Killing some time as I nibbled a burger today ... came across a 1964 Humber Super Snipe with 47,000 original miles. The car needs a lot of love, but it's very sound and pretty much rust free!

My dad had a 62 and brought ot to Oz in 65 when we move to Oz.

I've done the EH Holden thing in my day, but this is a little different.

Has two nights without sleep robbed me of my sanity?

Comments on a) sanity, b) humbers, c) restorations all welcomed.

(Picture is not the actual car, just an example of the marque)

PS it's $6K

 

a) Sanity.

To be avoided as long as possible

b) Humbers.

Rather splendid dinosaurs. I remember the headmaster at my first school had a Snipe (or Super Snipe) but it was a model about 10 years older than that one - a vast contraption with a more rounded look. (incidentally, snipes are small, fast, highly manouevrable birds - the exact opposite of the Humbers named after them...)

c) Restoring cars.

A hobby rivalled only by boating as a way to toss away endless barrowloads of cash. Sourcing parts is also a pastime only recommended for the serious masochist.

In other words.... hey, why not, if it looks like fun...

 

In 1968 my best friend and I drove to the snow in his dad's super snipe (identical colour combo., without the giveaway AA badge):
remember trying to rev hard outside the Paragon Cafe in Goulburn which at the time was the mandatory stop on the way to Thredbo. Can't recall one chick turning a head.

IMHO there have been very few less-exciting motor cars eminate from the UK - except for the longnose snipe that I am sure BVD refers to. My Latin teacher had one of them (mandatory in black): not often in life you come across a car more boring than your ancient language teacher.

 

You just cooked it's goose!

 

Hey Kev ...

Like yours my Dad had a Humber super snipe .. actually 2.

They are quite an engineering feat ... they prove that 72 HP can move 2000 kgs and that cross ply tyres are stronger than they appear.

Special highlights are the fuel filler in the screw cap refector on the rear tail light assemply and the walnut fold down tables in the back seat.

In summary, if you have the Snipe and the RX8 in the drive you will have the entire gammut of motoring from the great to the grate ..

BUY IT!!!

 

I think insipience was a common theme among Rootes Group vehicles, with the possible exception of the Hillman Imp and Sunbeam Tiger.

My first car was a '57 Hillman Minx, and it was...uninspiring, but it only cost me ten bucks! I leared a lot about DIY car repair driving that thing while I was still a student.

 

Well I restored a Leyland P76 once before, so I am probably not the best qualitifed to give an opinion!

 

Restored a triumph TR3 sports car 1956 model , kev unless you have a fethish for these cars restore a sports car and paint it red for therapy.

 

My wife surprises me - always does ...

Instead of the expected "no way" or "you've got to be kidding", I get "I thought you liked old Jags, why wouldn't you get a Jag?"

 

Hey eccles, my first car was a '57 Minx, too -- I paid $AUD20 for it and it had 9 months registration. Unfortunately, it soon developed a dead battery and I remember buying a new one - cost me $AUD40 - before discovering the alternator was crap, which then led me to a firm dislike for anything with Lucas electrics in it. The Minx never made it to re-registration time; the clutch was shot (only a problem starting off), it had a hole in the passenger's footwell (very tricky in wet weather, as water would splash up and hit the driver right in the eye :D but it was OK cos the wipers were a problem, so didn't go out in the wet ) Finally gave it up after total brake failure (slave cylinder seals shot) left self with brown trousers.

That car taught me a lot: mostly (and Kev, you have been warned) that Rootes products of that era and later are never to be trusted. Rooted might be the best expression

In a complete change, my next car was a MkII Cooper S, the most fun car I have ever owned, but that's another story... :p


PS: My Dad had the last say: after the unfortunate brake event, car was offered to wreckers, whereupon Dad said "don't forget to take that battery out, most valuable part of the whole car!"

 

Wow - a nest of closet Hillman owners!

My second car was a Hillman (the black one in the pic below, with me standing next to it). Not licenced for the road, and I only drove it round the farm.

The 1930 Austin 7 on the right was my first car. Yellow of course....

 

Kev

RE: HUMBER SUPER SNIPE .

The reality is kev is trying to be : A SUPER HUMPER , WITH A SNIPISH CAR .

MICHAEL

 

Is that an Austin 7 "Chummy"? My dad had one durung the war. He tells the story of when he and a few of his RAF pals were pulled over by the local bobby on the way home from the pub. As PC Plod shone his lamp on the numerous bodies crammed into the 7, he asked "Excuse me, young Sir, but did you all get into that car, or did you put it on?"

 

Ahh, memories. I bought my Minx from a used car lot - I was out with a school chum, looking for a car for him, and saw the minx at the back of a lot. It had apparently been traded in a few days earlier, and they were getting ready to pay someone to take it for scrap. I took it off their hands for a tenner, after driving it down to the Balwyn cop shop to get an unroadworthy sticker on it.

A few days later, I took it up to the local service station to see what would be needed to get a RWC on it. The guy handed me back a list as long as your arm (including rust in the floor - must've been another Rootes speciality!) and then asked me if I'd like another one for parts! Turns out he had a customer who had had a non-running Minx on his nature strip for so long that the local council had declared it a wreck and were about to tow it away and charge him for the disposal. So my mates and I went around there with an EH and a tow rope, dragged it home, and spent the weekend completely stripping the thing, putting all the parts under the house for a rainy day, and towing the bare body down to Simmsmetal in Dandenong. Of course Simms was closed on Sundays, so we just pushed it off the trailer and left it on their forecourt. Ah, to be young and stupid again.

So for $10 plus a tandem trailer rental, I had enough Minx bits to make one going concern, which served me faithfully for almost two years until I got pulled over at a random RWC inspection one day and handed another cubit of compulsory repairs. By then the novely had worn off, so I took the opportunity to borrow a few hundred from ParentiBank and bought a '67 Cortina GT which lasted me until I bought my first RX-3.

 

Nice story.

As far as I know, the Chummy was the soft top version, but the same year(s). Mine was a hard top, saloon or whatever they were called.

Chummy pic

I remember being a passenger in a similar car driven by a cousin coming back from watching some rugby at Twickenham in England, and the fog was so thick I had to hang out the window and yell directions about how close the kerb was.

Come to think of it that was over 40 years or so ago, and until this World Cup I've hardly watched any in between....

 

One of these in winning blue would be fun!




++dez;

 

Why on earth would you want to change anything from being a perfectly beautiful red???

 

oh... as tempting as it is.. I won't get into that particular religious debate.. gosh I would like to, but no.. I'm better than that - and it's time for my evening constitutional (drive that is).

++dez;

ps: I wonder how many paid listings and keyword banners it would take for http://WebSearch.COM.AU to pay off one of these truck babies ... hmm ...

 

the 60's movie "Alfie" is on Encore paytv at this very moment: he is the chauffeur driving a...you guessed it

Just shows how feeble the memory is. I saw this movie last when it was a new release, and had completely forgotten the starring role of the Super Snipe

Maybe a remake, like "The Italian Job", is in the offing. I just cannot come to terms with a 2003 retro Snipe.

 

Too late, Alfie's already graduated to a Rolls.

 

the remake of the italian job was fantastic, the mini's were a dream - and that girl driver ... oh mumma..

++dez;