Descripción
H&H Classics car auction @ The Imperial War Museum | Duxford, Cambridgeshire
15th Mar, 2023 13:00
1929 Humber 16/ 50 Saloon
VSCC Eligible
Estimate £12, 000 - £15, 000
Registration No: SV 9925
Chassis No: 18919
MOT: Exempt
Rare Humber 16/ 50 with interesting history
VSCC Eligible car, with accompanying booklet
Impressive history file organised by owner and including original registration certificate
Founded as a bicycle maker in 1868, Humber later became associated with Harry Lawson's British Motor Syndicate. Commencing motor car production in 1900 with the unconventional (front-wheel drive, rear-wheel steered) M D Voiturette, a more conventional range of De Dion-powered light cars soon followed, which was notable for its use of shaft drive in an era when chain was the norm for such vehicles.
By the time the founder Thomas Humber's death in 1910, his company had established a reputation for quality that would endure well into the 1930's. In 1932 Humber was taken over by the Rootes Group, which also acquired Humber-owned Hillman. From then onwards Humber products were aimed at the upper reaches of the market while Hillman catered for the masses.
Introduced in 1929, the Humber 16/ 50 replaced its ageing 14/ 40 predecessor. With a smooth six-cylinder 2110cc engine, new features included coil ignition, a mechanical fuel pump and Bendix brakes. Aimed at professional and middle class motorists of the era, the 16/ 50 would be manufactured until 1933, with its replacement by the 16/ 60.
This particular Humber has an interesting history. In 1929, a Mrs Maude Tonkinson of Dunedin, New Zealand, visited the 1929 Olympia Car Exhibition in October, ordering a new Humber 16/ 50 with an unusual non-leather interior. The car was delivered to New Zealand and registered on the 8th September, 1930. She would own the car for 6 years, when it would then pass to a Robin Munro, before in 1960, under Robert Hadley’s ownership, it would be involved in an accident hitting a bollard on Auckland’s North Road. The next owner, Fran de Lator of Devonport, Auckland, would start the restoration in 1970. A Joe Clifton would continue before it was finished by a Peter Holaway and sold to a Harvey McWhir, who imported the car to Northern Ireland. In 2003, the car was sold once more and imported to the UK, registered as SV 9925 in Salisbury. It would then move to Abingdon and up to Scotland before it was purchased by its current owner in 2020.
Now offered for sale showing patina from its 1970s restoration, ‘SV 9925’ benefits from an electric fuel pump and comes accompanied with an impressive history organised and separated by owner. Within the file, its original registration certificate from 08 September 1930, an instruction book, some photographs of the restoration, invoices for works carried out in each ownership, a small collection of previous MOTs, model history information and the VSCC eligibility book.
