Lovely car, difficult name: Secqueville-Hoyau

Those who were on Amelia Island earlier this year will probably have noticed this nice sportive car with its Rolls-Royce-like radiator. It is a French Secqueville-Hoyau, or better: SH. This SH was registered in England in 1922. It seems that this make was serious in its attempt to conquer the European markets. They had at least an agent in The Netherlands and a SH survives in Portugal where it may have been sold originally.

In England it was advertised as “the elite of light cars”. Indeed it was a nice car and well built. It featured a four cylinder engine of 1.2 litre which had a double lubrication system: a pump pumped the oil to the bearings of the crankshaft and to the top ends of connecting rods. The remaining oil was splashed onto the camshaft. The petrol was pumped to the engine by means of a Weymann vacuum feed system. The SH was really somewhat ahead compared to most of its competitors: four speeds, a single disc clutch and hydraulic shock absorbers.

The company, founded by Alfred Secqueville and Gaston Hoyau, had been building airplane components and engines but, like e.g. Voisin, had been forced to find new markets after the Great War had ended. Their first model was praised by the press and could be bought with several attractive bodies. The make built itself a good reputation… but also a reputation of being expensive. SH stopped production in 1924 after some 600 cars had been built (among them some six cylinder models). At least four survived.

(Text Fons Alkemade, photos PreWarCar)