The work of Terry Davey

The Haynes manual has become as big a part of the motoring universe as the car itself. These near inch-thick publications have been the lifeblood of many a project, giving owners the required insight to complete jobs that would otherwise leave them baffled and frustrated. But more than that, they have also become an icon thanks to their interesting and intriguing design.

On the cover of today’s Haynes manuals, you’ll find a computer-generated image of a car, complete with some cutaway section to show a small portion of the vehicle’s innards. They’re nice, but they don’t quite measure up to the covers of old. Those old Haynes manuals took the notion of a cutaway image to another level. The front three-quarter images exposed everything within the car.

The engine, the transmission, the drive-line, the suspension, the inner workings of the seats, the internal structure of the doors, everything. They were more than generic images for the cover of a book. They were works of art, and as any good art should, they captivated and engaged anyone who looked at them. This may have been a repair manual, but let’s be honest, how many of you reading remember staring at these fascinating images as a child? Exactly.

So perfect were they in terms of dimensions, you could be forgiven for thinking that they were the work of an artist who had perhaps taken tracings from photos or something similar. They weren’t though. Each one – and there are literally hundreds – was hand-drawn. And what’s more, they were all drawn by one man. That man was Terry Davey.

Terry worked for Haynes from 1972 until 1991 and it was his responsibility to craft the images for the cover of each manual. What’s remarkable is that he was largely self-taught, which led to him developing his own special and ultimately, unique style. Many have tried to emulate the work of Terry, but few have done it so well.

His drawings were so detailed and rich thanks to the way he approached each one. When Haynes sets about putting a manual together, it doesn’t do it via technical information from the manufacturer. That played a part, of course. But the main content comes from the Haynes team physically obtaining a car and then stripping it right down.

Each manual takes roughly a year to complete. That timeframe gave Terry ample time to haunt the workshop, where he could watch the technicians work. As they did, Terry would sketch individual parts in great detail, he would photograph the car in various stages of disassembly, he would get hands on with the car and examine parts and panels to better understand their fit, form and function.

Terry strove to know the subject of his drawings inside and out. It was more to him than just penning an image for the cover. It was a mission to show the car’s intricacies in the best possible way.

Working on a large drawing board, Terry worked freehand bar the occasional use of a rule or a shaped stencil to ensure things were uniform. He laboured over every detail before giving each image a final check over. Once satisfied, Terry would then painstakingly go over the drawing in ink, finalising his work with his signature ‘Terry Davey’ scroll under each image.

Haynes could have just used a photo. It would have been faster, it would have been cheaper, and it would have been easier. But he didn’t. Haynes saw the value in the work of Terry Davey and chose to celebrate it. And in doing so, it has created an image that has captivated not only the eye of many a seasoned car-tinkerer, but also the eye of many a budding young car-fan. And that’s what makes his work so very special indeed.