Front-wheel-drive means the front wheels do the work of both steering and moving the car. It’s a common layout, and it can make the car handle a bit differently than cars where the rear wheels drive.
The clutch is the pedal/part you use to connect and disconnect the engine from the gearbox in a manual car. They’re saying the clutch was worn out, so it wasn’t working properly anymore.
They’re talking about Alfa Romeo, the Italian car brand they owned multiple times. The stories focus on the car’s quirks—especially rust and problems with starting—so it wasn’t just a normal “buy and forget” car.
Car
Alfa Romeo Sud
They say their second car was an Alfa Romeo Sud. They describe it as having rust (the “brown”) and also some annoying starting problems, which is why they later moved on to newer cars.
Car
Vauxhall Chevette
The Vauxhall Chevette was a fairly ordinary, affordable British car. Here it’s mentioned as the kind of car someone might have when they’re working and trying to keep costs down.
Car
Austin Marina
The Austin Marina was a common, practical British car from that era. Here it’s mentioned as the “next” car in the speaker’s timeline.
A company car is a car your employer gives you to use. The speaker is saying it made car costs easier because they didn’t have to finance a car themselves.
“HP” here means hire purchase—basically buying a car by paying it off in installments. The speaker says the company car meant they didn’t have to do that.
A subsidized mortgage is a home loan with help that makes the cost lower than normal. The speaker is saying their rate was much lower, so they could afford a bigger house.
Three-phase is a way of supplying electricity using three streams of power. For EVs, it can let the charger deliver more power, so charging can be faster.
EV charging speed isn’t only about the wall box—it also depends on what the car can accept. Some cars can’t take the highest power, so they won’t charge as fast even with a stronger charger.
The Land Rover Defender is a tough SUV designed for rough use. In this story, it’s treated like a practical vehicle for hauling and getting things done.
The Jaguar E-Type is a legendary classic sports car. People love it for its design and driving feel, and the conversation here is about a specific one owned for a long time.
A barn find is a car that’s been sitting unused for a long time, usually in storage, and then gets discovered. People often restore it after finding it.
“British touring cars” is a UK racing series where cars that are based on normal road cars race each other on tracks. The racing is usually very close and competitive.
The Toyota Corolla is a small car made for everyday driving. It’s front-wheel drive, which means the engine sends power to the front wheels to help with traction and simple handling. People often talk about it because it’s meant to be dependable and practical.
“Donuts” means spinning the car in a circle so the tires slide and the car rotates around. It’s usually something you do in a safe, controlled place, not on public streets.
A “wheelie” is when the front of the car lifts up so it’s basically riding on the rear wheels. It usually happens when you accelerate very hard, and it can be dangerous if you do it in the wrong place.
Here, “spins” means making the car rotate on purpose, usually by getting the tires to lose grip. It’s the kind of stunt you’d only do where it’s safe and legal.
Adrian Flux is an insurance company/broker in the UK. They sponsor the show and advertise that they can help with insurance for vehicles and homes.
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It's a front-wheel-drive car, kind of normal it was, and he made an absolute god himself.
Oh my god. That's not fair. That's not fair. He will agree. Game in. Game in.
Will do. He'll agree. I'm right. Drove all the way through Switzerland, everywhere else,
and got to hear us. Graham Budapest did that and got arrested. Did you?
Hello and welcome to Fueling Around. I'm Vicki Butler Henderson.
And I'm Dave Vitti, bringing you the very best in motor-tainment every single week.
Fueling Around is powered by Adrien Flux as the UK's largest specialist insurance broker.
Adrien Flux will tailor a quote to your exact needs, helping save you money on your car,
your bike, or even your home insurance. Now, don't forget to press subscribe if you're watching us
on YouTube and to press the follow button if you're listening on Spotify or Apple or wherever
you get your podcasts from. So, on to today's guest. And he is one of the UK's best-known
entrepreneurs and businessmen. He's a retail magnet. He was a former chairman of Millwall FC
and became a household name when he joined Dragonstone in 2005, and he has continued to be
on our screen since then, not least with me a few times on Fifth Gear. It is Mr Theo Pafitas.
