Private company

G. T. Foulis

Series of manuals on automobile maintenance

Haynes Owner's Workshop Manuals (commonly known as Haynes Manuals) is a series of manuals from the British and American publisher Haynes Group Limited. The series focuses primarily on the maintenance and repair of vehicles. The manuals are aimed at beginner and advanced DIY consumers rather than professional mechanics.² Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

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The story

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. He was made an Officer of Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 1995 for services to publishing. In 1984, John Haynes purchased a disused sawmill in Sparkford, where he established the Haynes Motor Museum in July 1985 with an initial collection of 35 cars. Haynes died on 8 February 2019, aged 80.

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.

Many Haynes Manual covers depict a cutaway view technical drawing of the appropriate vehicle. From 1972 to his retirement in 1991, these were drawn by artist Terry Davey, whose style and use of extensive technical detail became closely associated with the series. Since Davey's retirement, newer manuals have featured computer-generated images with less extensive cutaways.

Haynes also publishes a range of US Chilton manuals under license from Cengage. In 2013, Haynes acquired Clymer repair manuals from Penton Media. In 2020, Haynes was bought by Infopro Digital which publishes Revue Technique Automotive (RTA), a technical data company owned by TowerBrook Capital Partners, for £114.5 million.

From Wikipedia’s article on G. T. Foulis, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.³

Products and brands

Location

The company has international offices across North America, Australasia, Europe and the UK. Originally based in Sparkford, a village near Yeovil in Somerset, England, the company rapidly expanded in order to ensure manuals respected the lifestyles of different international DIY cultures. The Haynes International Motor Museum is also in Sparkford, home to a large collection of classic and modern cars with many rarities.

Manufacturers

Haynes generally receives the cooperation of vehicle manufacturers in providing technical information, including mechanical tolerances and wiring diagrams. Some manufacturers also provide diagrams, photos and exploded assembly drawings from their official dealer repair manuals. 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.

Fictional vehicles

Haynes also publishes manuals for fictional vehicles, such as the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) from Star Trek and the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters.