HUMBER SUPER SNIPE ESTATE SERIES 2 1959 VERY RARE BIRD UNRESTORED ROOTES

HUMBER SUPER SNIPE ESTATE SERIES 2 VERY RARE UNRESTORED

A very original un-restored 1959 Series 2 estate car, combining the classic 50's looking early single headlamp configuration with the later 3 litre engine and disc brakes, the perfect combination. Only around 6 of these early series estate cars are thought to have survived. FYD being in arguably one of the best colour combinations of Smoke Green over Sage green with green leather.

FYD was one of the centre pieces in Alan Marshall's famous Humber Museum; she was there for about 19 years before I acquired her, which has no doubt helped her retain her originality and to remain so structurally sound.

I was fortunate to purchase FYD directly from Alan two years ago and remember the first time I saw her, having spent over a year and half searching for an S2 Estate, it was indeed a revelation, a proper inspection of the car revealed just why Alan had kept her as a key part of his collection.

She had no rot underneath at all, the floors and chassis were all very solid and very sound, all four doors were in great condition, with no rust at all in them, underneath each door was still clean paint.

The sills were in great order as was all the under bonnet area, inner wings and fire wall, even the tail gate was rot free, all of which are notoriously bad for rusting out on these cars. She even had her original PL tripod headlamps, not new repro ones!

All I could really find was that the wheel arches had been repaired with filler at some stage in her past and the very bottom of the wings had some corrosion, but knowing that the club did commission some new sets of wheel arches that also include the wing bottoms, all made from factory pressings, meant that this was not an issue at all.

She had the added bonus of a stainless steel exhaust fitted and structurally everything appeared in great original order.

Moving to the interior I was stunned to see she was completely original. The woodwork had never been touched or revarnished, the leather seats were all original and had never been recoloured, even the original rubber floor mats were in good order, the over carpet though had gone. All the door panels were in great order too. The headlining was in pristine condition, I even liked the factory trimmer's marks that were obviously applied on the underside of the headlining during assembly, that over the last 60 years had bled through slightly, it all just added to the charm.

A deal was finally agreed and FYD was transported down to me in Dorset so I could begin her re-commissioning following such a long layup.

To this end the following items were replaced;

New, plugs, points, condenser, rotor arm, cap, leads and wiring.

New re-cored and upgraded radiator

New water hoses throughout, clamps, thermostat and rad cap. Heater core flushed and pressure checked. Block water jackets flushed and cleaned.

New water pump and fresh antifreeze

Front brake calipers were stripped and rebuilt with new stainless steel pistons, new seals, brake hoses and pads.

Rear brakes new wheel cylinders, shoes cleaned and adjusted, new brake hose.

Brake servo, complete specialist rebuild and new brake master cylinder. Latest hi tech brake fluid.

New Clutch master cylinder, slave cylinder and hoses, plus latest hi tech clutch fluid.

Carburetor fully rebuilt, Fuel pump rebuilt. New air filter

Engine oil + filter, plus fresh gear box and axle oils.

Dynamo reconditioned and up rated

New regulator

Gauges all removed stripped, cleaned and re-calibrated

Tow bar upgraded to modern 11 pin electrics and new ball hitch with genuine chrome flipper cover.

Steel wheels powder coated original cream colour and a new set of radial white wall tyres fitted including the spare.

Whenever original NOS Super Snipe items have become available I have bought anything I could find, like new headlamp bezels, Snipe rear badge and Super Snipe scripts etc.

Included with the car but not fitted are;

A new set of correct green carpets,

Additional matching carpet for making a rear load area mat.

NOS door handles

The new set of steel wheel arch panels still boxed

An excellent history file with lots of invoices

Rootes Heritage Certificate.

The original Handbook

The Factory Parts manual

The Factory Workshop manual

Original Sales brochure with price list etc.

Original Accessories brochure

Since 2019 FYD has been in regular use and has been a real joy to own, we have been on quite a few long runs and drive outs and I have to say she has never missed a beat, she has attended various shows and always attracts lots of attention. “I have never seen one before” being one of the most frequent comments!

Just his week she undertook a day tour of the Purbecks covering around 60 miles. For the new owner this car is on the button and ready to use and enjoy for the rest of this year, then maybe use the winter months to get the new arches fitted and a bottom half re-spray up to the waist line, she would then be looking perfect again and ready for spring

I am sad to be parting with FYD but along with her stable mates, I still have too many cars and not enough energy or time to keep up with them all, so I have taken the decision to thin my collection right down.

If you are interested in re-homing FYD please do contact me and I would be very pleased to arrange a viewing and test drive, the kettle is always on here, so come and enjoy a socially distanced cuppa and let's talk Super Snipes.

FYD Timeline

01 Sept 1959 - Maufactured at Ryton-on-Dunsmore

02 Oct 1959 – Recorded as entering sales. Inv No. 77805

09 Oct 1959 – Dispatched to Dealer: Dunn's Motors Ltd East Street Taunton

01 Jan 1960 – Registered as 846 FYD:

1st Owner – Not known

2nd Owner – No Name – Grove Farm, Tollard, Taunton

3rd Owner – Nigel Robinson - Taunton

4th Owner – Gary Dickenson – Thornfalcon Garage, Henlade, Taunton

5th Owner – Ralph Thompson – Chevinedge Cresent, Halifax  (Apr 95 to Nov 00)

6th Owner – Alan Marshall – The Humber Museum, Hull (Nov 00 to Oct 19

7th Owner – Myself (Oct 19 to now)

FYD has the uprated Series 5 rear axle fitted (with the bigger bearings) along with the Series 5 Selectaride adjustable rear shock absorbers.

Should you want any further information please do contact me.

Sunbeam Singer Humber Hillman Commer Karrier

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