Since the war, the Humber name has been synonymous with long, dark saloons ferrying politicians and stockbrokers around town, or cruising up the A1 to an important business meeting, some company director seated in the back behind a copy of The Times, sinking into its sofa-like bench seat. It hardly needs to be said, though, that one of the oldest players in Britain’s automotive industry had rather more humble beginnings, and the tiny Humberette of 1903 probably did more than anything else to make its name as a car-maker.
Prior to the automobile age, Humber was already well-known, having risen to prominence as a cycle-maker during the great Victorian bicycle boom alongside Rover, Singer, Sunbeam, Hillman, Herbert & Cooper, et al. As the internal combustion engine started to take off,…
