The senior Rootes marque · Hawk · Super Snipe · Sceptre · and two that only exist in New Zealand
Humber was where Rootes put the wood, the leather and the servo — and in New Zealand, where it put Hillman badges on nothing at all.
Three lines matter here and they are not related to each other. The Hawk and the Super Snipe are the big cars, and each is really two different cars sharing a name — a separate-chassis era to 1957, then a unitary one to 1967. The Sceptre is the compact, and it changes shell completely part way through its life: Mk I and Mk II are Hillman Super Minx; the Mk III is a Rootes Arrow. That is a change of car, not a facelift. Two dates are worth memorising because they decide glass on the big Humbers: October 1959, when the Super Minx Series II got Girling 11.5in front discs, and October 1964, when the Hawk Series IV and the Super Snipe Series V both went to a flat roofline, a smaller rear window, an extra side window and a taller windscreen. Glass and seals split there, on both cars, in the same month.
And then there is the part of the story that belongs to this country. Todd Motors of Petone created two Humbers that were never sold anywhere else in the world: the Humber 80 and the Humber 90. They are a Hillman Minx and a Hillman Super Minx with Humber badges, created to win extra import licences in an era when new cars were rationed and to give Humber dealers something smaller than a Hawk to sell. Roger Hall put the joke in Prisoners of Mother England — a newly arrived immigrant spots one and exclaims, “Humber 80? There’s no such car!” There was. 87 Humber 80s and 27 Humber 90s are still on the New Zealand register.
Humber — the range, and what changes between the cars
- Where the front discs arrive
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Super Snipe: Series II, October 1959 — Girling 11.5in front discs with 11in rear drums. Hawk: Series II, October 1960 — servo-assisted front discs. Sceptre: from launch in 1963 — servo-assisted 10in front discs, with overdrive standard too.
- October 1964 — the glass month
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The Hawk Series IV and the Super Snipe Series V changed together: flatter roofline, smaller rear window, an extra side window behind the rear doors (six-light), and a taller windscreen. Windscreen, rear screen and side glass all split at that point, on both cars.
- Four headlamps means Series III or later
- The Super Snipe Series III of October 1960 was the first British car to fit two pairs of headlamps, with a revised full-width grille and a lower bonnet line. Series IV added the snipe bird badge on the grille and opening rear quarter-lights.
- The Sceptre changes car in 1967
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Mk I and Mk II (1963–67) are Hillman Super Minx. Mk III (1967–76) is a Rootes Arrow. Nothing body, glass or suspension crosses between them. And a trap within the Super Minx family: the Sceptre Mk I and II kept the panoramic screen and finned roof after the Super Minx and Singer Vogue had gone six-light in 1964 — so a 1965 Super Minx and a 1965 Sceptre have different screens.
- The two New Zealand Humbers
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Humber 80 = Hillman Minx. Humber 90 = Hillman Super Minx. Built by Todd Motors at Petone, sold nowhere else. The only differences any source records are the badges and, on the 80, a horizontal-bar grille. Full story and parts guidance here.
- Two Hawks, two Super Snipes
- Each name covers two unrelated cars. Hawk Mk I–VIA, 1945–57, separate era — transverse-leaf front suspension until coil IFS arrives at the Mk III in 1948. Hawk Series I–IVA, 1957–67, unitary. Same for the Super Snipe: the 4-litre side-valve cars to 1957, then the 2.6 and 3.0 litre unitary Series I–V. Ask for the year first.
- Earth polarity
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We cannot tell you, and we will not guess. We went looking specifically and no source states positive or negative earth for any Hillman or Humber, at any date — the one marque-club thread on the subject explains how to convert without ever saying what from. 12 volt is confirmed on the Minx Phase I, the Imp and the Hunter. Polarity: check the car before you order a coil, a regulator or a radio.