Hello Theo. Hello. Welcome. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Thank you for joining us. Firstly,
I can't believe that it's more than 20 years since we first saw you on Dragonstone. That,
to me, is terrifying. It was a long time ago. Long time ago. But you'd obviously done some TV
before that, but at the time, had you not done a little bit? No. Now, I did one program. This is
how Dragonstone found me. I'm going to grab my tea, which I made myself for the viewers here,
because you have to do everything yourself here already. It's a self-manned operation.
It is, I can tell. This is a high-budget production. No, no. The only program I'd
ever done TV beforehand was a thing when I was at Millwall Hall, Back to the Floor,
where they take an individual that's at the top of the food chain and then they
sort of put them down to the bottom of the food chain and say, can you cope? Right. I was an
unmitigated disaster. So I thought they thought, this is an idiot. This is the man for us.
This is a fall we can put on air. Absolutely. We'll stick him in that seat. But I guess at the
time, did you have any idea about the extent to which that was going to push you into the
public eye? Because it was life-changing, was it not? Yeah, absolutely. Public eye was an
interesting one because I was already chairman of Millwall Football Club. I've done it about eight
years. So anybody in the football fraternity knew who I was because I did quite a bit of
sort of news channel. Normally, explaining why we were much maligned, our fans were much maligned
by the media. Which is a full-time job. It was a full-time job. So it was really very different
because when I was chairman of Millwall, people would acknowledge you from the other side of the
street, but normally with a hand signal. Dragon's Den was very... Very expressive, aren't they?
Exactly. Dragon's Den was very different because once I'd done a series of Dragon's Den,
then people acknowledged you in a much warmer, more friendly way. So that was very different
type of way. What was your relationship like with the Dragon's Den crew? Did you know many
beforehand? No, I didn't know any of them beforehand. I think I might have met... No, I did. I met
Jonesy Tallfeller once when he came to try and sell me something at my offices. But that was it.
It was just a one-in-one-out. And it was tense because, don't forget, that was the beginning.
The program had no catchphrase, the I'm Out bit. It was made up as we went along. Nobody really
knew how it was going to work out. They did a pilot, which I wasn't in. Then they commissioned it
and I was in that commission. They swapped me over for somebody else. I can't remember now.
Simon Woodruff. Sorry to play Simon Woodruff. And it was... Getting to know everybody, it was
massively competitive. The e-guys were embarrassing, to be honest with you. That first series. And
the set was rubbish. And the producers and directors didn't like the set. So they sent
us all home. So we didn't know if it was going to be done. Then they got us back and they sorted
out the set. And we finished the series. And then, unfortunately, one of the Dragons, a lady
called Rachel Elnore, we still don't know a business called Red Letter Days, had an almighty
car. And the company went into administration. And there was a world in action special on it.
On the basis of the beginning of the show, they showed these titans of British business. She was
on a motorbike, powerful lady doing all this stuff. We're all in our show, we're doing cars,
boats, planes. And then business has gone bust. So they decided to can it. They weren't going to
broadcast it. Good grief. So you might never have seen it. Absolutely. What might not have been?
Not been. If it wasn't for me and the tall fella, but not so much in because he just went,
AWOL on me, what you're in the process of the deal. I won't go there now, but you know exactly
where you were, Janzy. We'll have to get him on now. He's the right to reply.
Yeah, you do. You take him back on. Stick the microphone up there. He went AWOL. And I've got
the WhatsApps to prove it if he denies it. It was Texas, the WhatsApps in those days.
We actually bought the business from the administrator and then made good
all the vouchers that hadn't been that were outstanding, which then the BBC felt, oh, right.
There's a story here. We can now show the show. And then she was replaced the following season
by the brilliant Deborah Meaden. And then it went from strength to strength.
Is there a downside from a business perspective to being well known? Does it sometimes affect
the price of things? No, I think people might put an extra nought on it because they think they see
you coming. No, only when you're trying to buy a car. Right. Only when you're trying to buy a car.
Just a car. Yeah. No other industry. Card dealers. Card dealers. The only ones that are so cocky.
