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By MartinW at 2007-12-10 12:41
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William Hillman was another man to start his company by producing bicycles in the late 19th Century. The trend and natural progression at the time was to move into the automotive industry, so in 1907 Hillman started producing cars.
Hillman as an independant company was not to last however and in the tradition of the late 1920's, 1928 saw Hillman taken over by rival British company, Humber .
Sadly, this arrangement was not to last either as only 5 years later Hillman and Humber were both taken over by the Rootes group alongside Singer and Sunbeam.
This proved to be a good move for the Hillman name however, as it quickly became the dominant brand within the group. Many of today's youngsters will know nothing of the company, but many of you I am sure will recall names such as 'Minx and 'Hunter' from the 1940's and 50's. Many more of you again will know the Hillman Imp - introduced in 1963, a car that has a fast growing cult status in todays 'retro' car scene, and often referred to as 'the car my Dad had' in their younger years.
1967 saw change once more for Hillman as the Rootes Group, was purchased by the American Chrysler company and became a cornerstone for their European market. This also saw the first change for the Ryton factory which had become home to Hillman since 1940.
Under Chrysler ruling, Hillman was able to develop their new car, the Avenger, launched in 1970. By 1979 however, the Avenger was re-branded to Chrysler and the former Roots Group was to change hands once more, to new owners Peugeot.
The Avenger was yet-again re-branded, as a Talbot, and the Hillman name became a thing of the past. The Ryton factory has since been producing Peugeot cars and the now PSA (Peugeot/Citroen) Group still owns the rights to the Hillman marque.
Photographs: Beaker & Excel620
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