William Lyons
Encyclopedia
Sir William Lyons known as "Mr. Jaguar", was with fellow motorcycle
enthusiast William Walmsley
, the co-founder in 1922 of the Swallow Sidecar Company
, which became Jaguar Cars Limited after the Second World War.
, son of Irish immigrant William Lyons, who owned a musical instrument shop, and his wife Minnie Barcroft, the daughter of a mill owner. After attending Arnold School
, Lyons obtained an engineering apprentice
ship at Crossley Motors
in Manchester
, where he also studied at the technical school. He left Crossley in 1919 to work as a salesman at the Sunbeam dealers Brown and Mallalieu in Blackpool. In 1921 he met William Walmsley who was converting army-surplus motorcycles for civilian use and making sidecars. Lyons admired the sidecars and bought one. Lyons and Walmsley obtained from their fathers a substantial £500 bank guarantee to go into business. Their plans were delayed as Lyons was under the legal age, but on his 21st birthday he formed a partnership with Walmsley. It was called Swallow Sidecars and had a staff of "three men and a boy". The company manufactured stylish sidecars, but after 1927 made increasing numbers of low cost coach-built cars, especially the Austin Seven Swallow which the Blackpool factory produced at the rate of 12 per week. Following several moves to larger premises in Blackpool, in 1928 Lyons moved the company (and his family) to Coventry
. Production increased to 50 cars each week. In 1931 they began selling the SS1
, and in 1933 the company name was changed to SS Cars Ltd
. The following year, William Walmsley left the company. The first "Jaguar" model was offered in 1935, and after WW2
Lyons changed the company name to Jaguar
to avoid the unfortunate connotations with the Nazi "SS
".
During the War vehicle production was switched to aircraft manufacture and repair, but engineering development did continue. Some secretive military projects were undertaken but most importantly for the future of the company, Lyons and his engineering team worked on a new engine which was to power his vision of a mass produced sporting saloon car. The XK engine was completed in 1948 and lauched in a (supposedly) one-off concept sports car to help draw attention to it. This succeeded far better than was envisaged and both became an overnight sensation, globally. The XK engine went on to power all Jaguars until its last appearance in 1983. The sports car, XK120
, went into full production too and led to a string of attention-grabbing (and profitable) sports cars which led to international sporting success (most notably at Le Mans) and helped put the name of Jaguar Cars and Coventry on the world map. But Lyons main focus was on the saloon car which he continued to develop until his last and proudest achievement, the XJ6 of 1968.
During his time as managing director of Jaguar, Lyons could be best described as 'autocratic' and kept a tight rein on the company. It is said that board meetings were rare until the 1960s. He was responsible for the styling of every new model introduced (although the C-type, D-type, E-type and XJ-S were designed by Malcolm Sayer). This was remarkable, as Sir William was not a trained draughtsman, and designed primarily using full scale 3-D mockups, which were continually adjusted by craftsmen working under his instructions. Undoubtedly one of his other great skills was to pick the highly accomplished team that was to remain loyal to him for so long. William Heynes, Claude Bailey, Walter Hassan, Harry Mundy, Harry Weslake and many others all contributed to create a strong engineering team.
In 1956 Lyons was knighted for his services to British industry and for the fine export performance of the company. In 1966, faced with a strengthening global industry, he merged Jaguar with the British Motor Corporation
(BMC) to form British Motor Holdings
, which was later absorbed into British Leyland. Unfortunately the final years of Lyons tenure before he retired as managing director near the end of 1967, while remaining on as chairman, were a constant struggle against impossible odds to retain the identity and independence of his company, not least its engineering department. He retired completely in 1972, to play golf and keep a prize-winning Suffolk sheep flock and Jersey cattle on his farm at Wappenbury Hall. His health declined fairly rapidly in retirement but happily he did live long enough to witness a remergence of sorts of his company under John Egan.
