Humber

GB, 1898 to date

(1) Humber Ltd, Beeston, Notts., 1898 – 1908

(2) Humber Ltd, Coventry, 1898 – 1946

(3) Humber Ltd, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwickshire, 1946 – 1970

(4) Chrysler United Kingdom Ltd, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwickshire, 1970 to date

Thomas Humber’s bicycle firm, established in 1868, became a part of H.J. Lawson’s intended automobile empire empire and as such was responsible for production of the abortive Pennington tricars. Humber car manufacture started with an experimental front wheel drive design, while motor tricycles and quadricycles were also produced. These led to a line of 3-wheeled forecars which persisted up to 1905. Little came of Humber cars M.D. voiturette with 2-speed gear, but their more conventional 1901 offering had a 4½hp De Dion engine, De Dion-type transmission and shaft drive, as well a a single-spoke steering wheelwhich remained one of the Humber car company’s trademarks in the early years and anticipated Citroën practice by more than half a century. A 12hp 2½-litre 4-cylinder Humber car followed in 1902, but in 1903 two more ambitious vehicles appeared, a big Humber 20hp four and a 3-cylinder version with mechanically-operated inlet valves, as well a Britain’s first successful effort at a popular light car. This Humber car was the 5hp Humberette with a De Dion-type engine of 613cc and a 2-speed gearbox with two steering-column levers. All these Humber cars had shaft drive – Humbers eschewed the chain. In 1904 the Humberette was made in a more powerful form and up to 1908 two separate lines of Humber car were produced in the factories at Beeston and Coventry, the Beeston cars being the more expensive. 1905 saw a miniature Humber car, a four rated at 8/10hp, but with a capacity of 2 litres, which was developed the following year into a 10/12hp Coventry-Humber car selling at £315; Beeston’s offering that season was a 3½-litre T-head four selling for £472 10s. The 1907 versions of the Beeston-Humber car had a capacity of 6.3-litres and pressure lubrication.

The 1908 Humber car range was quite extensive, ranging from a bid for the lightcar market with a 1½-litre 8hp vertical twin, pressure-lubricated and with Humber’s own design of detachable wheels, at £195, up to a big 5½-litre six Humber car, also Coventry-made, at a modest £450.

Financial difficulties led to the closure of the Beeston factory in 1908, but Coventry went on making the T-headed Humber cars, all of which had 4-speed gearboxes by 1911. In 1912 new L-head models came out, the 11hp having a 1.7-litre monobloc engine, three forward speeds and splash lubcrication; there was also a new Humber car, a cyclecar named the Humberette, with a 998cc air-cooled engine but otherwise on full-scale car lines, which was made up to the outbreak of World War 1. 1913/1914 models cost £120, with £15 extra if watercooling was specified. Though Humber cars had supported the first Tourist Trophies, an unusual departure for 1914 was the preparation of a Humber car team of 3.3-litre twin ohc 4-cylinder machines inspired by the Henry-designed Peugeots for that year’s event.

After the war the Humber car company concentrated on solid family cars, noted for their excellent workmanship and all-weather equipment, as well as their conservatism. Side-valve engines were used up to 1922 in Humber cars, but inlet over exhaust layouts appeared in 1923, in which year there was also a new small Humber car model, the ‘Humber 8/18’ with 12-volt coil ignition at £275. Front wheel brakes had arrived by 1925, although Humber cars adhered to the foot-operated transmission brake for several more seasons. The company sold over 4.000 Humber cars in 1927, thanks to the 1.056cc ‘Humber 9/20’, an excellent 2-litre 4-cylinder ‘Humber 14/40’ and a new 20/55hp Humber car, the first six in a Humber car for many years.

The Humber cars were restyled in 1929, and the following year the effect of the Rootes takeover was seen in the new line of sixes, the 2.1-litre ‘Humber 16/50’ and the 3½-litre Humber Snipe and its long-chassis stablemate, the Humber Pullman. 1930 was also the last year for the 9hp Humber cars and thereafter the Humber car company’s staple products were upper-middle-class family cars of over two litres’ capacity, although a 1.7-litre ‘Humber 12’ appeared in 1933 and formed the basis for the long-stroke 4-cylinder Rootes engines still being manufactured in 1966 as a Humber car. Also at the end of 1932 overhead inlet valves were dropped. In 1936 the 6-cylinder Humber cars acquired transverse independent front suspension, while the biggest sixes were now of 4.1-litres’ capacity. Only 6-cylinder Humber cars were offered in 1938, and hydraulic brakes appeared on 16hp and 21hp Humber car models in 1939, and were also found on the first Humber Super Snipe – a ‘compact’ evolved by mounting the 4.1-litre engine in the smaller chassis, which was excellent value at £398.