Savvy? Yeah, cocky. So the minute they do that, you say, right, okay, so you cut the price by half
and you do that Donald Trump bit, you know. So, you know, he goes where she goes, you know, that's
100 grand and you go, oh, I'll give you 50. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, you're going to settle on
something like 70. Yeah. But you've got to start low to get there. Yeah. But it just kills a bit
of time. It's like toying with them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. In the beginning, you first set up a business
in 1982 and you were aged just 23. And people now must love your pearls of wisdom and ask lots
of you. I know when I started in TV, Jeremy Clarkson said to me, Vicki, whatever you do,
don't go and marry a millionaire. Become one yourself. That was his sort of advice to me.
I'm still chasing that. Well, that was it. He said that and he said, talk when the red light
starts. He said, don't waste your time doing anything else, getting prepared. She said,
just wait till the red light goes and then off you go. They were two pearls of wisdom.
But what's the best piece of advice that you have ever received and from whom?
Oh, gosh. I think there's lots of bits of advice, even when you're really as old as I am.
I'm not quite as old as Clarkson, I think. He's very old and got quite poorly recently,
isn't he? Bless him. Yeah, lots of advice given to you. And some is really good.
And it's how you embrace that advice and how it relates to you. So things like,
don't bet the farm. Brilliant piece of advice. Don't gall in.
Cash is king is another classic. And then you try to understand what that really means.
And then when you go into business, you really understand what it means.
And it's true, yeah. It's very true. So lack of profit is like,
unfortunately, it's a terrible illness of cancer, but it's like cancer. It just kills you
slowly lack of profit. But you can survive a long time with a lack of profit. If you haven't got the
cash to pay the bills at the end of the month, the wages, the rent, it's a heart attack. You're
dead. You've got no chance of getting it together again. So really the biggest mistake entrepreneurs
make at the beginning is underestimating how much free cash they're going to need.
And if everything goes well, of course, there are lots of plans are built around everything
going well. It doesn't happen. It happens. And you need to be ready for that when it happens.
So you need that extra cash. So you always need more than you thought you need. And some walking
the street money. Yeah. So that really was I think some of the best advice that I've had.
And I've shared with many, many people since. And it's helping us dead.
When it comes to your driving test, did you manage to pass that first time or did you make
some mistakes? Oh, come on. What do you expect? I expect you to pass with flying colors on the
day of your 17th birthday. You're a girl on a half, aren't you? Well, let me just say,
it took me three goes. Okay. All right. Yeah, I was absolute rubbish. I was nervous wreck.
Oh, my mouth was dry. I was shaking like a leaf. All right. I was so
felt so awful afterwards. I just went in the room and closed the door and turn the lights out.
I couldn't believe I was so rubbish. And the poor instructor I'm surprised he took that long to
sort of fail me the examiner. Don't blame him. You know, it's so it did take me
three goes to pass my test. Mrs. P on the other hand, just sell the pregnant eight months pregnant.
Did she respect eight months pregnant? Showed me the way.
How embarrassing was that? So when you when you've heard those immortal words you've passed
eventually on the third time. How did that feel in terms of the independence and the
freedom that you're granted, you know, with your license, but not to rely on your wife to drive
you around? Absolutely. Yes, that bit. We want to talk about that. It was great because it's
fun to have that feeling that you can go anywhere. And I'm telling you, the second week after I
passed my test, I said to come on, let's go to Paris. She's like eight months pregnant or nine
months on the verge. She said, what? I said, we'll drive to Paris. And we already had one kid.
I said, we put the car seat in the back, got a car seat. I said, we'll drive to Paris. I can't
drive to Paris. I said, I'm driving. I'm driving. You're not driving. I'm driving. She said,
you've only just passed your test. I said, yeah, I know, but come on. And we did, we drove to Paris,
went searching for the Arthur Tower, went round, round up the roundabout.
But it's the arctic tree office, the killer, because everything comes in from different
directions. And if it's your first big tree. Pean with rain. It was misty. It was dark. And
really, it was above us. So yes, it was good fun. So yeah, that was my bit of saying yes.
But also, I guess, from a business perspective, that must have opened up different opportunities
as well, didn't it? Because you must have been quite hindered when you were, you couldn't drive.
