Haynes Workshop Manuals - A Brief History

There are few household names when it comes to the world of publishing, but ask most mechanics a name that springs to mind when thinking of car manuals and they will almost certainly say one – Haynes. Over the past fifty years, Haynes has become synonymous with the workshop manual and with good reason, they are the clear market leader in their field, selling around a million books a year in the UK alone. World wide sales of Haynes workshop manuals are now guessed at somewhere in the region of fifty million – that’s a lot of professional and DIY mechanics learning about car maintenance (and skinning more than a few knuckles along the way) with their help.

Many will be surprised to learn that the company’s origins can be traced back to just one man. When he was still a schoolboy John Haynes built an Austin Seven Special and produced a short booklet that he hoped would be of interest to others embarking on similar projects. The book was such a success that more DIY motoring titles followed, with two further special builders guides produced while the young Haynes carried out his National Service in the RAF. This lead eventually to the formation of J. H. Haynes & Co. Ltd just four short years later in 1960, while the first recognisable Owners Workshop Manual, for the Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite, was published in 1965.

Now as then, all Haynes Manuals are based on a careful strip down and rebuild of a vehicle, which is retained until publication date in case of any last minute enquiries before being sold on to staff or on the open market. This hands-on approach undoubtedly helped to strengthen the series’ reputation amongst mechanics everywhere, as it’s always reassuring to know that someone else has successfully completed the job that you are about to do.

Haynes simple approach of describing each task with text and photographs has also endured over the years, again because of its popularity with readers, and is a central part in the production of each manual. From start to finish each car manual will take around twenty to thirty weeks to write, with authors working in pairs, while a car will remain in the workshop for around four weeks. Motorcycle manuals will be written in around a third less time. One design aspect that has changed over the years is the use of computer generated photographs instead of hand drawn cover art. It may seem odd that a range of technical manuals should be fondly remembered for their jacket design, but some of the car cutaways drawn by Terry Davey were so incredibly detailed and entertaining that they have now been reproduced on a range of related products from playing cards to money boxes.

In recent years Haynes have diversified their publishing interests, and now produce a range of titles on many other motoring andt transport topics, as well as books about DIY and general lifestyle issues. It’s an ambitious range, with successful titles on house restoration, motor sport and maritime, aviation, farm tractors, commercial vehicles, motorcycling, cycling, caravanning, camping, home decorating and American cars. For the first time in late 2007 Haynes also produced a fantastic Desk Diary (featuring artwork by Terry Davey) and the year’s surprise bestseller – an Owners Workshop Manual for the WWII fighter, the Supermarine Spitfire.

Apart from publishing, Haynes also founded an impressive international motor museum, which is now dedicated to restoring and preserving motoring and motorcycling items. It houses more than 340 vehicles dating from 1886 to the present and is the largest of its type in the UK. Most of the cars in the museum are driven at least once a year so they are maintained as well as preserved, a fitting pursuit given the company’s workshop manual origins. For more information about the museum visit www.haynesmotormuseum.com .