Snipe-based Humber cars served the Allied Forces with distinction in World War 2 and the new models introduced in 1945 were really hold-overs of Humber car parts from 1940, with hydraulics now standardized, together with a new four in the shape of a 1.9-litre side-valve Humber Hawk based on Hillman’s Fourteen of 1938/1940. In 1950 a Humber car (the Super Snipe) took second place in the Monte Carlo Rally. The Super Snipe and Pullman acquired overhead valves in 1953, and the Hawk a year later, while 1956 Super Snipes could be had with automatic transmission. Unitary construction was used on a redesigned Hawk in 1957, and two years later the Super Snipe (after a short period in abeyance) re-emerged as an altogether smaller 2.650cc Humber car, also with unitary construction. This was soon replaced by a 3-litre development with disc front brakes. 1962 Humber car models had the four-headlamp pioneered in America in 1957. A small luxury Humber car came out in 1964 in the shape of the Humber Spectre, based on Hillman’s Super Minx, but with overdrive standard equipment. During 1967 all the big Humber cars were dropped, to be replaced on the British market by the Australian-built Plymouth Valiant. Since 1968 the only Humber car offering has been the 1.7-litre Humber Sceptre, a prestige version of the Hillman Hunter. The 1973 Humber cars had twin-carburettor 79bhp engine, and there was a choice of a 4-speed all-synchromesh gearbox with overdrive on the two upper ratios of automatic transmission.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

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Crossley

GB, 1904 – 1937

(1) Crossley Brothers Ltd, Gorton, Manchester, 1904 – 1910

(2) Crossley Motors Ltd, Gorton, Manchester, 1910 – 1937

The name of Crossley was famous on engines before it was famous on cars; in fact the Crossley company was the first in Britain to make 4-stroke internal combustion engines on the Otto principle. Later, Daimler engines were made under licence. The first Crossley car for sale, a chain-driven 22hp 4-cylinder, appeared for the 1904 season. A Crossley 28hp and Crossley 40hp followed, all three cars being of normal design and foreign inspiration. Their designer was J.S. Critchley, formerly of Daimler. Shaft drive appeared in 1906, and late in 1909, some were fitted with Allen-Liveredge front-wheel brakes, but Crossley cars, though excellent machines, made little impression until after 1910. The 4-litre 20hp Crossley which then made its bow was a well-constructed, durable and very popular car. Designed by A.W. Reeves, it lived on in modified form until 1925. Crossley’s finest hour came in World War 1, when, as the Crossley 20/25hp it achieved fame as a staff car in the Royal Flying Corps, and as an ambulance and light truck. The Crossley model was extremely popular with the British Royal Family after the war in its 25/30hp version. In its early years, however, it was rivalled by the 15hp. The efficiency of the latter’s  otherwise conventional engine, a side-valve four like the rest, gave this Crossley a better performance than most cars in its class and encouraged the makers to offer a special sporting variant, the Crossley Shelsley.

The Crossley Fifteen was discontinued after 1914, but a new Crossley arrived for 1921. This Crossley 19.6hp was a rather more modern design, having a detachable cylinder head, and it was cheaper and lighter on fuel than its 25/30hp companion. The performance was about the same. It was also made in sporting form as the Crossley 20/70hp, but this model was heavy, like the ’Crossley 19.6’ itself, and the brakes were not good enough for the 75mph that was available. Crossley did not make a serious attempt to invade the middle-class market until 1923, when the Crossley 12/14hp, later called the Crossley Fourteen, was introduced. Like its brothers, this was a simple side-valve four, in this case of 2.4 litres, but was more modern, with its unit construction of engine and gearbox and central gear-change. The Crossley Fourteen was a very successful model, being flexile and, thanks to its light weight, both roomy and economical. It survived until 1927. By this time the two bigger Crossley cars were giving way to a much more up-to-date car; the Crossley company’s first six and its first overhead-valve machine. This Crossley 18/50hp model was a spacious, heavy 2.6-litre car with good brakes but somewhat lacking in power. Its engine was enlarged to 3.2-litres and 20.9hp for 1928. At the same time a new small Crossley of similar design, the 2-litre Crossley 15.7hp was introduced, to which a sporting alternative reviving the Shelsley name was  added in 1929. Lagonda’s 16/80 model used this engine later. The 6-cylinder Crossley 15.7hp continued until 1934 and the Crossley 20.9hp until 1937. Wilson pre-selector gearboxes were fitted from 1934.

In 1932, the Crossley company had introduced a light car, the Crossley Ten. This was an assembled vehicle powered by an 1100cc Coventry-Climax engine with overhead inlet valves. It was too heavy (a drawback compounded by the pre-selector gearbox), it was very low-geared and its brakes were mediocre. Another mistake was Crossley’s attempt to market the Burney rear-engined car with all-independent suspension. It was given a 15.7hp Crossley engine and a Wilson box, but it was too unconventional in appearance and handling. Very few were made. In 1935, Crossley introduced its new Regis range of small cars with handsome bodies styled by C.F. Beauvais. They consisted of the Crossley Ten and a new Crossley 1½-litre six of the same design also powered by Coventry-Climax, both with a new lowered frame. Both cars, together with the last Crossley 20.9s, disappeared after 1937.

Crossley assembled other people’s cars as well as making their own, beginning with the Willys-Overland Model 4 in 1920. The Gorton-produced Willys came to include more and more British-made parts, such as a Morris Oxford engine. A less likely diversion was an attempt of Crossley in 1921 to make the Type 22 Bugatti in England, but only a handful of these Crossley-Bugattis appeared. In 1922-1933 the Crossley factory made the AJS as well.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; TRN

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com