 His parents ran a farm and it was being around, then helping repair the farm machinery sparked his interest in mechanics.Instead of following his parents into farming, he joined Humber as an apprentice at the age of 15 which was part of the Rootes Group organisation.He became development engineer, one of a select few, known as 'The Set 'em Alight Boys' due to Rootes Chief Test engineer Don Tarbun's expression 'For **** sake, set 'em alight', often exclaimed by him when facing difficulties.