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 running.