Humber's first postwar Hawk was actually longer than the prewar car it replaced, yet somehow ended up 112 pounds lighter, after shedding its running boards.
Lead trim: Hawk Mk II 1.9 side-valve four (56 bhp)
Humber Hawk Mk I & II1945–1949
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Humber Hawk Mk I & II yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactHumber's first postwar Hawk was actually longer than the prewar car it replaced, yet somehow ended up 112 pounds lighter, after shedding its running boards.
The Humber Hawk is a four-cylinder automobile manufactured by Humber Limited (Rootes Group) from 1945 to 1967. The Hawk Mark I, a re-badged Hillman 14 (1938–1940), was the first Humber car to be launched after World War II: slightly longer because of a new bootlid superimposed on its fastback tail, and narrower having shed its running boards, it was 112 pounds lighter than the prewar car. Its 1944 cc side-valve engine, from the Hillman 14 but uprated almost ten per cent to 56 bhp and shared with Sunbeam-Talbot's 90s, drove a live rear axle through a four-speed gearbox with a centrally located floor change; the four-door six-light body sat on a separate chassis with a sunshine roof as standard, independent front suspension by transverse leaf spring and half-elliptic springs at the rear. The Mark II of September 1947 was not even a facelift: its main difference was a column gear change with a control ring on the gearbox that made it impossible to crash the synchromesh gears, plus a new water jacket, a breather on the petrol tank and provision for a car radio, with no change in appearance. Top speed was around 65 mph.
Collectors Spotted in the Humber Hawk Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Humber Hawk yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
2 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawk Mk I 1.9 side-valve four (56 bhp) | 1945–1947 | 1.9 L Inline-4 | 56 hp | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hawk Mk II 1.9 side-valve four (56 bhp) | 1947–1949 | 1.9 L Inline-4 | 56 hp | — | — | — | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
The 1957 Hawk estate briefly held a title you'd expect from a luxury brand: the largest unitary bodyshell of any British-built car, a record it kept until Jaguar's Mark X showed up in 1961.
The Mark VI's brakes weren't an afterthought: Humber gave it 40 percent more lining area than the outgoing Mark V, on top of a 20 percent more powerful engine.
The restyled Mark III Hawk that kicked off this generation wasn’t an in-house Humber design — its body came out of Raymond Loewy’s studio.
Humber's first postwar Hawk was actually longer than the prewar car it replaced, yet somehow ended up 112 pounds lighter, after shedding its running boards.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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