Hillman
 |
|
| Industry | Automotive industry |
|---|---|
| Fate | Merged |
| Successor | Rootes Group |
| Founded | 1907 |
| Founder | William Hillman |
| Defunct | 1931 |
| Headquarters | Ryton-on-Dunsmore, England |
| Products | Automobiles |
| Parent | 1929–31 Humber |
|
|
| Owner | PSA |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Discontinued | 1976 |
| Markets | Automotive |
| Previous owners | 1907–29 Hillman Motor Car Company 1929–31 Humber 1931–67 Rootes Group 1967–79 Chrysler |
Hillman is a British automobile marque created by the Hillman Motor Car Company, founded in 1907. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had built bicycles. The Hillman company newly under the control of the Rootes brothers was acquired by Humber in 1928 and Hillman was used as the small car marque of Humber Limited from 1931 but until 1937 Hillman did continue to sell large cars. The Rootes brothers reached a sixty per cent holding of Humber in 1932 which they retained until 1967, when Chrysler bought Rootes and bought out the other forty per cent of shareholders in Humber. The marque continued to be used under Chrysler until 1976.
In 1857 Josiah Turner and James Starley formed the Coventry Sewing Machine Company, and recruited skilled engineers from the London area to join them, one of whom was William Hillman. In 1869 the firm changed its name to the Coventry Machinists Company, and like many other manufacturers in the area embarked on producing velocipedes. In 1870 Hillman and Starley patented a new bicycle called the "Ariel" and by 1885 Hillman was a partner of the bicycle manufacturer Hillman Herbert and Cooper, producing a bicycle called the Kangaroo. Hillman's new company soon established itself, and before the turn of the 20th century, Hillman was a millionaire. With wealth came the means to fulfil Hillman's next ambition, to become a car producer. Hillman had moved into Abingdon House in Stoke Aldermoor near Coventry and decided that a sensible plan would be to set up a car factory in its grounds. in 1907 Hillman-Coatalen, was founded by William Hillman with the Breton Louis Coatalen as designer and chief engineer. They launched the 24HP Hillman-Coatalen (named after its designer), which was entered into that year's Tourist Trophy. The car was put out of the race by a crash, but it had made a splash. Coatalen left in 1909 to join Sunbeam and the company was re-registered as the Hillman Motor Car Company in 1910.
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