I think you will find that the Vortz Mini sold better than his Cooper brand Mini, Nick Vortz wanted to bring back the Cooper Mini as a brand because it was missing from Rovers Mini stable and he felt it should still be there as the Mini was still in production, so he forced it back, a bit like being passionate about steam trains, just wanting to see them back on line.It was no loss to him when Rover took it back, as far as he was concerned he had done his job, now he could go back with Vortz. You mistake Nick Vortz for a business man, he is not, he has said he hates business men with a passion, you also mistook his prices as overpriced, they were not, jobs took as long as they took, and that was the price, you did not have to buy it that was your choice. He worked for himself, not for you, he loved his work and financially barely survived. You can not judge this man by any other in business because he was the only one to live by this self satisfaction before profit rules.
If you have never met him, you will never understand what he is like. It is rumoured, and it comes from a creditable source, that at the time of conflict with the legal team it was suggested a sum of five million pounds could be applied for to obtain a quick conclusion to the brand dispute, he turned that suggestion down, and no, he did not suggest another figure. That is a rumour, but I know that sum of money would mean nothing to him even though he had very little. 12G940
12G940 wrote: Nick Vortz wanted to bring back the Cooper Mini as a brand because it was missing from Rovers Mini stable and he felt it should still be there as the Mini was still in production, so he forced it back
Can't disagree with that, and if anything his car was exactly the way the asthmatic shoestring Rover effort should have looked. I admire his passion , his skills and his cars, that's without question but when you've been waiting for a set of Rosepetal wheels for six months and given up hope your understanding of his lack of business commitment or commercial savy (admirable though that may seem) does start to wear quite thin. His stuff's great though, those airboxes for example are a superb thing.
I thought you had brocade pants Pete, now it looks like you've been keeping these Speedwell pants secret all these years, I hope they are the correct shade of Marigold or are those just the gloves you use
Yep Mark, waiting for rose petals is typical, I have to agree with you on that, he was a bit blind to others when it came to timescale, but there was nothing malice, he would get so entrenched in the work and testing in particular he was never satisfied, it would go on for months, I remember going in there and as many as perhaps 20 or so camshaft profiles were hanging off of strings from the back of his bench that he had developed and rejected, hundreds of pounds down the drain, Surrounded with paper drawings and hand written calculations, nothing at that point interested him other than a cam profile for just one of his engine configurations, he was just like a mad professor that happened to look like some kind of rocker. Haven't seen him in years, but I bet he hasn't changed one jot.
