Humber Reviews and Road Tests

Humber Reviews and Road Tests

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 rebadged Hillman's. When Chrysler took control of Rootes they allowed the marque to fade into obscurity.

Also see: The History of Humber (USA Site)


		Humber Hawk 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>>

		Humber Super Snipe Series I - V 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>>

		HumberVogue 1963 - 1966 At the time, the Humber Vogue had the reputation for being "the safest car in wet conditions" then available in Australia. Of course to achieve that feat, it was also blessed with excessive understeer on a dry surface. Pretty much all Rootes cars, with the exception of the Imp, had very laudable built-in "fail-safe" systems of handling. More>>