Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
He did us all a service
Haynes workshop manual creator dies aged 80 after helping 200m motorists
HE revolutionised car maintenance by sharing the expertise of a lifelong passion for motors.
John Haynes has died aged 80 after a short illness, but his legacy lives on in the Haynes manuals that have helped 200 million drivers around the world.
His love of cars began in his native Sri Lanka, now Ceylon, as he rode in a Morris 8 saloon around the tea plantation managed by his father there.
It continued at boarding school in Kent, where he gave up rugby to convert an Austin 7 into a sportier model – then produced a booklet called Building A ‘750’ Special to show others how it was done.
He met wife Annette during National Service in the RAF where he rebuilt an Austin Healey Sprite. Finding the factory manual was not made for the average driver he bought a camera and captured the process of rebuilding the engine.
In 1966 it was the first
Haynes manual, followed by many more. Haynes was floated on the Stock
Exchange in 1979 and in later years also produced novelty science manuals.
In 1985 John founded the
Haynes International
Motor Museum in Sparkford, Somerset as an educational trust. In 1995 he was awarded an OBE for services to publishing.
He is survived by Annette, sons J and Chris, and five grandchildren. His family said: “A true gentleman, John will be greatly missed not only by his family, friends and colleagues but by the many people that use his manuals and benefit from his guiding hand as they repair and maintain their cars and motorbikes.”