On Fri, 6 Jan 1995, Joanne Hershfield wrote:
> Just talked with Mr. Arhtur Eckels, his Humber is a LARGE 4-door sedan
> a Sprite....
>
> Mechanical Rear brakes Hydraulic Front brakes, covered and needing
> completion, IE; Interior etc.....
>
> The body was dipped in Greensboro, and primered and he believes finish
> coated....
>
> Some Assembly Required !
>
Joanne,
I won't say that there *isn't* any such thing as a Humber Sprite, but I've
never heard of one. If it is a large 4 dr, I would wonder if he might not
have said a "Snipe." It strains me to think back as far as the 50's (OK, I
can think back that far; it is remembering that gives me problems), but I
only recall two models that were imported into the US. One was the "Super
Snipe" (you probably think I'm joking, but I'm not). The other was the
"Hawk." I have never heard of a Sprite model, either imported here or not.
Other postwar models besides the Hawk and Super Snipe included the
Imperial, Pullman, and Sceptre. Somebody at Humber had a pixie-like sense
of humor when it came to naming cars.
The Super Snipe was a large, heavy, classy car with, I believe, a 6
cylinder engine. The Hawk was smaller, with a 4 cylinder. They had
quiet, conservative styling which I personally liked quite well, until
sometime in the middle to late 50s when they became unsettling imitations
of 50's american excess.
I had an opportunity a few years back to buy a low mileage very clean 52
Super Snipe for about $3k, and thought that was a bit high even though it
was a very solid usable car. A disassembled one likely would not have a
very high value, though it has the potential to be a very nice car that is
quite rare on this side of the pond. A disassembled car with the late
styling would have even less value than one of the early 50's ones. It
would be difficult to avoid spending much more reassembling it than it
possibly could be worth. Parts unique to Humber would have to be obtained
from England, I suspect.
I hope someone saves this car, because it deserves saving.
Ray Gibbons
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