Lot details Registration No: YB 5015 Chassis No: 12050 Mot Expiry: None
In common with many early British marques, Humber's roots were in bicycle manufacture, and date back to 1868. The company produced a motorised three-wheeler in 1898 and its first conventional motorcar in 1901. And, though it's perhaps hard to imagine now, by 1913 it had grown into the second largest UK motor manufacturer. Success continued after WWI, with Humber focusing on dependable family transport - cars noted for the quality of their workmanship. Sidevalve engines were the Humber norm up to 1922, when the company switched to an inlet-over-exhaust configuration.
The model 12/25 introduced in 1925 was typical of the breed. Based around a conventional ladder-frame chassis of 9ft 1in wheelbase and 4ft 7in track, its suspension was by semi-elliptic leaf springs all round and its braking by drum units at all four corners. Rated at 12 HP by the treasury, its 1795cc, four-cylinder engine produced 25bhp at 3000rpm - sufficient to endow the model with a top speed of around 54mph. Reflecting the maker's perceived quality, the newcomer was priced no less than 50 percent higher than the equivalent Austin and Morris products of the period. Produced for just two years, 12/25s are now comparatively few and far between.
The 12/25 being offered is a four-seat Tourer built in 1926. It is being sold without tax or MOT and we understand it's been stored for the last three to four years, so will need a degree of recommissioning before it can be used once again. The Mole coloured coachwork is complemented by an original Brown leather interior and rear Auster screen. The vendor regards the bodywork and trim as "excellent", the paintwork as "very good", the engine as "overhauled" and the transmission as "good". A striking example of a rare car that apparently comes with boxes full of history.
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