ICM - Leeds Design Agency

John Haynes OBE wrote and published his first book, on building an Austin 7 Special, whilst still at school in 1956. He wrote two more ‘Special’ builders’ manuals while doing his National Service in the RAF. The first ‘proper’ Haynes Owners Workshop Manual, for the Austin Healey ‘Frogeye’ Sprite, was published in 1965. Based on a stripdown and rebuild of a project vehicle with extensive use of step-by-step photographs – a process that has not changed to this day – the manual set the standard for many generations of manuals to follow.

Since Haynes Publishing was founded in 1960, approximately 150 million Haynes Manuals have sold throughout the world, over 1 million in the UK last year alone. There are around 300 UK car manuals in print at present with 130 plus UK motorcycle manual titles – not to mention equivalent ranges in the USA, France and Sweden. The process of writing a car manual takes 20 to 30 man-weeks. Authors work in pairs, which shortens the origination time and avoids them going crazy in the middle of long projects.

As a home-mechanic-come-DIY-spanner-wielder I have often used a Haynes manual for simple jobs not worthy of a trip to a garage; removing door trim, changing headlights, simple maintenance etc. And for these tasks the clarity and instruction is second to none.

Professional mechanics often scoff at these ‘bodger’ manuals and I have to admit I’d be dubious about tackling anything serious like a gearbox rebuild using nothing but a Haynes manual. The over-used phrase ‘re-assembly is the reverse procedure of steps 1 to 5’ scares me a little!

With my father being a retired Technical Illustrator I’ve been brought up to appreciate the finer details of this work and have always admired the skill involved in creating these masterpieces – I could stare at a Haynes Manual for hours!

Haynes Publishing have truly understood their success and popularity and worked it to good effect – manuals have diversified from their automotive roots and you can now find a Haynes Manual for parenting, health, the Apollo 11 space mission, computers, military equipment, home DIY – you name it.

Selling directly in America, Canada, France, Sweden and Australia. Manuals have been published in a total of 15 languages – English, French, Swedish, Chinese, Japanese, German, Czech, Finnish, Polish, Bulgarian, Hebrew, Greek, Danish, Spanish and Russian. The unique branding of the Haynes Manual with it’s bright colourway, outlined typeface, illustration and rigid layout has become recogniseable the world-over.

The brand is so popular there is now a range of merchandise from T-shirts to mugs, pencil-cases to flip-flops!

This is the true future of Haynes. I feel the days of the home-mechanic working on a modern vehicle, with complex electronics and sensors, is almost over. This combined with the Governement scrappage-allowance could spell the end for the DIY-mechanic wanting to keep an old car runni…

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This weekend is one of the highlights of any motorsport fan’s calendar; the Le Mans 24 hour race.

Many of these great motorsport events have, through the years, been publisised with some fantastic poster art. In the pre-internet days, every French town and village would have had these posters up. They have become beautiful displays of speed through a static image. Here’s some examples to see how trends have changed throughout the years.

1960’s: Some great brush work:

1970’s: Photographic, minimal and cool:

1980’s: Back to graphic and moody:

Modern day: The Photoshop generation.

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2009 has been something of a milestone year for many motoring classics; 40 years of the Ford Capri, 40 years of the Porsche 914 (one of my personal favorites) and 50 years of the iconic Mini.

It was back in the midst of the ’50s oil crisis when petrol prices were soaring that motor companies started striving for a small, fuel-efficient car for the masses. Sound familiar?

The ultimate winner of the race was undoubtedly Alec Issigonis. Born over 100 years ago to a Graeco-German family in the Ottoman empire, Issigonis penned the Mini while he was deputy technical director at BMC’s Austin plant in Longbridge. By using a simple rectangular-shaped box, turning the four-cylinder engine sideways and placing the gearbox underneath it, he created the classic icon we know and love today.

The mini wasn’t without it’s critics. At the time Ford were so obsessed with winning the small-car battle, they bought a mini and took it back to Dagenham, tore it apart and priced up the cost of manufacture. They stated BMC must be running at a loss on every car built and that it couldn’t be done for the price on the forecourt.

Where the Mini really stuck gold was in celebrity endorsement, television and film appearances – a fantastic example of putting your product to work. Universally loved by young drivers, old ladies, pop stars, film stars and politicians, the Mini could do no wrong.

By the 1970s the honeymoon period was over. The Mini hadn’t really moved with the times. The Renault 5, Fiat 127, Ford Fiesta, Nissan Cherry and VW Polo and Golf moved forwards where the Mini should have developed.

Many sighted the now-knighted Issigonis as the problem. Often nicknamed ‘Arrogonis’ his small-car philosophy worked less well on his larger cars, many of which failed as spectacularly as the Mini succeeded, easily outclassed by contemporary Fords and the almost unbeatable competition from the Far East. His approach was uncompromising; “I design cars without any prompting from my employers to suit what they want for sale. I thought I knew better than the market research people what the public wanted. As is shown in the results”.

It’s such a shame that Britain no longer has the thriving car industry of the fifties and early sixties, many lessons were learnt during the Mini’s lifetime but many were ignored too.

Aside from the BMW-owned brand, the Mini will live on through a network of owners’ clubs and enthusiasts – a testament to great design and innovation where form followed function.

Mini happy retur…

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