Hawk V/VI saloon.
Leo kindly sent over this photograph, showing a Humber Hawk in 1957. It is probably a Hawk V, or possibly a VI I believe, although if anyone can differentiate between the two and positively id the Humber shown here, it'd be appreciated. Leo adds: "This Humber belonged to Mr van de Kerk, the father of a friend of mine in 1957. I remember it had an electric overdrive??? and leather upholstery. It was a very rare and rather expensive car in Holland in those days".
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This incarnation of the four cylinder Humber Hawk made its debut in 1948, as the Hawk III, ushering in a rakish new bodyshell fitted to a separate chassis. It remained in production until 1950, when the design underwent a number of modifications (largely beneath the skin, including a larger engine), and became the Series IV Hawk, still with separate sidelights beneath the main headlights. In 1952 the Hawk V was introduced, featuring revised frontal grille treatment as seen on the car in Leo's photograph. The design would undergo another makeover in 1954, with subtle changes being made to the bodyshell, the car now being designated as the Hawk VI, with a VIA rounding out the evolution of this design in 1957. In this year an entirely new design would take over the reins, adopting an overall silhouette that can be seen with this photo of a later Humber Super Snipe.
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Peter's Humber Hawk VI.
Update. Since adding this page to the site, Peter dropped me a line, suggesting that this Hawk seen above is in fact a Mark VI: "I believe the Dutch car is a Mark VI. The Mark VI differs from the Mark V in having vertical tail lamp assemblies and small rounded tail fins which are absent in the earlier car. My father had a Mark VI for a while. Unfortunately my big sister wrote it off shortly after passing her driving test. The Hawk replaced an Austin A70 Hereford, and a Morris 1100 replaced the Hawk."
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Below is a photo showing the Hawk belonging to Peter's father, seen in Mull, July 1965, towing a boat.
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Return to Old Vehicle Photos Page 6.
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