ISBN The Rootes Group (Humber, Hillman, Sunbeam, Singer, Commer, Karrier)

This is the story of the Rootes Group which was both an important British car manufacturer, and a significant contributor to the war effort in 1939–45, as it made large numbers of military aircraft and vehicles. The company was started by William and Reginald Rootes in Maidstone from a background of building and selling bicycles and was originally concerned with new car sales, but the brothers soon realised that there were additional benefits in making cars rather than from just selling them. The Rootes Group grew largely by taking over existing companies and rationalising and developing their ranges of cars and commercial vehicles. Many famous names became part of the Group: among the best known were Humber, Hillman, Sunbeam, Singer, Commer and Karrier. Fully illustrated throughout, this is a fascinating introduction to one of Britain's oldest car makers.