"Founded as a bicycle maker in 1868, Humber later became associated with Harry Lawson’s British Motor Syndicate, from which it purchased rights to various unlikely automobiles. Freeing itself from Lawson, the reconstituted company commenced motor car production in 1900 with the M D Voiturette, a front wheel drive, rear-wheel steered car. A more conventional range of shaft driven De Dion powered light cars soon followed. Four-cylinder 12hp and 20hp, designed by Louis Coatalen, had been added by 1903 but that year’s most significant introduction was the Humberette, powered by a 5hp single-cylinder engine, it was the first Humber motor car to be produced in significant numbers. 1923 was an important year for Humber, marking as it did the adoption across the range of a new inlet over exhaust engines, replacing the side valve units and the introduction of a new luxury small car, the 985cc 8hp (later called the 8/18hp). Very much a ‘big car in miniature’ and generously equipped by the standards of the day, the latter developed through the 1,056cc, 9/20 to the improved 9/28hp introduced in 1929.
This pretty 1928 Humber 9/20HP was purchased by the seller in 1970 and according to the old buff continuation book he is the fourth owner. In the 1980s he set about rebuilding the car as a doctors coupé but on removing the American cloth fabric found the body frame was in poor condition and was not suited for this type of conversion. So, a second decision was made to shorten the rear of the body by 14” and install a boot with a spare wheel. The original short front wings were replaced with a longer design and the brakes were modified to provide four-wheel braking on the foot pedal. After returning to the road in 1993 it was used in a number of navigational rallies and found that it cruises at 40-45mph, gets 30mpg and completes 30 miles in the hour on cross country journeys. Finished in brown fabric with black wings and the original brown interior which is in very good condition, this 9/20HP is supplied with a V5 registration document and a file containing the buff logbook, invoices and manuals."