Hillman (company)

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Hillman logo

Hillman was a British automobile manufacturer based in Coventry and part of the Rootes group . The company was named after its founder, engineer and inventor William Hillman (1848–1921).

William Hillman

In 1859, Josiah Turner (1826–1886) and James Starley (1830–1881) founded the European Sewing Machine Company and initially manufactured sewing machines, all of which were based on Starley's patents. In 1861, William Hillman joined the company as an engineer, which was reorganized into the Coventry Sewing Machine Company in the same year and the Coventry Machinists Company in 1869 . A successful bicycle production started there, from which the Swift Cycle Company emerged, which also produced a motorcycle from 1898 and automobiles from 1899. The Swift Motor Company built until 1931 brand cars Swift and then continue bicycles.

Starley and Hillman left the company as early as 1870 and began to produce sewing machines together on St. John's Street in Coventry for their own account. They also patented the Ariel, the first all-metal bicycle with spoked wheels, which they manufactured together with their sewing machines from 1871. The following year they formed a new company with partner William Borthwick Smith , Smith, Starley & Co. , based at the intersection of St. Agnes Lane and Hales Street . In 1874 they gave the Ariel patent to the Ariel Works on Spon Street (no known reference to Ariel Motors in Birmingham ). On December 11, 1872, William Hillman left the company, which was merged into a predecessor company of Ariel Motors.

Hillman & Herbert

In 1875 he entered into a partnership with William Henry Herbert (1850-1911) from Leicester , the older brother of the future industrialist Sir Alfred Herbert (1866-1957) and financier of the new company, which was registered as Hillman & Herbert . It is possible that roller skates and sewing machines were made in addition to bicycles .

When the company in 1880 as Hillman, Herbert & Cooper was reorganized, possibly was the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world (other sources give to the Pope Manufacturing Company of Albert Augustus Pope in Hartford (Connecticut) , United States ). Hillman, Herbert & Cooper had four plants in Coventry and expanded to Nuremberg in 1896 .

In 1887 the subsidiary Auto Machinery Company was founded, which was the first to mass-produce ball bearings with patents from William Hillman . In 1891 the company was sold to the Premier Cycle Company , which produced 100 bicycles a day with 600 employees.

Automobile production

Hillman-Coatalen Motor Company (1907-1910)

Louis Coatalen at the wheel of the first Hillman-Coatalen 40 hp (1907)


William Hillman, like many other bicycle pioneers, became enthusiastic about automobiles. In 1907 he founded with the designer Louis Hervé Coatalen (1879-1962), who had previously been chief engineer at Humber , the Hillman Coatalen Motor Company to manufacture automobiles based on Coatalen's ideas. At the motor show of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) in London Olympic was Hillman Coatalen 40 hp presented a sporty car with a massive, side-valve six-cylinder engine with nearly 10 liters. The cylinders with a square ratio of bore and stroke of 127 mm each were cast individually. A not yet complete chassis of the smaller 25 hp , a four-cylinder that used the same cylinders on a corresponding crankshaft housing, was also on display . This resulted in a displacement of 6.4 liters. At least the six-cylinder had dual ignition . For better cooling he received two water pumps, each of which supplied three cylinders. Coatalen took part in the Tourist Trophy for automobiles several times . When the brand first appeared on the occasion of the 1907 event, the vehicle showed an impressive performance before it retired after an accident. A new, much smaller Hillman-Coatalen 12/15 hp was shown to the public for the first time in September 1908 at the London Motor Show in the Olympia . The sporty four-seater with a 2.2 liter four-cylinder engine was available with two wheelbases (2769 mm or 2464 mm) and cost £ 298.00 from GB.

Hillman Motor Company

Hillman Fourteen 6-Light Saloon with 1968 cc, 1929.
Hillman Hawk 3-liter with Sports Tourer body by Martin Walter, 1936.
Hillman Minx Cabriolet, 1959.
Hillman Imp small car with a 900 cc rear engine, 1963.

