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History of Hillman

This page gives a potted history of the Hillman, Humber and Rootes companies. The formation of the Rootes Group went on to incorporate both Hillman Ltd and Humber Ltd. The Hillman models built between 1936 and 1938 are described in more detail.

The Early Days
 
Thomas Humber started a bicycle company in Beeston, Nottinghamshire in 1868. His company, Humber Ltd, then diversified into manufacturing cars in 1898.

 
William Hillman joined an established sewing machine manufacturer in Coventry which subsequently went on to produce bicycles in 1869. In 1907 William went on to establish Hillman Ltd, producing motor cars.
 
William Rootes started a vehicle sales dealership in Hawkhurst, Kent in 1913 and later, with his brother, expanded the business to include vehicle servicing and spare parts.
 
From the early 1900’s to the late 1920’s Humber and Hillman each produced a variety of motor vehicles with a range of horse powers which were priced to suite the luxury market and also the growing affluence of many middle class customers. Amongst other dealerships, the Rootes brothers marketed and serviced them. The brothers also started to acquire shares in both the Humber and Hillman companies.   
 

The Hillman's Root(e)s

 

By 1928 Humber Ltd (which had already incorporated the Commercial Car Company [known as Commer] in 1926) and Hillman Ltd merged to form Humber Hillman Ltd which subsequently became part of the Rootes Group in 1931, the brothers having gained a majority shareholding. Rootes went on to take over the Karrier Motor Company (in 1934), Sunbeam-Talbot in 1935) and Singer Motors Ltd (in 1956). Many of these companies retained their own car marques until the 1970’s by which time Rootes had been acquired by Chrysler in 1967.
 
Humber Ltd continued to produce a range of larger luxury and smaller utility models between 1928 and 1940 including the Humber 12, 14, 16/50, 16/60, 18, the 20/70 Saloon or Tourer, the Snipe “80” and the prestigious Pullman. They were all coach built, to a design by Thrupp & Maberly (who had previous been acquired by the Rootes brothers in 1926) and consisted of square shaped panels, wooden framing and a separate chassis although a  rounded semi-monocoque body was being introduced by the mid 1930’s.
 
During this time Hillman Ltd also produced a range of models including the Hillman 12, the Hillman 14, the Wizard, and the Minx. In 1934 and 1935 they also produced some lower specification luxury models similar to Humber, namely the Hillman 16hp Saloon, the 20/70 Saloon and the 20/70 “long wheelbased (10ft 3ins)” a 7-seater Limousine. Again they were part coach built with a separate chassis.

Hillman Cars (1936 - 1938)

 

In 1936 Rootes introduced a new more rounded body design for the Hillman range although they still had some coach built wooden framing. These vehicles were produced at the Hillman Ltd factory in Coventry and included the Minx with a 1185 cc 9.8 hp side valve 4 cylinder engine, the Sixteen" (also known as the “16”) with a 2576 cc 16.65 h.p. side-valve straight six engine and the "Hawk" and "80 Limousine” both with a 3181cc 20.9 h.p. side-valve straight six engine. The 7-seater “80”, like its Humber predecessor, had a longer wheelbase (10ft 6ins) than the other models and some "80"s had a partition between the driver and passengers.
 
The production of these three luxury models continued into 1937 but only the "80" was produced in 1938. A few of each of these models were produced as sports saloons, tourers or cabriolets custom built by Thrupp & Maberley or the coach building firm of Wingham (Martin Walter). The chassis design of these models were covered by patents taken out by Humber Hillman Ltd and Humber took over production of the 16, Hawk and 80 from 1938 onwards initially restyling & rebadging them as the Humber "16" (16hp), Snipe (20hp) and Super Snipe (21hp) respectively.

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