Hillman

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Hillman (disambiguation).

Hillman Motor Car Company
Humber (1929–31)

Hillman was a British

marque created by the Hillman-Coatalen Company, founded in 1907, renamed the Hillman Motor Car Company in 1910. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had built bicycles. Newly under the control of the Rootes brothers, the Hillman company was acquired by Humber in 1928. Hillman was used as the small car marque of Humber Limited from 1931, but until 1937 Hillman did continue to sell large cars. The Rootes brothers reached a sixty per cent holding of Humber in 1932 which they retained until 1967, when Chrysler
bought Rootes and bought out the other forty per cent of shareholders in Humber. The marque continued to be used under Chrysler until 1976.

History

Origins

Fourteen 1929, 2-litre 4-cylinder
Wizard 1932, 3-litre 6-cylinder
Hawk 1936, 3-litre 6-cylinder
Minx 1937, 1185 cc 4-cylinder

In 1857

Breton Louis Coatalen as designer and chief engineer. They launched the 24HP Hillman-Coatalen, which was entered into that year's Tourist Trophy. The car was put out of the race by a crash, but it had made a splash. Coatalen left in 1909 to join Sunbeam
and the company was re-registered as the Hillman Motor Car Company in 1910.

The first cars were large, featuring a 9.76-litre 6-cylinder engine or a 6.4-litre four. A smaller car, the 9 hp of 1913 with a 1357 cc side-valve four-cylinder engine, was the first to sell in significant numbers and was re-introduced after the First World War as the 11 hp, having grown to 1600 cc. The big seller was the 14 hp introduced in 1925, and the only model made until 1928. Following the fashion of the time a Straight Eight of 2.6 litres and Hillman's first use of overhead valves came in 1928 but soon gained a reputation for big-end problems.

Alumni

William Hillman had six daughters and no sons. A daughter married

Standard Motor Co. Another daughter married Maurice Wilks who left Hillman in the same period and eventually went to Rover Company.[2]

Hillman brand

Rootes Group

Hillman (marque)
PSA
CountryUnited Kingdom
Discontinued1976; 48 years ago (1976)
MarketsAutomotive
Previous owners

In 1928, Hillman fell under the control of the Rootes brothers and then merged with Humber. The Rootes brothers obtained further backing from Prudential Assurance during 1931 and brought their holding up to 60 per cent of Humber. Then, in stages, Hillman was switched to manufacturing small cars and became the best known brand within the Rootes empire alongside Humber, Sunbeam and, in the Rootes Group's final decade, Singer.

Hillman-Humber cars, 1936

The 1930s saw a return to side valves with a 6-cylinder

side valve straight-six engines
, were introduced. These later cars were also sold as Humbers.

After the war, the Minx was reintroduced with the same 1185 cc engine. It went through a series of models given Phase numbers and the Phase VIII of 1955 saw the arrival of an overhead-valve engine 1390cc, the Mk 8. The later 1956 Two Tone version of this model, the Mark 8A, was called the "Gay Look" and led to the advertising slogan "As Gay as a Mardi Gras". A smaller car, the

Hunter
was introduced in 1966 with, in 1967, a smaller-engined standard version using the old Minx name. These are frequently given their factory code of "Arrow", but this name was never officially used in marketing.

Chrysler

Chrysler had assumed complete control of Rootes by 1967, and the first new Hillman model whose development was financed by the American giant was the Avenger of 1970.

Peugeot

The Avenger and Hunter ranges were badged as Chryslers from 1976 until 1979, when Chrysler sold its European division to

Talbot
until it was finally withdrawn from sale at the end of 1981.

Hillman's Ryton factory, which had assembled various Peugeot models for the European market, closed in 2007.[3] The French company still owns the rights to the Hillman name.

Car models

Husky 1966, 1390 cc 4-cylinder
Hunter 1967, 1725 cc 4-cylinder
Imp 1971, 875 cc 4-cylinder
Avenger 1972, 1248 cc 4-cylinder

Cars introduced after 1930 were a new range to the specification of the Rootes brothers

  • Hillman 40 hp 1907–1911 (also known as 40/60)
  • Hillman 25 hp 1909[citation needed]–1913 (also known as 25/40)
  • Hillman 12/15 1908–1913[citation needed]
  • Hillman 9 hp 1913–1915
  • Hillman 10 hp 1910
  • Hillman 13/25 1914
  • Hillman 11 1915–1926
  • Hillman 10 hp Super Sports 1920–1922
  • Hillman 14 1925–1930

Cars to the specification of the Rootes brothers

  • Hillman 20 range:
Straight Eight 1929
Vortic 1930
Wizard 75 1931–1933
Twenty 70 1934–1935
Hawk 1936–1937
Long wheelbase Hillman 20s:
Seven-Seater LWB 1934–1935
Hillman 80 LWB 1936–1938
  • Hillman 16 range:
Wizard 65 1931–1933
Sixteen 1934–1937

See also

References

  1. ^ Donnelly, Tom (2004). "Starley, James (1831–1881)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26320. Retrieved 10 June 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  2. ^ Martin Adeney, Hillman, William (1848–1921), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press 2004
  3. ^ Peugeot Motor Company, Coventry Transport Museum, retrieved 10 June 2014

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hillman vehicles.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hillman&oldid=1205731707"