Wheels of fortune
|
Name: Bob Morton, serial entrepreneur
Profile: Has backed many successes in his time and currently chairs a number of firms, including facilities management group MacLellan and e-commerce solutions provider Systems Union
Current car: Mini One Convertible (in bright yellow!)
Approx price: £15,000
Performance: 0-62mph in 11.8 secs
Max speed: 105mph
‘The convertible Mini I drive is about a year-and-a-half old. I bought a bright yellow one – I don’t like to stand out!
I live on Jersey so it’s a great car to have here because it’s a sunny place and I can put the hood down. There’s no point having a high-powered car here, since the island is only about five by nine miles. There’s no gridlock and no traffic jams, though. And the speed limit is 40 mph, so you can’t go very fast anyway.
It’s a car that’s easy to park and practical because of Jersey’s narrow roads, but if I lived elsewhere, I’d have a Mercedes S500L and it would be chauffer driven. That way I could use it as a mobile office. On Jersey you don’t spend much time in the car but if I did, I’d want to be able to work as I went.’
|
Name: Rosemary Conley, founder, Rosemary Conley Diet & Fitness Clubs
Profile: Set up in 1993 to support people following her diet and fitness programmes, the franchised business now runs in excess of 2,000 weekly classes in the UK
for more than 80,000 members.
Current car: Turbo R Bentley (in burgundy)
Approx price: £140,000
Performance: 0-62mph in 6 secs
Max speed: 150mph
‘I’ve had my car eight years and I love it! I’ve driven a Bentley since 1993 and this is the third I’ve owned – before that I had two blue ones. When we first started out with Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Cubs my husband and I didn’t draw a salary, but we were able to buy ourselves a nice car. I already had the number plate – ROS1E – so I just needed the car to go with it.
Before that, I owned a Jaguar XJF, but as I got busier I had to get a driver and needed the extra space. That’s why I went for a Bentley with a long wheel base third time around. However, it is soon to be auctioned off in a raffle for Steps, providers of conductive education for children with cerebral palsy (www.step-out.org). It’s for a good cause, but I’ll be sad to see the car go.
Image is quite important when it comes to the car you drive – you want to show you’re successful, but build up your business first. I’ve seen people go down the expensive car route too early and suffer for it.
I think I’ll go for something like a Mercedes or a Lexus next, second-hand though – nothing too pricey!’
| Previous page | Next page |