It was a cold, gloomy February evening at Foleshill. The factory and yard were quiet, the angle-poise was on over the boss’s desk, and Will Heynes was in for his 5th SS Cars interview for the Chief Engineer’s position. William Lyons sat back; fingers arched together. ‘So, you’ve told me all about your double overhead camshaft 4-cylinder motorcycle engine, your independent front suspension and 4-speed gearbox for the Hillman, your chassis design work for Humber. What I want to know is, who is your hero, the person you would strive to be, the person who would have the most influence over what you would do for SS Cars?’
‘Well, obviously, besides you,’ Heynes glanced at Lyons, who nodded politely. ‘Louis Herve Coatalen.’ Then he added with a half-smile, ‘I may have mentioned his name in passing.’
‘In every other sentence you mean,’ Lyons had a belly laugh at his own words. ‘No, seriously, what is it about this Frenchman that nobody outside our industry has ever heard of, that interests you so much?’
‘He left Humber ten years before I joined, but he was a God-like figure there. He started at Humber in 1901 from De Dion-Bouton in France, and his first car was the 10/12HP which sold well. He joined Hillman for a while, and then in 1909 Sunbeam poached him. He moved from Coventry to Wolverhampton and the rest
