Louis Coatalen
Encyclopedia
Louis Hervé Coatalen was a Breton automobile engineer.
Coatalen was born in the Breton fishing town of Concarneau
and went on to study engineering at the Ecole des Arts et Métiers at Cluny (France).
After working for De Dion-Bouton
, Clément-Bayard
and Panhard-Levassor
he left France to work in England in 1900. After a short time with the Crowden Motor Car Company he became chief engineer with the Humber Car Company
in 1901.
In 1906 he went into partnership with William Hillman
to form the Hillman-Coatalen
company. The partnership was dissolved in 1909 when Coatalen moved from Coventry to Wolverhampton to join Sunbeam, becoming joint managing director in 1914.
During World War I he designed aircraft engines for Sunbeam.
In 1920 Sunbeam joined with Talbot
and Darracq
to form STD Motors Ltd and Coatalen had a seat on the board as one of the directors remaining chief engineer of Sunbeam. His main interest became racing cars and Sunbeam became heavily involved in land speed record attempts including the successful 1000HP car of 1927 and the failed 'Silver Bullet
' of 1930. In 1926 Sunbeam's racing activities were taken into the STD company and moved to Suresnes in France and although Coatalen continued working part time in Wolverhampton, he spent most of his time in Paris. STD failed in 1931 but its affairs were so complex it took until 1934 to sell the Suresnes works to Lago.
Coatalen's innovations included balancing the wheels (a technique also claimed by Sig Haugdahl
), re-locating the oil pump into the sump, and he was an early advocate of shock absorbers.
From the proceeds of his STD share sale, Coatalen bought control of the French branch of Lockheed hydraulics and from the income from this bought a yacht and a villa on the Isle of Capri
.
During World War II he lived in France although he had earlier taken out British citizenship and continued living there until his death.
Louis Coatalen married four times, in 1902 to Annie Ellen Davis (divorced 1906), in 1910 to Olive Bath (daughter of a Sunbeam director), in 1923 to Iris van Raalte nee Graham and in 1934 to Amy Bridson.
Coatalen was born in the Breton fishing town of Concarneau
Concarneau
Concarneau is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.The town has two distinct areas: the modern town on the mainland and the medieval Ville Close, a walled town on a long island in the centre of the harbour. Historically, the old town was a centre of shipbuilding...
and went on to study engineering at the Ecole des Arts et Métiers at Cluny (France).
After working for De Dion-Bouton
De Dion-Bouton
De Dion-Bouton was a French automobile manufacturer and railcar manufacturer operating from 1883 to 1932. The company was founded by the Marquis Jules-Albert de Dion, Georges Bouton and his brother-in-law Charles Trépardoux....
, Clément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard was a French manufacturer of automobiles, aeroplanes and airships founded in 1903 by the entrepreneur Adolphe Clément-Bayard . The name celebrated the Chevalier Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard who saved the town of Mézières in 1521...
and Panhard-Levassor
Panhard
Panhard is currently a French manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its current incarnation was formed by the acquisition of Panhard by Auverland in 2005. Panhard had been under Citroën ownership, then PSA , for 40 years...
he left France to work in England in 1900. After a short time with the Crowden Motor Car Company he became chief engineer with the Humber Car Company
Humber (car)
Humber is a dormant British automobile marque which could date its beginnings to Thomas Humber's bicycle company founded in 1868. Following their involvement in Humber through Hillman in 1928 the Rootes brothers acquired a controlling interest and joined the Humber board in 1932 making Humber part...
in 1901.
In 1906 he went into partnership with William Hillman
William Hillman
William Hillman was a British bicycle and automobile manufacturer. In partnership with Louis Coatalen he founded the Hillman-Coatalen Company in 1907, later the Hillman Motor Company after Coatalen's defection to Sunbeam in 1909.-Early life:Hillman was born on 13 November 1848 in Stratford, Essex,...
to form the Hillman-Coatalen
Hillman
Hillman is a British automobile marque created by the Hillman Motor Car Company, founded in 1907. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had built bicycles...
company. The partnership was dissolved in 1909 when Coatalen moved from Coventry to Wolverhampton to join Sunbeam, becoming joint managing director in 1914.
In 1920 Sunbeam joined with Talbot
Talbot
Talbot was an automobile marque that existed from 1903 to 1986, with a hiatus from 1960 to 1978, under a number of different owners, latterly under Peugeot...
and Darracq
Darracq
Automobiles Darracq S.A. was a French motor vehicle manufacturing company founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq.Using part of the substantial profit he had made from selling his Gladiator bicycle factory, Alexandre Darracq began operating from a plant in the Parisian suburb of Suresnes...
to form STD Motors Ltd and Coatalen had a seat on the board as one of the directors remaining chief engineer of Sunbeam. His main interest became racing cars and Sunbeam became heavily involved in land speed record attempts including the successful 1000HP car of 1927 and the failed 'Silver Bullet
Silver Bullet (Sunbeam land speed record car)
- Unsuccessful record attempts :Competition for the land speed record in between Segrave's Golden Arrow and Malcolm Campbell's new Blue Bird was fierce, so the car was built quickly, working around the clock in shifts...
' of 1930. In 1926 Sunbeam's racing activities were taken into the STD company and moved to Suresnes in France and although Coatalen continued working part time in Wolverhampton, he spent most of his time in Paris. STD failed in 1931 but its affairs were so complex it took until 1934 to sell the Suresnes works to Lago.
Coatalen's innovations included balancing the wheels (a technique also claimed by Sig Haugdahl
Sig Haugdahl
Sigurd Olson “Sig” Haugdahl was an IMCA champion 1927 - 1932 and an early promoter of stock car racing in the United States.-Background:...
), re-locating the oil pump into the sump, and he was an early advocate of shock absorbers.
From the proceeds of his STD share sale, Coatalen bought control of the French branch of Lockheed hydraulics and from the income from this bought a yacht and a villa on the Isle of Capri
Capri
Capri is an Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, in the Campania region of Southern Italy...
.
During World War II he lived in France although he had earlier taken out British citizenship and continued living there until his death.
Louis Coatalen married four times, in 1902 to Annie Ellen Davis (divorced 1906), in 1910 to Olive Bath (daughter of a Sunbeam director), in 1923 to Iris van Raalte nee Graham and in 1934 to Amy Bridson.