There is this thing called the train. And the bus, it goes most places. And I had my little
attaché case. And in my attaché case was an automatic pop-up umbrella. Oh, Theo, you are the
gadget man. And A to Z. Perfect. And with the A to Z. And the pop-up umbrella. The world
was my oyster. Absolutely. I didn't need a map. What were they called? A Atlas till later when
I've learned to drive. And now this is what my A to Z for Atlas. What was your first car? And did
you buy it with emotion or because it was good value for money, perhaps? 50 quid. There's a mini.
Wow, 50 quid. It's fiberglass front. Sweet. Because obviously the front had been damaged
at some stage, right? So I stuck a fiberglass front on it. It had rubber pulleys that held it down.
It lasted about three to six months. I can't remember. Not long, because it was 50 quid.
And the MOT was running out. And so I drove it to the end of the MOT.
So you got good value out of it? I did. I did. I felt really good about having to
sort of try and do that as we're going uphill because the clutch didn't really have anything
left in it. So yeah, that was first experience. But then I was sort of upgraded after that. I went
big time. So I was going to say, what follows the mini then? Because there's got to be a
there's got to be a lineage or a lineage. Hey, this is an Alfa Romeo. Alfa, what? Second car?
Sud. So you bought with emotion this time? Blue and brown. The brown was the rust. Okay.
Blue and brown. You see, I think Alphas are interesting at any point. I think anyone that's
owned an Alfa is automatically more interesting. And then when this blue and brown one
had its own idosyncrasies about starting, not starting. And the rust was, you heard this one
before probably, and the rust was taken over. I moved to a much, much newer one, a white one.
Because I was in the groove. You were there. And then I went for my third Alfa. So yeah,
the Veloci, which is the flat version of it. It looked a bit more sporty. Yeah. It wasn't the
fat one. Yeah. In Kermit Green. So I had three of them. Wow. So you were committed. Yeah. I
was I was I just just it was you could feel the steering wheel. You could you felt you were driving
a car manual clearly. Yeah. So yeah. So so really, there's three Alphas in the row. And the green
Kermit, as I call it, was the Veloci was was my favorite of the three.
A quick bit of mid-show housekeeping while we're here. If you haven't already, please
press subscribe on YouTube so that you never miss an episode. Or you can press the follow button
on Apple or Spotify or whatever you get your podcast from. So I'm fascinated now by this by
this journey. How do you how do you follow three Alphas? Ferrari. Fourth Alfa.
Maserati. Nope. German. Nope. British Leyland Rover Austin. Close, close.
Vauxhall Chevette. Oh, I shove it. Love it. In Russ Brown. 1.3L. Why? Well, I was going to say now
but the reason I say why is because that feels like it comes in the wrong part of the story
because it feels like you're going like that and then you've perhaps gone like that. You're going
there. Did you have a financial issue with work? I changed jobs. Okay. So the other three cars,
the other three cars, you're going to get there. The other three cars were mine. Okay. The Chevette
four door, not the four door, right? Practical. Yeah. Four door Chevette. The other one was
I changed job and I got a company car. Okay. And my level was Chevette. Next was a Marina.
Yeah. Then if you from the Marina, you went to the Cortina. Yeah.
What was the wedge shaped one? Oh, the Princess. Princess Cortina or Princess. That's the one.
Cortina or Princess. So I was got the lowly grade. What job did you do? So I went to work for LNG
and going around insurance brokers working for LNG. So you got that and I got an expensive
account. But more importantly, the reason I went to work there is I'll come back to the company
car in a minute. But the company car meant I didn't have HP to pay on a car, which was like
expensive because I always bought cars I couldn't afford. Apart from the 50 quid mini,
clearly I couldn't afford anyway because it's already right. But I got an expensive account
and working for LNG gave you a subsidized mortgage in those days before the tax man
decided to knock all that out of the window. So if mortgage rates were like 10, 11% in those days
and my mortgage was like 2%. Right. So it means we could buy a house. That's a massive difference
in your monthly's, isn't it? Correct. Which means and so they give you the mortgage and they work
it out on what your repayments are on your salary of 2%, which means you get much bigger
mortgage than you could get from any builder's party and you could buy a house. But you did
then have to drive a Chevette. I think that's a decent trade-off though, isn't it? For a short period.
