The sad passing of an iconic figure in the automotive workshop world was announced recently with the death of John H Haynes at the age of 80, after a short illness. John was the creator of the famous Haynes Manual and the founder of the Haynes Publishing Group and the Haynes International Motor Museum.

Haynes Manuals have been a feature of millions of garages all over the world for many years and are in many ways the forerunner of the type of digital technical information that is used in workshops today. 

Born in 1938 John always had a passion for cars and was inspired to create a booklet showing how he renovated and converted an Austin 7 while still at school. He produced his first Haynes manual while serving in the RAF, when a colleague asked him to help renovate a Austin Healey ‘Frogeye’ Sprite and John found the factory manual was not designed to help the average car owner. This included pioneering work with step-by-step photos and diagrams.

John later established his own publishing company and to date over 200 million Haynes Manuals have been sold around the world. The success of the company allowed John to indulge his motoring passion and this brought about the opening of the Haynes International Motor Museum in Sparkford, Somerset in 1985. Now an Educational Charitable Trust, the museum now has a display of 400 vehicles and attracts 125,000 visitors a year.