Description
1972 Humber Sceptre Mk III, registration XUO 586K, finished in Spice Metallic with a black vinyl roof and beige Ambla trim.
Four-speed manual gearbox with overdrive on third and fourth, giving six usable ratios. 1, 725cc twin-carburettor engine — the 88bhp unit shared with the Sunbeam Rapier and the highest state of tune offered in the Arrow range. Mileage recorded at 86, 018 at the last MOT.
The car is unrestored and original throughout. Original carpets, seats and headlining. Original sills and suspension. The chassis, doors and sills have been sprayed internally every year for decades, which is why the original steel is still in the car. On a Rootes Arrow that is unusual, and I would encourage any buyer to get underneath and check it for themselves.
Stainless steel exhaust system fitted.
The car is exempt from both road tax and MOT, but has continued to be tested voluntarily and holds a current MOT to April 2027. The MOT record gives an independent mileage trail going back years.
Always garaged, and always kept on the road rather than laid up. Used regularly for car shows and club runs, and serviced and maintained to a high standard throughout its life by the current owner who has owned it since it was 10 months old.
A quantity of spares is included in the sale, some new and some used.
The Sceptre was the top of the Rootes Arrow range and the last car ever to wear the Humber name. Twin headlamps, full-width grille, burr walnut dashboard and door cappings, vinyl roof, and the twin-carb Rapier engine underneath. It was Humber's answer to the Cortina 1600E and the Vanden Plas, and it is considerably rarer today than either.
What sets this one apart is not the model, though. It is the history. The car has had one owner since it was ten months old — my father bought it in 1972 and it has been his ever since. It has never been restored, because it has never needed to be. The interior you see is the interior it left the factory with, and the sills are the sills it was built with, because he sprayed the inside of them every year for half a century.
It has spent its life garaged but in use, not hidden away. It has been a regular at Powderham and on club runs, and a fair few people will recognise it.
I would like the car to go to someone who will carry on using and caring for it the way he did.
