Humber FV1600

[Humber-One-Ton Tom]

Hi guys -
Les, thanks for the photo, I had heard about the truck and was interested in seeing a picture.

Is this the body that Brian Hewitt had for sale near folkestone a few years back or a different one?

I agree with Clive, any Humber saved in any form is good - and this one has the potential to be a much nicer vehicle than my truck 02 BK 09 will EVER be...but something should not be passed off as what it isn't so I hope the new owner was not under the impression that this WAS an FV1604.

Having said that, I would say well worth £1600 for a very restorable Humber camper van....

Clive - do you know the whole military reg and engine no. for this vehicle? - if so it would be worth posting here as this site seems to me to be the best collection of info on surviving Humbers anywhere in the world right now....so for the record it can only help to identify the correct identity for this truck.

Who knows, the new owner may become interested in the FV1604 and decide to remove the winch and fit all the correct components over time and build an 'honest replica' - and seeing just how rare original FV1604's are, I would say that any Humber wearing a Radio cabin is still a very interesting machine, wether it be a replica or just a campervan!

P.S. any interest or news on the wreck in Oxfordshire(se earlier posts)?

Regards,
Tom
Portsmouth, UK

[warren brown]

G'day everybody, I'm new to the site - (I'm a CMP, M3A1 and Willys MB owner). However I've always had a fascination with FV1600s. As a kid, on holidays, we went to Sussex Inlet about two hours drive south of Sydney where two Humbers were parked alongside a petrol station. From memory (I was about five and this was about 1970 mind you) my Dad said they belonged to the PMG for telephone repair work in the bush. i don't remember whether they were operational or just dumped there, but Dad called them -"Humber Radio Trucks".
Years later, when I was in the cadets, the Air Training Corps, a kid who was also in the ATC bought one and was learning to get his driver's licence on it!
I thought it was a hot truck! But I've seen only two or three since.
I've seen very few but I'd love to get hold of one. Here are two questions - How difficult is it to obtain a restored one - and what would one be worth?

[warren brown]

Aha! If only I'd read the past few pages before I wrote that previous post. Pretend I said nothing. Straight to the boofheads corner...

[Lynn Eades]

After you put up a post, you will see an edit option (bottom right) You can delete your whole post or change it if you wish.
If your quick enough, no one knows.

[warren brown]

Thanks Lynn - I'll keep this in mind for the future. I know very, very little about these vehicles - about five years ago I met a Rolls Royce collector who, believe it or not - had a fairly rough FV1600 as part of an otherwise amazing collection of antique RRs simply because of its engine and he called the truck a Commer rather than a Humber. Rather gingerly I tried to correct him, but he simply told me it was a Commer. I tried to correct him again, but he dismissed me as a dill and that the truck was a Commer. I pointed out to him - gently - that someone had handwritten Humber on the bonnet ( I think it was bought at an auction) and mudguard but he disregarded this and it was still a Commer.
However, sometime later, I read somewhere that in Australia - these trucks were actually termed Commers - is this true?

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Hi Warren,
You have such good taste!
The 100 or so Humbers ordered by the Aust. Army were "badged" as Commers. The only difference is on the data plate which is found on the chassis behind the front left wheel, this has Commer stamped on it instead of Humber. In my experience they are called Humbers regardless. I would say that any imported by Archie Marshall in to WA in th 1960's would be stamped as Humbers anyway.
As for getting one, took me 12 years to find a nice one. Maybe 10 good condition roadable ones over here, they are very susceptible to rust as you will see if you go through the posts in this thread.
Nice one just sold in WA for $10500, thought it may have got a little more though.
If you want to do a restoration there are a few down Stawell (Vic) way that are saveable. If you are serious about getting a good one I can ask around.
You are more than welcome to have a drive of mine to see if it was what you really want, you just need to be travelling the Hume Freeway as you would go past our back fence.
Hope this helps
Rich.

[warren brown]

Rich, thanks so much for your offer. If I'm heading your way I'll let you know well in advance and definately take you up on the offer.

I'd dearly love an FV1600 but he only thing is that I'm not sure I am capable of maintaining - let alone restoring - post-war British vehicles like the Humber or a Champ in that they're another level above WWII vehicles like a Blitz or a Scout Car. I can handle them - easy.
That's why I reckon I'd be looking at a goer rather than a resto - I've restored quite a few cars over the years, but a ground up Humber is a serious undertaking. But what a good thing!
And thanks for the Commer info! I wonder why it was that they were badged as such? Do you know? Cheers and many thanks .