I'd call that a perk. Absolutely. For a short period. A classic there. What is going on today
then with juicy stuff in your everyday fleet and have you bought for emotion again now or for
investment? What do you mean now? What's in your garage and what you run around in every day and
what's a garage princess? The princess. What doesn't come out? I've got quite a few cars,
I've got quite a few classics and I've got some modern stuff. There's a piece of Perta that's
sitting in the 48 which is sitting in the garage which is delivering mileage so that doesn't really
come out to play. And is that an investment for you? Yeah, I think that's an investment.
When I jump up, the cars I sit outside that I jump into, I mean you've got to bore the pants
Convertible. Lovely. Put a bow around it. A birthday present. And she said...
What's that? What's that? I wanted a Ferrari.
No, she's got a 15-year-old Q7. She said I enjoy driving my car. I said yeah but this is summer,
it's fun. It's fun, you've got like 15 years old. She said yeah but I was happy with it.
Mrs P knows what she wants. So I said well, I bought it now. Anyway, it's by far one of my
first favorite. It's a soft top unfortunately but in the summer it's great. It's a go-kart.
You can absolutely drag it around anything. It's fun to drive. It puts a smile on my face when I
drive it. I don't have to worry about it. It stays outside unfortunately for a convertible car
but in the garage there's lots of things. I've got quite a lot of Jags around the place. I do
have a few Jags. I'm surprised myself and I hadn't realized it till recently. Till you did a little
stock take. I've got AK-150. I've got an E-Type. I've got a Mark II. I've got a Project 7.
I've got a Project 8 and that's my Jaguar. That's a lot of Jags. Without realizing it.
I never realized it. Just realized them. I had them. But would you add an electric Jag or any
electric to your fleet? Yes. Strangely enough, I'm just having now. In fact, the yesterday morning
the van came round with a clipboard to talk to me about installing my EV charger and explain to
me the differences. It was very confusing. I don't know if everybody else understands what they all do
and then different and then the kilowatts. So I might be one of those 22 kilowatts. I said,
what's the best one? I said, what's the best? They said the 22 is a three-phase.
Most people have a seven at home. So I said, well, I'll have the 22. He said,
why do you want the 22? I said, because you just told me. It's the best. He said,
what car are you going to put in it? I said, no. I said, the kids have got electric cars
and we've got one electric car. I said, why do you ask? He said, because not all cars can take
a faster charge. So I could put a 22 in for you, but I'm not sure what you're going to use it for.
I said, well, I don't know. You're future-proofing yourself. Yes. I think that's the answer.
I said, but it fits the best. He said, so you can tell your mates you've got 22 kilowatts. I said,
you could be part of it. It's a very good question. So 22 kilowatt does what compared to a seven?
Obviously, it's three times as, but can it charge three times faster or cars?
No, no, it charges at, it does depend on what your car is capable of receiving.
Receiving. Is it three times your bill as well? Oh, there is that.
No, well, because you've, well, it's shorter than the same. If you're pushing some stuff out faster.
Yeah, but it's shorter to hear it. Yeah, that's true. Short, sharp shock.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Whatever it is so much cheaper to charge at home than it is at any public
charging thing. Oh, gosh, yes. It's horrendous, isn't it? And at night, you can get special abuse
telling me about all the special tariff services. So my son has got a brilliant car, the Kia.
Which Kia? EV, the big one. Oh, the big one, nine. Absolutely cracking bit kit. Agreed.
What a big car he put around the other day. So he charged it to four and it cost him six
pounds, 58 to P on his overnight tariff. And that's not bad. So what was the tank of fuel on a big
car like that, Cosney? Oh, it's got 100 quid, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's got to be.
100 quid? Yeah. So that's got some advantages. Yep. You know, it's interesting when you were
saying before about, you know, you were saying some of the cars, like the daily cars, they'll
be boring or whatever. I actually think often that it's the most interesting question is what
people actually take to the supermarket or whatever. Because, you know, people like yourself
have got nice car collections and whatever. And a member like Nick Mason, for example,
who's got a phenomenal car collection. But I said, what takes you to Waitrose? And he said a
Golf R. And I thought, it's really interesting what people buy. Great car. Love it to God.
