So many car manufacturers began as bicycle makers, and thus it was with Hillman, founded in 1907. William Hillman started his career with Coventry Sewing Machine Company, later renamed the Coventry Machinists Company. This enterprise joined its peers in the bike-making business, and after producing several successful models, Hillman became a millionaire. As that was quite a lot of money in those days, Hillman moved into a mansion with plenty of garden space – enough, in fact, to build a car factory. (The site is now engulfed by a suburb of Coventry.) With the factory established, Hillman began producing family cars as well as a sporty 9hp runabout. The latter was its best seller until 1925 when it began producing the Hillman 14. The Hillman 14 was a mid-sized four-cylinder car built in several body styles. Thanks to its reasonable price versus competing Austin and Humber models, it rapidly became the company’s best-seller, shouldering out its other products. Overall, 11,000 examples were produced. This was not enough to save Hillman, which was forced into a merger with Humber in 1928, its proprietor having started with a large fortune and ended up with… no fortune. Here on eBay is a barn-fresh 1929 Hillman 14 open tourer, with an asking price of $16,750. This car is at Gullwing Motors in Astoria, New York.
The Hillman 14 was powered by a 1942 cc in-line four-cylinder motor making about 35 bhp. The top speed was around 55 mph. The gearbox was a non-synchromesh, four-speed manual, and the brakes were four-wheel drums operated by cable with a servo assist. It’s a good bet that this car, having been off the road since 1992, does not run.
The interior is tattered but all or most of the gauges appear to be present. We can’t expect much in the way of ergonomics in the 1920s, but those gauges are thoroughly buried under the cowl! There’s enough fabric to match the door panel pattern. Note the gear change on the right-hand side. The seller indicates that this car is “very complete” but the all-important windshield frame has gone missing.
The convertible top is still hanging on by a thread – or ropes, apparently – but it’s likely to be good only for a pattern, like the door cards. Those wheels are artillery style, wood with metal centers. Good luck getting those repaired, but fortunately the Hillman 14 was also supplied with wire wheels. Those might be available somewhere. And now to price. Hillman 14s do not sell every day, but two sales in the last few years peg prices at about £19,000 with virtually no differentiation between the saloon and the tourer. Sorry to Gullwing, but the comparables make this price look rich; what do you think?
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?
That’s a UK registration number, hence the RHD. Austin and Morris went 12 and 16 HP, so maybe the 14 took sales from both bigger and smaller markets?
My folks’ first car was a Hillman. One of their pals’ dad was sales manager at a local Rootes Group dealer.
Southampton to be exact!
. . . needs to be returned to Blighty!!
Saying the price is a bit “rich” is being kind. Even if those sales were twice as much this would take all of it to bring this Hillman back. There is so much that would have to be re-manufactured that would eat up 40K very quickly. The person that MIGHT pay for this would need to have some sort of affiliation and affectionate sentiment for the unusual and not be concerned with cost.
Michelle, I don’t think the Artillery wheels were wood with steel centres as the Artillery wheels that were on my 1930 Austin Heavy Twelve were of (cast) metal manufacture and I should think that the Hillman would have had the same, but I stand to be corrected.
Days gone by
(1) The cylinder head looks as though a chunk of it is missing as the top of the block is clearly visible.
(2) The Artillery wheels I have seen are two pressed star shaped dishes to form the spokes and welded together with a single seam to join the two dishes together.
I have studied every picture both on BF site and the E Bay pictures and there is no way that I can see where the cylinder head supposedly has a “chunk” out of it clearly showing the block. Please advise where I can see the evidence.
On closer inspection of the photo with a magnifying glass, I now think you are correct. I was looking at the line formed by the heavy rubber covered cable from the generator laying across the top of the head with a sharp bend in it between the two cylinder head nuts. The two-dimensional photo makes it appear as a flat area below the thick cable.
Restoration in England is certainly possible, but the type of man to undertake it on this side if the pond, would be the guy who also enjoys a good case of hemorrhoids!
A lot of English cars of that era had artillery wheels which were manufactured by, and stamped “Sankey Benson”. I had a 1928 Morris Cowley with them.
A lot of English cars of that era had these wheels which were manufactured and stamped “Sankey Benson. A 1928 Morris Cowley I owned had them.