Hillman

Hillman-Coatalen Motor Car Company was established by  William Hillman and Louis Coatalen in Coventry,England,  in 1906 to build automobiles. In 1909 Coatalen left the company to work for Sunbeam and sold his shares to Hillman who pursued with the business, changing the Company name to Hillman Motor Car Company in 1910. The first Hillman cars were large, but when the Company introduced a smaller model, the sales increased considerably. In 1919 a sports car model was introduced. Until the 1930’s one of the main Hillmans’ features was an attractive V-radiator. Hillman was one of the few automobile makers that produced cars to the public during the war. In 1928 the company was taken over by Humber and in 1931 Rootes bought both Hillman and Humber. Hillman cars were solid, reliable and not to expensive which permit the brand to assume a leading position within the Rootes Group. In the 1960’s, following important financial losses, Roots was taken over by Chrysler in 1967. The last Hillman model, the Avenger, was produced in 1970 but Hillman´s name was dropped in favor of Chrysler in 1979.