William Lyons married Greta Brown in 1924. They had three children; Patricia (b. 1927), John Michael (b. 1930, d. 1955), and Mary (b. 1937). Patricia married Leeds Jaguar-distributor and rally driver Ian Appleyard, and was his co-driver in many international rallies from 1951 to 53, mostly in an XK120
registered NUB 120, including the International Alpine Rally, which they won three times. There was no issue. She remarried in 1962 and has two children by her second husband Norbert Quinn; Michael Quinn, and Jane Quinn. John Michael served briefly in REME, and then joined Jaguar as an apprentice but was killed in a road accident in France driving to the 1955 Le Mans 24-hours race. Mary married Guy Rimell (son of successful racehorse trainer Fred Rimell) and has three children; Katie, Tom and Mark.
Sir William Lyons died on 8 February 1985 at Wappenbury Hall, Leamington Spa
, his home in Warwickshire
. His wife Greta died the following year.
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
enthusiast William Walmsley
William Walmsley
William Walmsley was with William Lyons a co-founder of the Swallow Sidecar Company, which later became the Jaguar car company.-Biography:...
, the co-founder in 1922 of the Swallow Sidecar Company
Swallow Sidecar Company
The Swallow Sidecar Company was founded on 4 September 1922 by two friends, William Walmsley and William Lyons . Both families lived in the same street in Blackpool, England. Walmsley had previously been making sidecars and bolting them onto reconditioned motorcycles...
, which became Jaguar Cars Limited after the Second World War.
Biography
Lyons was born in BlackpoolBlackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
, son of Irish immigrant William Lyons, who owned a musical instrument shop, and his wife Minnie Barcroft, the daughter of a mill owner. After attending Arnold School
Arnold School
Arnold School is an independent school located in Blackpool, Lancashire, England on the Fylde coast. It is in the United Church Schools Trust group of schools and is a member of HMC.-History:Arnold School was founded by Frank Truswell Pennington on 4 May 1896...
, Lyons obtained an engineering apprentice
Engineering apprentice
An engineering apprenticeship is an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering or electrical engineering. A typical example is the apprenticeships formerly available at the BTH and EEC at Rugby in England...
ship at Crossley Motors
Crossley Motors
Crossley Motors was a British motor vehicle manufacturer based in Manchester, England. They produced approximately 19,000 high quality cars from 1904 until 1938, 5,500 buses from 1926 until 1958 and 21,000 goods and military vehicles from 1914 to 1945.Crossley Brothers, originally...
in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, where he also studied at the technical school. He left Crossley in 1919 to work as a salesman at the Sunbeam dealers Brown and Mallalieu in Blackpool. In 1921 he met William Walmsley who was converting army-surplus motorcycles for civilian use and making sidecars. Lyons admired the sidecars and bought one. Lyons and Walmsley obtained from their fathers a substantial £500 bank guarantee to go into business. Their plans were delayed as Lyons was under the legal age, but on his 21st birthday he formed a partnership with Walmsley. It was called Swallow Sidecars and had a staff of "three men and a boy". The company manufactured stylish sidecars, but after 1927 made increasing numbers of low cost coach-built cars, especially the Austin Seven Swallow which the Blackpool factory produced at the rate of 12 per week. Following several moves to larger premises in Blackpool, in 1928 Lyons moved the company (and his family) to Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
. Production increased to 50 cars each week. In 1931 they began selling the SS1
SS 1
The SS1 was a British sports car first built by the Swallow Sidecar Company in Coventry, England. It was first presented at the 1931 London Motor Show and was produced between 1932 and 1936...
, and in 1933 the company name was changed to SS Cars Ltd
SS Cars Ltd
SS Cars Ltd was a British car maker. It grew out of the Swallow Sidecar Company and was first registered under the new name in 1934. Some conjecture to the origins of the SS name exist, It was John Black who when asked the meaning of SS said it has always stood for Standard Swallow...
. The following year, William Walmsley left the company. The first "Jaguar" model was offered in 1935, and after WW2
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Lyons changed the company name to Jaguar
Jaguar
The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...
to avoid the unfortunate connotations with the Nazi "SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
".
