The original Humber Snipe was a four door luxury saloon
introduced by the British car manufacturer Humber in 1930. Shortly
afterwards the company joined the Rootes Group who continued manufacture
of the Snipe between 1931 and 1940 and then from 1945 to 1948. During
the war years, production of the Snipe for civilian use ceased but the
Snipe was used extensively as a military staff car through many areas of
conflict.
Oxford's newly tooled four-door open Tourer version of the Snipe was
produced in 1941 and used in Italy in 1942 by General Montgomery, who
had his own personal chauffeur to transport him during his Command of
the British Eighth Army in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. Familiarly
known as ‘Old Faithful’ the car featured a 3498 cc six cylinder engine
and with a top speed of between 65 and 72 mph. The coachwork had been
the work of Thrupp & Maberly.
The model appears with its green beige hood down, decorated in a pale
cream and olive green drab camouflage with light green beige seats. The
RAF roundel is printed on the top of the bonnet and the bumper is
particular to this release. A final detail sees military lettering
printed on both sides of the bonnet . This little vehicle is worthy of a
place in your World War II military collection. And, you can see the
real thing in the Imperial War Museum in London.