Lord William Geoffrey Rootes; British Auto Manufacturer

Lord William Geoffrey Rootes, 74, British auto manufacturer who ran his family’s business until it was taken over by Chrysler Corp. He inherited his title from his father, “Billy” Rootes, who was made a peer in 1959. The Rootes’ company, Humber, Hillman and Sunbeam-Talbot, was renamed Chrysler United Kingdom Ltd. in 1970. Three years later the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Chrysler. On Thursday in Hungerford, England.