And almost, you kind of think, yeah, you kind of think, well, if someone like,
somebody who's got that kind of car collection, much like yourself chooses that, it says a lot,
I think, in terms of the everyday. Yeah. Now, there is, and you're on a mini jumping
around, running around. The Defender is a workhorse. And it does all sorts of rubbish. It's
got it's got two years either side of back of the car, got those big boxes. Yes. Yeah. Look
like ears for your kit, kit, shooting kit, hunting, shooting, fishing and drinking.
It's drinking mainly just kids. It's kids. It's mainly drinking kids. It is a full bar.
Beautiful. It is a full bar. So I jumped into that. I drove that yesterday because
I tried the day off, Carl. Didn't get it again.
Hello, Carl. Did you wave to him? Did you wave to him outside of that? Has he recently changed
jobs? He's driving a new car though. We have got a new car. Okay. We have got a new car.
Well, talking of which of new cars, is there a motoring itch that you're still to scratch?
Obviously, you've become something of a Jagman. No, not a Jagman at all. Well, you've got Jag,
you've got Jagman. You know, that is that that is all by accident. So XK150, play misty for me,
clean this wood. Yeah. Great film. Great film. Cool as you. Super cool car. And then I saw,
I saw one for sale. Same color, midnight blue. Yeah. I thought,
you know, that's so good. That is so good. So I bought it. So that was it. That was my first Jag.
And then I got offered a E-Type by a friend of mine who belonged to the Jaguette
car club or whatever it is, for somebody who passed away, bless them, and had it since new.
In 1974, it was, he said, the only problem is, it says, it's sort of lavender.
Oh, unusual. I said, lavender. He said, lavender. He said, he's got a hardtop.
It's convertible with a hardtop. When they made the special edition, Last Hundred, they made.
They did hardtops for them. And he's got the hardtop as well, his family, his wife's got the hardtop.
He said, I said, well, okay, I'll tell him what's the price. I said, my law was like,
he did. So he said, you've got to go and collect it though, because he passed away about 10 years ago.
I said, where's the carpet for the last 10 years? In the garage at the back of the garden.
Right. Okay. So here you've got it. So I thought, we've got to go and see this.
So it went to, and it was lavender, and it had sat there on four flat tires,
fuel that's still been in it since. Oh, gosh, I love finds like that. Barn finds like that.
It wasn't a barn find price. I've got to be honest.
Fair enough. They saw you coming. Because no, because it was a lovely kind of rail of 16,000
miles in 1974. So it was, but it needed to get it back up and running. It needed not bodywork,
not bodywork. It needed everything. Bodywork was okay, was it? Bodywork wasn't bad at all.
Bodywork was good. A little bit of failure on one wing, but we saw it that way. Anyway,
but it was so pretty. Yes. You know, it's got a story to it. So that became, that's how we ended
up with that one. And then the rest just fell into you. Yeah, I always liked, I always liked the
Mark II, just for their cops and robbers, when I was a kid, the black and white films,
and Inspector Morse type. They were a baddies car, weren't they? Yeah, a baddies car.
So I thought I needed one of those. And then the other two were just special cars that they built.
So it was just by accident, really. There must be something that you,
there must be something that is the poster car that there's maybe evaded you so far. Is there
something that you kind of think one day I'd love one of those or? It's still 300.
Okay. Oh yeah. I got 190. Yeah. I got a very, very pretty 190. It's sort of like,
no off-white with a very pretty blue interior. It's really, really pretty. And that's nice.
Drove that to Monaco. Monaco had a, went on a driving, driving trip and we drove it to
me and Miss P to Monaco Historic Grand Prix, which was cracking event. I mean,
and that's when I realized as pretty as it is, it doesn't like mountains because it's a bit
underpowered. Right. That's why the 300 I think would be the better car. But if I show you pictures
of it, it is driving down through France with the top down. It's such a pretty car. All the lines
and everything are just amazing. So that's very pretty. So I've never bought a 300 and nothing,
maybe I should. Why not? Yeah, exactly. Because that will have the power. Yeah. Because the 190
is a bit gutless. You must stop messing around, changing engines and such. When it comes to
business and have you made a big mistake that you regret that keeps you up at night?
