle
included the "limouisine" and "estate"
models. More>>
