Ever dreamt of becoming a car stylist or designer? Chances are that you eventually end up drawing door handles for the rest of your life. Surrey man Chris Humberstone (1946-1999) found out just that after landing his first job at the Standard-Triumph design department at the age of 19. Three or four days in Coventry were enough to convince him that he could do better. Where? In the ‘alternative’ motoring scene of kit cars and ‘cottage’ car manufacture of course. The tragedy there, however, is that you may brim with cool and ingenious ideas but may never get the means and backing to turn them into reality. Our young protagonist nevertheless set up his own Scorpion Car Company in Woking, Surrey, in 1965 and soon experienced a great number of missed opportunities and might-have-beens.
Could it have been different? Yes, it could. One of Chris’ first projects was based on our beloved Mini or, actually, the 1966 fastback variant made in Birmingham by Broadspeed Engineering Ltd. In a 1986 interview he said: “At the time there was this thing called a Broadspeed Mini, which had a standard Mini front with a fastback.
