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MG Midget and Sprite General - Williams & Pritchard Register closed

I'm afraid I've had to close the site W&P for legal reasons, but there is now a statement on site explaining why:

http://www.williamsandpritchardregister.co.uk/

This is also the reason why I wasn't able to give a talk on them at Midget 50, which I haven't been able to disclose to date.

Please note that the legal issues relate to branding and goodwill, NOT to the actual remanufacture of parts which at this point, given the passing of time and pattern parts rules probably have little IP protection, and which from a purely personal viewpoint I don't have a problem with if they are described properly.

For example I understand Motobuild are going to put the Sebring GT hardtop back into production, which personally I think is nice (although I would hope they don't describe it as an Ashley!).

However its not down to my personal views...

I am going to try and get most of the spridget related articles printed in MASCOT over coming months. I also plan to recreate the bonnets and hardtops comparison page elsewhere shortly.

Tim
Mothy - '65 GAN3 and '65 HAN8

Tough news Tim - sorry to hear - but totally understand your reasoning behind it.

It was a source of disappointment that you were unable to speak at Midget50, but now can see why.

I hope that you are able to continue your records into W&Ps.

Perhaps it'd be worthwhile a chat with the guys at Motobuild to explain the difference - after all, it'd be something different to market and that's got to be good in these days of continued recession...?

Look forward to your new articles - perhaps I should even join MASC to read them ;)
rachmacb

Bugger!
Sad to see you had to deal with this rubish only because you are an enthousiast who wanted to document a fine part of automotive history.
Onno Könemann

I'm very sorry to hear that Tim. I can onlyimagine the amount of work that you have put in and I know that what appeared on ther website is the tip of the iceberg in times of your uotput of labour. Interviews, books scouced and read, time taken to travel to meet people etc.
I very much appreciate having the opportunity feature some of the articles in Mascot and will endeavour to do them justice.

Gary
Gary & Gaps

Onno, they say "no good deed goes unpunished" :o( I always thought that was very pessimistic, but...


Gary:

site development and coding = over 1000 hours.
research = unknown - lots and lots and lots and lots (Mrs Mothy would probably say far far too much :o) )

all of it highly enjoyable and I have learnt so much and met some amazing people and had access to amazing material and cars that I couldn't even have dreampt of when I started out... so no complaints

it's just a shame that I am not able to share it publically anymore for the time being - hopefully one day it will be possible to relaunch

Mothy - '65 GAN3 and '65 HAN8

And let's hope that I take more care with my spelling than I did with the rushed reply above!
Gary & Gaps

For what it's worth, it was a great site. Well organised with a wealth of interesting reference material.

Hopefully we'll see it back one day.

Thank you.
Paul Clark

Yes such a shame Tim, I used the site frequently just to see references against other body work finishes

However I now find the piece you have written to explain the situation extremely intriguing and look forward to seeing how the future developes.

So still an excellent website, many thanks.
Bob Turbo Midget England

Tim,

So sorry to read this. I trust that in the not to distant future we'll all be able to enjoy the fruits of your labour once again.

I just hope that this unfortunate 'blip' won't taint your enthusiasm or leave you too disillusioned!

The work of Charlie Williams and Len Pritchard deserves the recognition you provide(d) through your excellent website.

The replacement roof that Len created for 410 EAO back in 1994 was the work of a true craftsman, and listening to Len explain how 'effortlessly' he achieved such results - when I went to collect, revealed that not only was I in the presence of a genius, but also in the company of a kind and courteous gentleman.

I feel he would have found all this unpleasantness rather disturbing.

Thanks Tim.


Jonathan
J Whitehouse-Bird

such a shame to have become a victim of the current 'historic racing' business. A business which has its roots in the Goodwood set, an environment so full of bullsh1t and hype that I've always wondered why people can't see through it.
David Smith

Tim

That really sucks.... Talk about killing the gold egg laying goose because they wanted a bird sandwich for lunch.

If anyone is more responsiable for revitalizing the w/p brand its clearly you .... I cant imagine w/p having near the world wide impact had it not been for you.....im proof of that fact, trust me mg midgets in jc mo. Are not that common, maybe 4 with in 100 miles of me, so thats a 25% of the local midget population are aware of w/p because of you....welcome to the cornfields...lol.

Well it was great while it lasted...

Agian im angered and sadden for you


All thats left to say is .... "w/p, welcome back to the relm of the historically forgotten"


Prop
Prop

Tim,
I am utterly flabbergasted and feel deeply for you.
I know, firsthand, the effort it takes to to build and maintain this sort of site (Although yours was much more professionally presented than mine), and the absolute pleasure to identify and record hitherto unknown cars.
I boil with rage over people that are so short sighted and greedy that they can happily see heritage cut down for the sake of short term profit.
As Prop so eloquently put it...."Talk about killing the gold egg laying goose because they wanted a bird sandwich for lunch."

I hope that some resolution will come and that you will be able to re-instate the Register site in the not too distant future.

John Shep.
John Shep

Tim I'll add my comments to the others this is a nasty thing to happen, no wonder we had to do without your talk, I'm sorry your hard work had to come to this.

I hope someday your efforts get justly rewarded, bad luck.
Bill 1

Tim, you know my feelings on this as posted elswhere... But for the record, I too am deeply saddened by the events surrounding the (temporary) closure of the W&P site.
I know from first hand experiance how much time, effort and enthusiasm you put into this site and how much more we all know about W&P because of this. I wish I had known as much when I had the Speedwell Streamliner in my care.... :-(
I hope that the future will be have a positive outcome and the recent events will not deter you from your continued studies and compilation of information. I'm sure all will agree, we would like to see the W&P site back in the not too distant future.

Mark.
M T Boldry

Why not get a book published using all your material? There's no money to be made in writing books, it's more a labour of love but since you've already done the work?
Daniel Thirteen-Twelve

I have an author in the family and know how little money you make on royalties unless you are JK Rowling, Daniel! However, unfortunately for reasons that I can't go into, a book isn't an option that's open in current circumstances.

However I am sure that eventually this situation will resolve itself.

Thank you all for your support and kind thoughts.
Mothy - '65 GAN3 and '65 HAN8

This thread was discussed between 02/09/2011 and 04/09/2011

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