Humber Imperial

The Humber Imperial name was used on two different large Humber cars. In 1939 an upgraded version of the Humber Pullman limousine was launched as the Humber Imperial, also called the Snipe Imperial; it shared the Pullman engine but was built on the 4 inch shorter Snipe chassis and was correspondingly brisker, with an advertised top speed of 81 mph. It remained spacious and was favoured for use by British government ministers during the 1940s, with four and six-light saloon and drophead coupe bodies. From 1948 to 1954 the owner-driver car without a partition was badged Imperial while the partitioned car kept the Pullman name, and 1526 Imperials were built against 2200 Mk II and III Pullmans. In 1964 the name was revived for a top-of-the-line Humber Super Snipe with a lower, coupe-like vinyl-clad roof, standard automatic transmission and a more luxurious interior; Rootes withdrew the large Humbers in 1967.