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International
If you could pick any location to film the show and go for a drive,
where would it be?
Obviously the Moon would be out of this world! But if we have to be a little more realistic I think California would be a great location and the Pacific Coast Highway is a fantastic road for a good long test drive.
Have you and Mike ever fallen out over a project?
As far as I can remember it has never come to blows but we have had the odd ‘word’ on occasion, this series Mike particularly hated the new wheel colour I chose for our Porsche 944, but now, even though he won’t admit it deep down he knows I am right (always!)
If you had no budget, what would be the craziest thing you'd do to a car?
If you mean zero budget then you can always chop a car about a bit to radically change its appearance like removing its roof (like the Furry Ugg) and making it into a speedster style vehicle or chopping out its centre section to make a shorty vehicle, like the VW Transhorter I made some time ago. If you mean unlimited budget then I have a long list of projects in mind; Turn a car into a desert island, a Cinderella carriage with merry-go-round horses, a self lighting spinning glitter-ball, an amphibious car, a flying car, the list grows daily, perhaps I should save them for a new show?
Have you ever accidentally done anything that made a car worse than when you found it, or beyond repair?
I guess that rather depends on who you talk to but, in my opinion anyway, I usually find some way of recuing any mistakes but I once tried to make a car transporter out of a council style bus called an Omni, I cut the back off and started to extend the body and used it a few times while still modifying it, someone offered me £1K for it as it was but I held out for more and then the engine developed a fatal oil leak and as the body was going to cost too much to finish, it ended up in the scrap yard, what a numpty! Hopefully one day I will learn from my mistakes.
What's your number one piece of advice for someone buying a used car?
Make sure you know what you are looking at and looking for, either take a friend who knows or read up about the car and its usual problems, better still look at loads for comparison to help you settle on the right one to buy and therefore never, ever buy a car in a panic, you are bound to overlook something and pay too much!
If you had to pick 3 musicians to listen to while driving, who would they be?
That is very tricky, the music I want to listen to depends on my mood and what I am doing and it seems to be pretty eclectic, everything from Van Halen to Trad Jazz, Tenacious D to Christina Aguilera, Trance to Classical. If I have to chose just three for driving to I guess it would be Prodigy, Art of Noise and ZZ Top.
What do you think has been the best car gadget invention?
The ‘Horn Motar’ I haven’t tried to get it to work yet but in theory you can beep the moron holding up traffic six cars ahead of you without annoying anyone else in between! Genius?
What would you be doing if you had never got into the car trade?
Product Design (I have a degree in it), Special Effects (getting paid to have fun, I worked on Father Ted a long time ago, satisfying work and a great laugh), Architecture (if only I could draw, I have a thing about Buckminster-Fullers’ Geodesic domes!)
If someone gave you the chance to name a new car, what would you call it?
A habit I caught from the great Andy Saunders, I name all of the cars I build. Soon, once I finally get the production version of my sofa car finished, I will have named a new car, the Casual Lofa!
What's the silliest thing you've ever heard of someone wanting to do to a car?
Difficult for me to comment on this considering what I have got up to but there is a guy in America who attached the front seats and controls of his car on top of some poles welded to the front of his car so he could drive along six feet above his bonnet, when he stops quickly the car (and his seat) endo’s quite violently momentarily rushing him and his passengers to the tarmac, he called it the redneck rollercoaster, even by my standards that is pretty silly!
Which is harder, negotiating a bargain when you're buying or selling? What makes a good haggler?
It is definitely harder to negotiate when you are selling, you never ‘need’ to buy something but often if you are selling something it is for a reason and so you can’t just ‘walk away’. Good haggling is down to nonchalance and charm, if you truly don’t care about the outcome of the deal and can move on to the next without an ounce of regret while making the other party feel great about the situation you will always do well.
LINKS
Obviously the Moon would be out of this world! But if we have to be a little more realistic I think California would be a great location and the Pacific Coast Highway is a fantastic road for a good long test drive.
