The Wisdom of Nick Sutton

[jerzybondov]

Thought I'd just start a little thread here with the nuggets of wisdom that Nick imparted at the DOI meet...

In his opinion, the decision to move to 80 cars a day rather than stay at 40 cars a day in late '81 was the killer blow to keeping the company alive. If they'd stayed at 40 cars a day the company might still be around now. (I was drunk when he said this in his speech, so anyone who feels I've interpreted this incorrectly should correct me!)

The twin-turbo Legend cars were probably only 6 months away from production. Had they made it to production, most D's would have become the turbo variety and the N/A one would have been scaled right back.

The 4 seat sedan was about 2 years away from production.

The 4.4 V8 in the Porsche 928 was never under consideration for use in the D, contrary to some reports. Porsche would never have outsourced engines in any case. It was a straight choice between the PRV and an Italian unit. The PRV was very attractive due to it's federalisation and the short amount of time before going into production.

The little bit of plastic that sticks out from the inner window trim (on the outside) is a guide for the glass (although I don't quite understand how it's supposed to work).

People in the company knew the car they'd made wasn't as competitive as they'd wanted it to be - it had ended up with less power and more weight than originally envisaged. Nick didn't know why the car was designed as RR and not FR - he thought perhaps styling - although the twin engine D in the states shows you can fit an engine in the front.

And there never were any gold taps in Warren House.

[A Van]

Very, very interesting stuff Jez.

Maybe its time we all gathered some more questions and see if Nick would be up for another chat session?

Al

[bozzzydmc]

Thats a good idea Al

A set a pre written questions would be good so that Nick could answer these in a more 'structured' order ?

Yes top talk... most interesting stuff !

[jerzybondov]

Some more wisdom I forgot about...

There were originally going to be 28 RHD Wooler-Hodec cars. As well as being test beds for the viability of converting to RHD and setting up a production line, these 28 cars were intended to be company cars for the management of the company. They had lease cars which were going to be replaced by these Wooler-Hodec cars. As we know, they never got as far as 28...

The RHD UK market was never going to be a huge one for DMC in any case - the next major step for the company would have been to try and shift LHD Euro versions had the company survived.

[A Van]

The Euro market makes sense for LHD.

I see an ECA which was scanned in by James Espey which mentioned a trial for the Belgian market.

[RobvdVeer]

I see an ECA which was scanned in by James Espey which mentioned a trial for the Belgian market.

Belgian market? With a "Don't touch" sticker on the car the owner will never be able to use it!