RESCUE OF ROOTES ENGINEERING DEPT DRAWINGS

We were first made aware by former Rootes and Chrysler employees shortly before Christmas last year that these drawings had survived; they had been kept over the years in a succession of quiet corners of various factory buildings in and around Coventry, thanks to the initiative of staff who recognised their significance as part of the history of the company and its products. The bad news was that the collection was shortly to lose its current place of safekeeping because of a major redevelopment programme by PSA Peugeot Citroen; and there was no realistic prospect of finding another storage place on company premises.

The extent of the challenge became clear when we visited the factory. 1,000 sq ft of storage space may not sound a lot; but how about three bays of shelving 8 ft high by 24 ft long for the really big drawings; with the small ones (up to 2ft 6 by 3ft 6) in metal cabinets 4 1't high by 3f't wide by 2 ft deep-and there are 47 of those cabinets! There's no doubt the ultimate home for these drawings must be in one of the national museums; and we hope they will eventually pass into the safe keeping of the Coventry Museum of British Road Transport which also has a significant Rootes Group Press Department archive. But they have not sufficient space at present, and the need to move the drawings to a new home this spring was pressing. Fortunately ARCC proved equal to the challenge. Thanks to the generosity of a member of one of the Rootes clubs, who has provided secure storage space, a few days' hard work and numerous trips with a 7.5 tonne lorry, the collection is now safe in a new temporary home.

What have we got, exactly? The collection comprises the entire Engineering Department technical drawings library from the Chrysler era, with some material dating back to the '50s (we don't yet know how much, because drawings still needed in the'60s and'70s were redrawn when the originals became too fragile or too heavily amended). We believe there is everything relevant to the Arrow, Avenger and Talbot ranges; plus what seems to be a full set of drawings for the Imp, labelled as having been moved down from Linwood. The earlier material includes drawings relating to Humber, Hillman, Sunbeam and Commer model ranges. A lot of the drawings are in a fragile state and some are likely to need specialist conservation in due course. The drawings are numbered according to two series, for chassis and body, and include assembly specifications, soft trim design and material cutting layouts, electrical and wiring loom specifications as well as body panels and the 'oily bits'. The numbering sequence is problematic as it bears no relation to parts numbers used in the parts lists supplied to dealers and owners; but we have also been able to recover the card index that goes with the collection - all 92 file index drawers of it!

We now need to work systematically through this index and convert it into a usable computerised database, before the collection finds its way to a permanent home in museum archives. Only then will we know exactly what the drawings include. But it's already clear this is a collection of considerable significance to automotive historians; so we also need to sort out arrangements that will facilitate access to the collection as a unique source of information about the whole range of Rootes models and marques, with adequate controls to ensure fragile drawings do not suffer further damage.

This will be a major long-term undertaking, but it's one ARCC is delighted to be engaged in - there has scarcely been a more exciting discovery for Rootes enthusiasts.

Tim Sutton
ARCC Press/Communications Officer

July 2002