During the War vehicle production was switched to aircraft manufacture and repair, but engineering development did continue. Some secretive military projects were undertaken but most importantly for the future of the company, Lyons and his engineering team worked on a new engine which was to power his vision of a mass produced sporting saloon car. The XK engine was completed in 1948 and lauched in a (supposedly) one-off concept sports car to help draw attention to it. This succeeded far better than was envisaged and both became an overnight sensation, globally. The XK engine went on to power all Jaguars until its last appearance in 1983. The sports car, XK120
Jaguar XK120
The Jaguar XK120 is a sports car which was manufactured by Jaguar between 1948 and 1954. It was Jaguar's first sports car since the SS 100, which ceased production in 1940.-History:...
, went into full production too and led to a string of attention-grabbing (and profitable) sports cars which led to international sporting success (most notably at Le Mans) and helped put the name of Jaguar Cars and Coventry on the world map. But Lyons main focus was on the saloon car which he continued to develop until his last and proudest achievement, the XJ6 of 1968.
During his time as managing director of Jaguar, Lyons could be best described as 'autocratic' and kept a tight rein on the company. It is said that board meetings were rare until the 1960s. He was responsible for the styling of every new model introduced (although the C-type, D-type, E-type and XJ-S were designed by Malcolm Sayer). This was remarkable, as Sir William was not a trained draughtsman, and designed primarily using full scale 3-D mockups, which were continually adjusted by craftsmen working under his instructions. Undoubtedly one of his other great skills was to pick the highly accomplished team that was to remain loyal to him for so long. William Heynes, Claude Bailey, Walter Hassan, Harry Mundy, Harry Weslake and many others all contributed to create a strong engineering team.
In 1956 Lyons was knighted for his services to British industry and for the fine export performance of the company. In 1966, faced with a strengthening global industry, he merged Jaguar with the British Motor Corporation
British Motor Corporation
The British Motor Corporation, or commonly known as BMC was a vehicle manufacturer from United Kingdom, formed by the merger of the Austin Motor Company and the Nuffield Organisation in 1952...
(BMC) to form British Motor Holdings
British Motor Holdings
British Motor Holdings Limited was a British motor company known until 14 December 1966 as British Motor Corporation Limited .-History:...
, which was later absorbed into British Leyland. Unfortunately the final years of Lyons tenure before he retired as managing director near the end of 1967, while remaining on as chairman, were a constant struggle against impossible odds to retain the identity and independence of his company, not least its engineering department. He retired completely in 1972, to play golf and keep a prize-winning Suffolk sheep flock and Jersey cattle on his farm at Wappenbury Hall. His health declined fairly rapidly in retirement but happily he did live long enough to witness a remergence of sorts of his company under John Egan.
William Lyons married Greta Brown in 1924. They had three children; Patricia (b. 1927), John Michael (b. 1930, d. 1955), and Mary (b. 1937). Patricia married Leeds Jaguar-distributor and rally driver Ian Appleyard, and was his co-driver in many international rallies from 1951 to 53, mostly in an XK120
Jaguar XK120
The Jaguar XK120 is a sports car which was manufactured by Jaguar between 1948 and 1954. It was Jaguar's first sports car since the SS 100, which ceased production in 1940.-History:...
registered NUB 120, including the International Alpine Rally, which they won three times. There was no issue. She remarried in 1962 and has two children by her second husband Norbert Quinn; Michael Quinn, and Jane Quinn. John Michael served briefly in REME, and then joined Jaguar as an apprentice but was killed in a road accident in France driving to the 1955 Le Mans 24-hours race. Mary married Guy Rimell (son of successful racehorse trainer Fred Rimell) and has three children; Katie, Tom and Mark.
Sir William Lyons died on 8 February 1985 at Wappenbury Hall, Leamington Spa
Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...
, his home in Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
. His wife Greta died the following year.