Founder Of The Haynes Repair Manuals, John Haynes, Passes Away At 80

If you’re a gearhead, chances are you’ve heard of John Haynes. Or at least his work. Haynes wrote and sold more than 200 million manuals on just about everything. After a short illness, he passed away on Friday, February 8.

The iconic handbooks feature colorful covers and cutaway drawings and appeared on shelves more than 50 years ago. Haynes started Haynes Publishing after helping fix an Austin Healey Sprite while serving in the Royal Air Force and realizing the official manual wasn’t designed to help an average car owner. The very first run of 3,000 copies of his Austin manual sold out in less than three months.



He purchased a camera and documented the repair processes, including an entire rebuild of the car’s engine. The step-by-step approach and diagrams would become a trademark for Haynes Manuals going forward. Haynes Publishing Group has overseen the creation of thousands of Haynes Manuals, including the Chilton Repair Manuals familiar to car owners here in the United States.



The success of the publishing company allowed Haynes to give back. In 1985 he founded the Haynes International Motor Museum which displays 400 vehicles with attendance figures of 125,000 visitors per year.

He was a pioneer and icon in the mechanical and automotive industry and will be missed by many.