Humber

The Hawk, a re-badged Hillman 14 (1938–1940) was the first Humber car to be launched after World War II. It was slightly longer because of the new bootlid superimposed on its fastback tail and narrower having shed its running boards. As with the Hillman, the four-door body was mounted on a separate chassis. The Mark II version of September 1947 was not even a facelift, the main difference being an adjustment to the gear change.

The Mark III Hawk was a completely new car, designed by the famous Loewy Studio. It was first shown at the London Motor Show in October 1948, but it still retained the earlier 1,944 cc engine. The chassis was new, with coil-sprung independent front suspension replacing the previous transverse leaf spring. The body was an integral component of the car's structure and could be finished in a wide range of colours, both as two-tone and metallic. In the early spring of 1951, the Mark IV version arrived with a larger, 2,267 cc engine. Until the arrival of a totally new Hawk in May 1957, the car would receive updates virtually every year.

A new Hawk announced in May 1957 had a completely new body with unitary construction which it would go on to share with the 1958 Humber Super Snipe. The new model was, like its predecessors, a large car. For the first time an estate variant was available from the factory - the Hawk estate had the largest unitary bodyshell of any British-built car up to that point. It had a horizontally split tailgate - the lower half opening downwards and the upper half upwards. The 2,267 cc engine was carried over with a few modifications and an automatic transmission was now available. The body had more glass than previous models, featuring wrap-around windscreens. Several distinct series were built until 1967 when Rootes decided to not longer provide large family cars like the Hawk.