Humber / Hillman / Rootes / Chrysler / Peugeot

Hi Prof My dad's Minx with me facing the wrong way in the driver's seat.

Nice one, Philip. My dad was a coach trimmer, which meant as the cars came off the production line he fitted the extras, could be windscreen, or other adjustments to the basic model.

Hillman factory 1928

This is what really impressed the visitors from the garage industry. This part of the Telfer Line was at head height. At floor level and on hydraulic lifting were the front suspension, engine, gearbox, radiator, propshaft, back axle and rear suspension. The body would arrive above this station. Run taps up all the threads to ensure these were clear as these were likely to have ingested travel debris - the body had been built, painted and trimmed by Pressed Steel at Cowley and then transported by road up to Ryton. Then the hydraulic rams lifted the assemblies up into position and a minute or so later all the assemblies were bolted in place - this would have taken a garage hours and it did impress them. The bodies were all jig built so the front suspension - again jig built at Stoke - came with the correct shims to get the camber angle right. Freddy Burgwin worked on this part of the Minx line and I played rugby with him for Rootes RUFC - happy memories.

Haven't had the time to visit the forum for quite a while. Hope these items are suitable for inclusion on the site, it certainly gives a taste of working for Rootes in its heyday. Spent lots of time talking to Bill (my father-in-law) about his time at Rootes but looking back never asked enough questions about his time in the industry.

The Mk IV Snipe was one of life's experiences. The engine, with a seven bearing crank, had been in production as the 'underfloor' engine for the Commer Avenger coach. In this build it had chromed bores to virtually eliminate bore wear and markedly eliminate ring wear. Problem on production was cracks in the chrome plating which was normally associated with an intermittent electrical supply. This then required that the chrome be stripped out and the plating process done again - a costly and time consuming process but good for plenty of 'over'. A carefully placed camera spotted the steward flicking the switch - to get the over - and having got rid of him there were no more plating problems. The fundamental problem was that there was less room in the centre section of a Mk V Hawk body 9 - also introduced in '52 - than there was in a Series 3 Snipe which was going to be replaced. If the rear squab was redesigned once it was redesigned about half a dozen times in trying to provide more knee room. A fleet of pre-production cars were built before the Motor Show and these looked very impressive particularly those in metallic colours under the bright lights of the Ryton assembly hall. When taking visitors on tours we didn't see the new Snipes as by the time the visitors said 'whats that?' it had gone and we just said it must have been a Mk V - which had the new 'Italian' front end. The instrument panel did not look as good as a Series 3 but the stalks were much better. The stylist took inspiration from a submarine periscope so the gear shift/stalk and steering column looked far better. Then in '52 I finished my training and along with Dave Lloyd and Bill Moore went off to do our two year National Service in REME. Later on I was out in Cyprus where the Head of the Foreign Office's MEMUs official car was a Mk IV Snipe and his driver said to me 'come for a run out'. Built for the roads of the world and with its Blue Riband engine, much heavier than a Series 3 - the crown wheel and pinion was massive and the front cross member was welded to the chassis - this trip was an experience. I had had the good fortune to be doing my month in CID when the pre-production ST 90 Mk II came through and went out in JWD401 with Maurice Farran. He as with the sales demo drivers knew how to make the cars go quickly but also absolutely effortlessly. Thank you, Camperman, for the nostalgia (not too sure where this post is going to end up).

The Snipe and Pullman tracks were alongside each other at Ryton and the front ends were assembled in the same sub-assembly shop along with the Hawks and the ST 80/90. A conveyor then took the front ends to the assembly tracks. They were assembled in colour sequence to match the body on the track. Only failed once when a ST90 front end in Persian Grey met a Steel Grey body on the track. The change in sidelights from round to oblong on the Snipe/Pullman was introduced at the same time for each as the front ends were identical except that the Snipe had the bird mascot - with rubber beak. The last item to be fitted - after road test/rectification and just before despatch - was the clock in the dashboard. PS. Other apprentices/pupils will have happy memories of the main assembly hall at Ryton.

My grandfather was a works police sergeant at the Humber factory in the 50s/60s. Here is a photo of him on duty on May 1958. I still have the cap badge shown in this picture. His name was Herbert Walker and he lived at 18 Siddeley Ave.

Just found this photo on FB's "True Coventarian" page. Looks like an early model motorised hearse. Anyone know anything about it?

Google is your friend, John

Both Stoke and Ryton were full of very attractive items and the security team were on constant watch to stop items getting out. The most obvious problem were the Karriers which transported front suspension assemblies and rear axle assemblies from Stoke to Ryton. Inevitability a gang was caught and imprisoned but this required a good surveillance system. In both Stoke and Ryton there were 'ticket to leave men' who seemed to be part of the surveillance system. Then there was the problem in the bore plating shop when, to get more over, the steward was flicking the switch to break the current which resulted in a crack in the plating. Security must have had information of what was going on so they rigged a camera which photographed what was going on. No more problem once the culprit was moved on. There was one apocryphal story that a Minx cylinder block was taken out of Stoke, covered with an overall and between two men. But knowing how heavy a block was, it is difficult to imagine how it was done. But overall the security team did a very effective job as I cannot remember there ever being a weekend break in or similar on night shifts on Monday to Friday. Two cars were stolen from Ryton. A thief, dressed to look like the Production Manager Freddy Banks, got into his car and as he always went out at 5.20pm the gateman waved him/thief out of the main gate. He had a new car off the line each day which was parked outside his office for him to go home in at 5.20pm. The perimeter fence on the south side of Ryton was in steel sections, bolted together. One very foggy night, thieves unbolted two sections, laid them flat on the ground, over the ditch up to the London Road and the drove a Hawk out and away.

I remember one of the body experimental bodymakers was caught taking something out, he walked into the personnel office next to the gatehouse and handed in his notice before they could fire him, then he went on a world tour with two other apprentices from body ex they got as far as Italy before splitting. One of them is a millionaire in real estate in London Ontario or he was in 1987 when I called him to offer him a job. I did my time there as a prototype bodymaker from 1966-70. including the move over to Whitley, I have been back there 2011 on a project and the body ex in Whitley seems to be the same unchanged building.

Hi bavarianbrit, welcome to the forum

Yes, welcome bavarianbrit (great forum name btw)! I worked on Torrington Avenue at the MIS (IT) building and the Motoquip parts depot. All the parts for the track at Ryton were stored there including a central radio cage back when in-car hi-fi's were standardised units. There was a security guard there who had regular 'orders' to obtain - the cage itself had some 20ft fences internally around it, so was quite a challenge to get in and out.

My grandfather, Bob Watson, worked at Rootes/Chrysler/Peugeot for many years in the paint shop. We have narrowed it down to between 1965-1983 but we can't work out exactly when. He then returned as security between 1987-1995. I wondered if anyone recognised the photo (he's the man on the left) or his name to help with narrowing down the time period or if anyone had any stories. Thank you