Have you and Mike ever fallen out over a project?
As far as I can remember it has never come to blows but we have had the odd ‘word’ on occasion, this series Mike particularly hated the new wheel colour I chose for our Porsche 944, but now, even though he won’t admit it deep down he knows I am right (always!)
If you had no budget, what would be the craziest thing you'd do to a car?
If you mean zero budget then you can always chop a car about a bit to radically change its appearance like removing its roof (like the Furry Ugg) and making it into a speedster style vehicle or chopping out its centre section to make a shorty vehicle, like the VW Transhorter I made some time ago. If you mean unlimited budget then I have a long list of projects in mind; Turn a car into a desert island, a Cinderella carriage with merry-go-round horses, a self lighting spinning glitter-ball, an amphibious car, a flying car, the list grows daily, perhaps I should save them for a new show?
Have you ever accidentally done anything that made a car worse than when you found it, or beyond repair?
I guess that rather depends on who you talk to but, in my opinion anyway, I usually find some way of recuing any mistakes but I once tried to make a car transporter out of a council style bus called an Omni, I cut the back off and started to extend the body and used it a few times while still modifying it, someone offered me £1K for it as it was but I held out for more and then the engine developed a fatal oil leak and as the body was going to cost too much to finish, it ended up in the scrap yard, what a numpty! Hopefully one day I will learn from my mistakes.
What's your number one piece of advice for someone buying a used car?
Make sure you know what you are looking at and looking for, either take a friend who knows or read up about the car and its usual problems, better still look at loads for comparison to help you settle on the right one to buy and therefore never, ever buy a car in a panic, you are bound to overlook something and pay too much!
If you had to pick 3 musicians to listen to while driving, who would they be?
That is very tricky, the music I want to listen to depends on my mood and what I am doing and it seems to be pretty eclectic, everything from Van Halen to Trad Jazz, Tenacious D to Christina Aguilera, Trance to Classical. If I have to chose just three for driving to I guess it would be Prodigy, Art of Noise and ZZ Top.
What do you think has been the best car gadget invention?
The ‘Horn Motar’ I haven’t tried to get it to work yet but in theory you can beep the moron holding up traffic six cars ahead of you without annoying anyone else in between! Genius?
What would you be doing if you had never got into the car trade?
Product Design (I have a degree in it), Special Effects (getting paid to have fun, I worked on Father Ted a long time ago, satisfying work and a great laugh), Architecture (if only I could draw, I have a thing about Buckminster-Fullers’ Geodesic domes!)
If someone gave you the chance to name a new car, what would you call it?
A habit I caught from the great Andy Saunders, I name all of the cars I build. Soon, once I finally get the production version of my sofa car finished, I will have named a new car, the Casual Lofa!
What's the silliest thing you've ever heard of someone wanting to do to a car?
Difficult for me to comment on this considering what I have got up to but there is a guy in America who attached the front seats and controls of his car on top of some poles welded to the front of his car so he could drive along six feet above his bonnet, when he stops quickly the car (and his seat) endo’s quite violently momentarily rushing him and his passengers to the tarmac, he called it the redneck rollercoaster, even by my standards that is pretty silly!
Which is harder, negotiating a bargain when you're buying or selling? What makes a good haggler?
It is definitely harder to negotiate when you are selling, you never ‘need’ to buy something but often if you are selling something it is for a reason and so you can’t just ‘walk away’. Good haggling is down to nonchalance and charm, if you truly don’t care about the outcome of the deal and can move on to the next without an ounce of regret while making the other party feel great about the situation you will always do well.
LINKS
- Read Mike Brewer's Q&A
- See Mike's top manufacturers for used cars
- If you're thinking of getting into vintage cars or car restoration, be sure to watch Mike and Edd's tips for buying a used car
- Want more Wheeler Dealers? Watch Edd's online-only video tour of the garage
- Ever
wondered what Mike Brewer's top classic cars are? Wonder no more
