Everybody recognizes that if you can make very efficient electric motors, you can make a quantum leap forward.

Fear is always a good motivator.

Having a good idea is one thing, but persuading other people to buy it is quite another. Good inventors are polymaths: they think with their hands and their brains. They're experts in design, engineering and business.

One of the most fun inventions of my lifetime is the Mini.

Don't listen to experts.

A lot of people give up when the world seems to be against them, but that's the point when you should push a little harder. I use the analogy of running a race. It seems as though you can’t carry on, but if you just get through the pain barrier, you'll see the end and be okay. Often, just around the corner is where the solution will happen.

When I started off, I was working in a shed behind my house. All I had was a drill, an electric drill. That was the only machine I had.