As early as 1910, however, Coatalen followed a call from Sunbeam , where he gained international fame as a designer of passenger cars and Grand Prix racing cars. That year the name of the company was changed to Hillman Motor Company , and all three Hillman-Coatalen models continued to be built as Hillman for a short time . While 40 hp and the most recently introduced 12/15 hp were discontinued in 1911, the 25 hp remained in the range until 1913. The typical shape of the Hillman radiator grille was introduced in 1908 as part of a slight facelift. Small models followed, with the 9 hp and 11 hp becoming the company's backbone. After the First World War , the latter was temporarily Hillman's only offer.

In 1928 the Rootes Ltd. Principal owner of Hillman with 60% of the share capital. In 1931 she brought the company together with Humber and their subsidiary Commer under one corporate roof. This Humber Combine subsequently formed the nucleus of the Rootes group founded in 1935 . The bicycle division was sold to Raleigh .

Typical were now sedans of middle class like the famous, from 1932 to 1970 produced Hillman Minx the derived flagship super Minx (1961-1966). From 1963 to 1976, was Hillman Imp , a small car with rear-wheel drive , in the model range. In 1967, the US group Chrysler took over the economically troubled Rootes group, which was renamed Chrysler United Kingdom in 1970 .

In 1976 Hillman disappeared as a brand and vehicles such. B. the Hillman Avenger was now offered as Chrysler Avenger. In 1978 the French PSA group ( Peugeot ) took over the British Chrysler subsidiary and the name changed again to Talbot Avenger.

Even after the end of the Rootes group, two former Hillman types remained in production for a long time, namely the Hillman Avenger in Argentina as VW 1500 until 1991 (not related to the German VW model of the same name Type 3 ) and the Hillman Hunter , the ( with different engine) until 2005 in Iran when Paykan 1600 was built by Iran Khodro Co.

The former main plant of the Rootes Group in Ryton-on-Dunsmore produced the Peugeot 206 SW station wagon until December 2006 . After the closure of the PSA plant at the end of 2006, the area was sold to Trenport Investments Ltd. in March 2007 . sold as industrial site. The demolition of the plant began on November 12, 2007.

Models before 1945

Type Construction period
Hillman 40 hp 1907-1911
Hillman 25 hp 1909-1913
Hillman 12/15 hp 1909-1911
Hillman 12/15 hp 1912-1913
Hillman 9 hp 1913-1915
Hillman 10 hp 1913
Hillman 13/25 hp 1914
Hillman 11 hp 1915-1916, 1919-1926
Hillman Speed ​​Model 1920
Hillman Sporting 1921
Hillman 14 hp 1926-1928, 1938-1940
Hillman Vortic 1928-1932
Hillman Wizard 1932-1933
Hillman Minx 1932-1934, 1935-1939
Hillman 20/70 hp 1934-1935
Hillman 16 hp 1935
Hillman Hawk 1936-1937
Hillman 80 hp 1936

Models from 1945

Type Construction period
Hillman Minx Mark I-VIIIa 1945-1956
Hillman Minx Series I-VI 1956-1967
Hillman Super Minx Series I-IV 1961-1966
Hillman Husky Series I-III 1958-1965, 1967-1970
Hillman Imp 1963-1976
Hillman Californian 1967-1970
Hillman New Minx 1967-1970
Hillman Hunter 1966-1977
Hillman Avenger 1970-1976

Web links

Commons : Hillman  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Grace's Guide: Swift Cycle Company.
  2. Grace's Guide: Swift Motor Company.
  3. a b c d Grace's Guide: William Hillman.
  4. ^ Grace's Guide: Auto Machinery Company.
  5. Grace's Guide: 1907 Motor Show (SMMT) - The Autocar H - J.
  6. Grace's Guide: 1908 Motor Show (SMMT) - Hillman-Coatalen.
  7. a b Grace's Guide: Hillman.
  8. ^ PSA Peugeot Citroen Agrees to Sell Ryton Site to Trenport Investments Limited . Abcmoney.co.uk ( Memento of the original from July 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.abcmoney.co.uk
  9. Demolition team pulls down car factory ( Memento from November 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive )