1. Pre-war Humber Snipe
The owner of the first photograph sent it to me, wondering if I could identify the car. A reply on the site forum confirmed that the car shown is a late 1930s Humber, either a Snipe or Super Snipe.
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"I wonder if you would be able to give me some information about the car in the photo I attach. A Mr H F Lawrence was chauffeur to two women who lived in Sydenham. The photo was taken about 1946. If you could please tell me what car it is and details about the number plate please, it would be much appreciated."
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"The man next to the car is Mr H.F Lawrence born in 1916. In 1945 he left the Home Guard so he might have started chauffeuring then. I would think he would be aged about 30 in the photo. Hope this is of some interest to you, thank you for the information we have recieved so far."
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Can anyone shed any more light on the exact model of Humber shown? the full registration was EGW 83, perhaps it survives still (unlikely I suppose). This number dates it to late 1937. An image of a similar Humber, converted after the war into a "woodie" shooting-brake, can be seen on this page, while a version with a folding roof can be found on the Humber Foursome Drophead Coupe page.
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2. A 1932/1933 Humber Snipe 80.
This next shot is from my own collection now, and presents three smartly-dressed ladies alongside a 1932 or 1933 Humber Snipe 80. The car's London registration is JJ 6556, from a series that only ran from November 1932 to March 1933. A close look at the photo suggests that this could be a Snipe tourer. Coincidentally, Edward and Wallis Simpson also had a Humber of this vintage (albeit a saloon) with a very similar registration - JJ 3460 - this one survives in a collection of pre- and post-war Humbers, but DVLA shows no sign of the car shown below being so fortunate ... unless anyone knows different?
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3. A 1947 Humber.
Peter dropped me an email with a couple of photos attached, one of which is this great family shot of a post-war (1947), London-registered, Snipe or Super Snipe. New cars
were not all that plentiful on the British market at the time, so to see a shiny new Humber cruising around would not have been all that common. A very smart car indeed, and it's
good to see suitable attire being worn by its driver. Note the one-piece windscreen, a sign of progress from the split-screen in evidence on the car at the top of this page. Thanks
for sending it over.
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