Descripción
HERE at Martin Howey Classics (Est. 26 years), we don't pretend to sell the very best cars around but we certainly aim, and always have done, to sell the very BEST VALUE FOR CLASSICS in the current UK marketplace.
Here we have a prime example. This is a 1963 Humber Sceptre 1600cc Mark 1 and it must be one of the oldest surviving models. The Sceptre was launched in January 1963 as Humber's first post-war compact sized car. This example was registered on May 16 of that year and obviously will have been built earlier than that.
It's a real gem of a classic 60s sports saloon in Rootes Group Pippin Red with excellent cream interior featuring red piping. And you would have been hard pushed back in the day to find a better "sports" dashboard than the Sceptre with it's seven clocks plus the overdrive lever for 3rd and 4th fitted to the right hand side of the steering wheel.
The Sceptre belonged to the era of string backed driving gloves and cravats. It was a one off so far as Rootes models were concerned and it did not share its body shell with any other of their models. Not even the ever so similar Singer Vogue. That raking rear roofline, wraparound windscreen and quad headlight arrangement was just delightful. It oozed class.
This proud old survivor has just 26, 000 miles on the clock and, while I cannot be sure that it is correct, I can comment on some aspects of that reading. Old MoTs show the mileage creeping ever so slightly between 1986 and now. It moves from 24, 000 to 26, 000. In reality, the reading could well have been genuine when you consider that the chap who purchased this Humber at new kept it for the next 53 years. How rare is that!
In effect, it has had just two keepers. The V5 states 2 former keepers, but he owned it for just a couple of weeks in order to remove the original registration!
This is a really pretty and solid car which drives and handles superbly with working overdrive.
This description is based on my opinion of the vehicle, the paperwork that comes with the car and anything I have been told about it. The vehicle is almost 61-years-old and this cannot be taken as a definitive statement for obvious reasons. As with most classic cars, there may be faults and quirks whilst, almost inevitably, some degree of tinkering and care will always be called for. Such are the joys of owning an antique vehicle and they must be taken within their own context and not compared to modern day cars. They are sold as old, mainly out-dated machines and come without any comeback whatsoever. They are my terms and conditions.
My classic cars are motoring antiques. This car, for example, is almost 61-years-old. It's not two, five or even ten-years-old as your own everyday car may be. It has been in service for more than half a century and so will have quirks and faults in there somewhere. However, faults on these old girls are not always apparent when buying and selling classics which is what I do. I do not restore them, nor do I pretend that they are concours cars. The majority of them go out as they came in, and I continue to enjoy finding more - a skill which is becoming increasingly difficult as many of you will be aware. They deserve to be taken on as "family pets" and cared for through thick and then. They don't make them any more and demand now out-strips supply. Please bear all this in mind, and enjoy your classic car. I can also assist with delivery and so please ask for a quote.
I have now been established as a one-man band classic car dealer for 25 years and pride myself on my buying prowess and - due to small margins - my prices which I firmly believe are up there among the very best in the UK classic car marketplace.
Thanks, Martin. the details below