I'll refer you back to my earlier comment about don't let things torture you.
Perfect. Because that don't work. Yeah. I know as well, you've got a lovely relationship with
Mark Blondale, former F1 driver. I won't call it lovely. Who runs a British touring car team? So
you've got some motorsports blood pumping around you. So I'm chairman of MB partners and shareholder
and we set it all up. God, it's got over 10 years ago, 10, 11 years ago, as a sort of sports marketing
agency looking after athletes. And then we went into motor racing because clearly that's where
the speciality is. And that's where, you know, Mark's talents are not as a driver.
No, no, that he knew you will agree. He will agree. He will agree that he will agree. Gaming,
gaming, he will agree. I'm right. Because he said to me, I've been offered a drive in British
touring cars. And I remember it's 132 years old now. And a little bit on the portly side,
I said, you are having a laugh. Now we've got a sports marketing agency, we'll be looking after
drivers sponsorship. And we're some great drivers. And I said, you want to go back driving, driving
competitively? He said, well, I've been offered to see a British touring cars. And I said, I
wouldn't mind giving it a go. I said, no. I said, as your chairman, no. He's a salt like a child,
proper child. And then started losing weight. Yeah, and got back in and made a couple of years
ago. Yeah, as you remember. Anyway, there's a front wheel drive car. I can't remember where it was.
And he made an absolute gov himself. First of all, he should never driven a front wheel drive.
He'd never driven competitively front wheel drive car in his life. And he used to sort of single
seaters, great big engines, and he goes in with a lot of very aggressive individuals who are in
British touring cars, drivers elbows elbows out in a front wheel drive car. Right. And he's spending
his weekends at the back of the grid. Right. It was in I couldn't stop laughing. So when he got
the car, he got a lot of sympathy. You are right. You got a lot of sympathy. Not. Anyway, saying that,
it was the beginning of something very special. Because having gone to watch him to have a good
old laugh, the ex formula one champion, the guy who raced for eight and center. Yeah. Right.
Milamon winner at the back of the grid. Yeah. Right.
I'm having a good old laugh. I've discovered what a great series. Yeah, which is touring cars.
Absolutely. Yeah. Right. And never really occurred to me. It's such a fabulous series. So I sort of
have to buy my time and not show my enthusiasm too much in case Mark got encouraged to race again.
Yeah. And after the season finished, we sat down. I said, I said, you were absolutely
right. And I hope now you've learned your lesson is, yeah, I'm not going to race again. I said,
you're right. So you shouldn't be anywhere near that. You raced formula one, you raced with
Edson Center and the greats of motorsball. And you're going around the front-wheel drive. I said,
and you're 132 years old compared to these young kids that have got nothing to lose.
And we'll just take that little bit more than you're prepared to take. And that's why people
retire, Mark. He said, yeah, you got it. Right. So we won't be here again. I said, well, we will.
He said, I said, we need our own team. Yeah. I said, but not with you driving. I said,
I see you as sort of team principle using your experience, but we need our own team.
I said, good idea. And we did. We started our own team. And of course,
year for last, we won the championship with Jake Hill in a BMW, which is great.
And with this season, we've just launched our new car. We've got two cars now,
Toyota's, Corolla's, front-wheel drive, so clearly Mark's nowhere near them.
And we're really looking forward to the season. And JP's got a team as well.
He has indeed. Play to racing. Funny enough, actually, already we've potentially booked half
of the next series, haven't we? Because we need to get Peter Jones on. We need to get
Mark Blundell on. We need to get JP on. So actually, you're doing us a favor here.
Throw some more names if you want. Give you a few more ideas.
More potential guests. But listen, I'm conscious of time because we have to let you go shortly.
Before we do, we need you to take part in our quick fire round, if that's okay. It's called
0-60, cleverly, because you're going to have almost exactly 60 seconds on the clock to answer
as many questions as you can. At the end, we'll give you a tally. You'll then go on the leaderboard.
We'll see where you are, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So, Vicky Butler-Henderson, if you're
ready with the first question. That's super easy. The stopwatch? There's no right or wrong answer,
really. That's good. Oh, there's no really about it. There's no right or wrong answer. It's just
a bit of a fuss. So, right, if you're ready, your time starts now. Which car did you first
fall in love with? Half a sud. Who's your favorite spice girl? Don't be ridiculous.
