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Humber Pullman truck to restore or Hot Rod project For Sale (1950) edit C114038 | | | A 1950 Humber Pullman Mk II offered as a project and preferably to be saved as a working vehicle in
some form or other and not utilised just for spares. This vehicle is obviously no longer in its
original form and it has already been through one phase of major alteration via 'custom'
modifications, as should be evident in the photos due to the lack of any bodywork behind the front
doors and the bright yellow paint which was probably a relatively rare choice for a Pullman. I
would venture to suggest that the way forward with this vehicle might be to contine down the 'Hot
Rod' route and it has already been noted by visitors as classic 'Rat Rod' material but it would be
nice to hope that there may be someone out there who can envisage it restored back to something
closer to original condition, perahaps with a shooting brake body, or something else that might
have been found on a Pullman chassis once upon a time, e.g. ambulance, hearse, express newspaper
delivery van, etc.
I acquired this vehicle via ebay in 2006 and this was primarily to save it from the likelihood of
being swiftly broken up for spares, or even being taken relatively soon afterwards straight to the
fragmentation plant, although it was also partly an exercise to help me to understand the major
differences between a Super Snipe Mk II and a Pullman Mk II from close up. I can now see that I
shall never be able to take it on as one of my own projects so it might just as well be offered on
to a potential new home but with the emphasis being on a sale to someone who can visualise this
vehicle renovated in some form, rather than just as a source of parts. Apart from the rear
bodywork, the fuel tank and various electrical and interior fripperies, this vehicle is still
pretty much complete and if it were to be regarded as only good enough to be broken up for spares
then it would be most logical for me to be the one to do that as I have several other Rootes
vehicles that might benefit from that activity. So this does mean that I shall be analysing all
prospective pucrhasers likely motivation to keep this vehicle as a going concern, whatever form
that might take. In the hot rod or street rod department I would be of the firm opinion that most
of the running gear and particularly the 'flathead' six would be perfectly adequate once restored
to good order and it would be on the cosmetic side where a great many improvements could be made.
There are various points of detail to mention, as follows:
The vehicle is now on a V5C and registered in my name but has not been used on the road since about
1997 and so does not have SORN status. This most recent use was obviously as some sort of home
modified pick-up truck and also carrying a 'Scottish' DVLA registration mark (as seen in one of the
photos). During my initial tidy up of the vehicle shortly after I acquired it I was fortunate
enough to find just enough of a tax disc from an ealier era to be able to identify the registration
mark originally carried. This mark was issued in Kent and we are fortunate in this county to have
an extremely comprehensive archive of those marks issued here which allowed me to confirm the link
between chassis number and the registration as first issued. In due course this mark was reinstated
by DVLA and so this vehicle now carries the 'MKO' mark that it would have had when first registered
in 1950.
There is some relevant paperwork available but mostly relating to my ownership. I don't have
extensive knowledge of those who modified the car to approximately its current state or when that
was done but I suspect that at least some of those who may have been involved could be tracked down
with a bit of detective work. The information gleamed from the archives at County Hall in Maidstone
included details of the dealer linked to the original registration (Rootes Maidstone) and the name
of the first owner/user, although I could not find that name in any relevant business directories
of the period to ascertain for what purpose the vehicle may have been purchased and what style of
bodywork would have been most likely as a result. My hunch is that it was probably a hearse, even
though there is now no evidence of original black paint anywhere on the bodywork. Rootes Maidstone
were well known for the construction of special bodywork on Rootes vehicles but I suspect that a
hearse might have been created by a specialist in that field and they would not necessarily have
been based in Kent so that may explain why I can't find the first keeper in local directories.
There are only four wheels with the car and they are shod with a modern pattern van tyre which
might be a legal option but looks completely wrong, in my opinion. Strangely, this brings us to one
area where I might be keen to take a few parts from this car as part of a compromise arrangement to
be agreed with a new owner. I could actually make good use of a few more Humber wheels of this
pattern and I would also probably remove the tyres and store them as a backup/emergency set for my
Sunbeam-Talbot as they probably have quite a lot of life left in them and I have had the car stored
in such a way that the tyres were protected from sunlight as far as possible just so they could be
used again elsewhere if a suitable requirement arose. So this means that I would look quite
favourably on any potential buyer who could provide their own wheels and tyres to take the car
away, although I may make some enquiries asap about acquiring another scruffy set of my own just to
keep it rolling.
I have made no attempts to have the engine running but it turns over easily on a handle, albeit
with not much sign of compression on any of the cylinders. Mechanically the car is pretty much
complete but the original wiring loom seems to have been junked and a homebrew replacement
installed in its place with various modern replacement devices utilised at the same time and with
the original dynamo regulator also lost/discarded, a later type having been used instead.
The chassis is all original but has lost the bolted on rear extension. Many observers have been
convinced that it has been shortened but it's the lack of rear bodywork which gives rise to the
appearance of a shortened vehicle and in fact the only thing obviously wrong with the whole rolling
chassis is the completely 'blown' rear leaf springs which will probably need to be replaced.
Look at a photo of any Pullman with rear doors and you will see just how short the gap is between
the front door pillar and the rear wheelarch and that's exactly what we have here.
The bodywork is in pretty horrible condition, particularly the join between the factory supplied
steel around the scuttle/windscreen and the coachbuilt roof structure but it's hanging together for
the time being and the doors (aluminium panelled) actually seem pretty sound, though all the timber
in the coachbuilt parts will need to be inspected carefully. The roofline is very high and another
reason that I think the bodywork may have been a hearse originally. The proportions of this body
don't seem to lend themselves very well to the current truck or pick-up cab configuration, in my
opinion, and some sort of closed rear bodywork would possibly follow the roofline better, although
no doubt both pillars and doors could be chopped down a bit, especially if a destiny of a further
phase of hot rod use truns out to be the one ordained for this vehicle.
The current interior is pretty much just the dashboard and the floor and the seats to be seen in
the photos are just some modern ones that happen to be stored in there for the time being so it
would probably come with no seats at all.
And that's about it for the time being. I have included several recently taken photos and shall
probably be tinkering further with this description over the next few days. I shall also be happy
to answer any technical or detailed condition questions where I haven't included sufficient
information thus far.
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