| Haynes Publishing Group | |
| Founded: | 1960 |
| Founder: | John Haynes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Headquarters: | Sparkford, Somerset |
| Distribution: | Grantham Book Service (UK) |
| Publications: | Books |
| Topics: | Automotive |
| Imprints: | Clymer |
Haynes Owner's Workshop Manuals (commonly known as Haynes Manuals) is a series of manuals from the British publisher Haynes Publishing Group. The series focuses primarily on the maintenance and repair of automotive vehicles and covers a range of makes and models, with manuals for over 600 car and 225 motorcycle models.[1]
The manuals are aimed at DIY enthusiasts rather than professional mechanics. Latterly the series was expanded to include a range of parody practical lifestyle manuals in the same style for a range of topics, including domestic appliances, personal computers, digital cameras, model railways, sport, animal care, men,[2] babies,[3] sexual intercourse,[4] and women.[5] Haynes also published the humorous Bluffer's Guides.[6]
Additionally, Haynes has released parody manuals based on popular fictional series, including Star Trek[7] and Thomas and Friends.[8]
Haynes manuals up to 2020 are available as printed books, but newer ones are only available online.
The Haynes manuals are named after John Harold Haynes (1938 - 2019) OBE. In 1956, while Haynes was at school, he published a book on building a 'special' based on the Austin 7. Haynes also published two other books while serving in the Royal Air Force.[9] He was made an Officer of Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honors List 1995 for services to publishing. Haynes died on 8 February 2019, aged 80.[10]
J. H. Haynes & Co. Limited was founded on 18 May 1960, and its first manual was entitled Haynes Owners Workshop Manual. Austin-Healey Sprite was published in 1965.[11]
The cover of many Haynes Manuals depicts a cutaway view technical drawing of the vehicle, drawn and signed by Terry Davey.
Haynes also publishes a range of US Chilton manuals under license from Cengage. In 2013, Haynes acquired Clymer repair manuals from Penton Media.[12] In 2020, Haynes was bought by Infopro Digital, a technical data company owned by TowerBrook Capital Partners, for million.[13] [14]
Haynes announced in December 2020 that it would not print any new repair manuals; all new repair content would be online only. Existing printed manuals continue to be available.[15]
The automotive vehicle manuals are created by disassembling and reassembling a vehicle. The cover of each manual specifies: "based on a complete strip-down and rebuild".[16] Each section has step-by-step instructions with diagrams and photographs of an actual strip-down or rebuild.
Manuals for garage professionals include books such as the Automotive Diesel Engine Service Guide, the Automotive Air Conditioning Tech-Book, Citroën and Peugeot Engine Management Systems, and two Engine Management and Fuel Injection Systems Pin Tables and Wiring Diagrams Tech-Book volumes.
Haynes manuals are published in 15 languages: English (including British, American and Australian dialects), French, Swedish, Chinese, Japanese, German, Czech, Finnish, Polish, Bulgarian, Hebrew, Greek, Danish, Spanish (including American Spanish dialects), and Russian.
The company is based in Sparkford, a village near Yeovil in Somerset, England. The Haynes International Motor Museum is also in Sparkford, home to a large collection of classic and modern cars with many rarities.[17]
Each Haynes manual is written by a pair of authors over 20 to 30 weeks.[18] The car or motorcycle of interest is bought at the beginning of the project and sold at the end.[19]
Although the workshop phase of the project usually lasts only four weeks, the vehicle is retained and tested for several months to ensure it is functioning correctly.
Haynes generally receives the cooperation of vehicle manufacturers in providing technical information, including mechanical tolerances and wiring diagrams. According to Haynes, this information empowers customers to fix their vehicles to the best of their ability, or at least diagnose the issue before taking it to a mechanic.[20]
Haynes also publishes manuals for fictional vehicles, such as the from Star Trek and the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters.[21] [22]