Hot hatch or supercar? Hot hatch. I did have a Golf GTIY with little rabbits in the back.
Oh, sweet. Clarkson Hammond or May? That was it. You got a pick one?
No, they're just special. They're all three are special.
Brondel? Blondel or Brondel? Martin Brondel or Mark Blondel is what I should have said.
Yeah, they get confused. Mark Blondel often says he's Martin Brondel.
Martin Brondel never says he's Mark Blondel. That's very true. I've never heard him say that.
Name the coolest TV car of all time. Oh, my God. That's not fair. That's not fair. Coolest car of
all time. Jesus. You're wasting time over here, Theo. And also, my stopwatch has gone wrong. So,
I've got no idea where we are. Isn't the Saints Volvo? It's got to be James Bond. It's got to be
Martin. Yeah, I think so. And I'm going to say that that's out of time.
Out of time. That's it. That's it. That was it. Too much traffic around.
Absolutely. And a failed stopwatch as well. That's got no battery in it. It's not real.
Time for our final question, if that's okay with you. What is your dream drive? Can you
take us to the road and, most importantly, the car? Oh, God. Someone told me as I was arriving
that that would be one of the questions. And I said, I'm not sure. I can give an answer to that.
Brilliant. Yeah. So, what have I done? So, I like car tours. If I'm doing one to
modern classic in June. And so, I've driven to the Monaco Historic in historic cars. So,
driven to Barcelona for the Grand Prix, done that drive, been through France, did, drove from
Brooklyn's Mercedes to Budapest. Thank you. But you taught me how to do my first
wheelies, spins, donuts. I did them in Hero Square. Did you? Yeah, in a Ferrari.
I feel like a proud mum. In the Hero Square drive all the way through Switzerland and everywhere
else. And got to Hero Square in Budapest, did that and got arrested. Did you? Yes, I got the pictures.
So, that was interesting. But a big European tour then. So, tours through France, through
what? And we did visit loads of vineyards. And that is it. And the trick is, for anyone who wants to
do this, you've got to have a day off in between, full solid days driving, a day off to enjoy the
place. Yeah. Otherwise, you're just turning up a hotel, going to bed, getting up. I'm just
doing it all over again. So, you need to lengthen more time than you think you need,
just to enjoy the trip. And would you be in an Alphacid? I would love to be in Alphacid.
I would love, love to be in Alphacid. For the memories of nothing else. Yes, the smell.
Absolutely. Amazing. The breakdowns. The breakdowns. The non-starts in the morning.
For a bonus question, what would be the soundtrack? I'd be born to be wild. Okay.
I knew you both were going to do that. You both are going to do that. And on that note,
I think we're just about out of time on this week's Feeling Around, powered by Adrian Flux as
the UK's largest specialist insurance broker, Adrian Flux, would tailor quite your exact needs,
helping save you money on your car, your bike, or even your home insurance.
Thank you so much for joining us, and a huge thank you to Leo Pafitas. Thank you so much.
You're welcome. Now, it's been really, really good. Thank you so much. Don't forget to press
the subscribe button on YouTube so that you never miss an episode, or you can press the
follow button on Apple or Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts from.
Thank you so much for watching us, and we will see you again next time. Bye-bye.
About this episode
Theo Paphitis mixes business lessons with car stories, from the importance of cash flow and the public boost he got from Dragon’s Den to the scrappy early days of driving and buying his first Mini for 50 quid. He talks through company-car perks, his Jaguar collection, and the appeal of EV charging at home. The chat also veers into European road trips, ending with a Ferrari stunt in Budapest that got him arrested.
Best known for his time on BBC's Dragon's Den, the hugely successful entrepreneur Theo Paphitis is Vicki and Dave's guest this week on Fuelling Around. Theo's success in the retail world affords him the finer things in life, and as a self-confessed petrolhead, that means cars, cars and more cars! From rare vintage Jags to his wife's John Cooper Works Mini, Theo has an eclectic collection of vehicles in his garage, which he's happy to talk about at length in this brilliantly entertaining episode!
