So this is my website, I have almost no experience in such things, but being an engineer I thought I would have a go. I want to learn something about websites, or at least how to use templated ones, find out about and how to use DNS records, tell a few tales and record some things I find interesting. Primarily I am inspired to record what I am doing with my building of a Gardner Douglas GD Euro Cobra Mk4.

I will also write about some of my cars and other things that may only be of interest to me.

As The Who sang in 1978… “Who are you?”

I am Nigel Cooper, born in 1956, with a fondness for travel, family, close friends, dogs, specific cars and enjoying and discovering wine. I live in England’s West Country not far from Bristol. I have a ‘pigeon pair’ of children who have now flown the coop, they both have remarkable skills and intelligence. My son is a masters-qualified acoustician, now designing ‘Intelligent Buildings’ that respond automatically to occupants and the environment and is creating amazing audiovisual installations. My daughter has three degrees, emigrated to Iceland, and is an Icelandic-English translator at their main University in Reykjavik. I have two beautiful Icelandic grandchildren and my daughter’s partner and his Icelandic family are all amazing people.

I lived with a German Pointer Otto until he died 10/08/20 and still live with Jaffa a Wire-Haired Vizsla; I would never be without dogs.

Education (beyond my intelligence)

I only ever paid proper attention to maths and the sciences at school. I have latterly developed an interest in other matters, so I like to think I am a few steps removed from being a total heathen. I liked knowing how the world and things worked and in the case of chemistry what made a useful or amusing explosion, I stopped after a particularly deafening and destructive event because I am far from suicidal.

I confess that I am lazy or, rather, that I prefer to find easy ways of doing stuff. So, often I don’t ‘just get on’ with something; I always have a planning phase, during which I sometimes find the task wasn’t necessary at all!  After school, it seemed far easier to go to university than work, besides, I had no idea what I wanted to do. So I studied at Bath University, it gave me time to think, and have a great time and make lifelong friends. I always worked during holidays at school and university as money was never plentiful, in fact, I was poor. Since graduating I have been an engineer all of my working life. Straight after graduation, I went to Oman for three months, to work for a massively higher salary than I could get in the UK; I only did this to pay off my bank overdraft and my debts to indulgent University friends. Having mentioned my overdraft, I must say that I always found it amusing that the bank wanted me as a customer. The bank manager would write to me and ask if I wanted to discuss my overdraft, I always politely declined because I had no way of paying them and so my debt rose until my career started, the bank’s bet paid off eventually.

I continue with learning, in my own haphazard way. I can speak French to a level which allows me to ‘get things done’ in France and so I do not improve at any pace but I dip into learning every so often. I have recently decided to try and learn Czech, this is borne out of my love of that country and its people, it is a beautiful but fiendishly complex language.

Work (risen without trace)

I am now retired as of May 2015, having worked for 34 years as a consulting engineer designing all manner of mechanical and electrical systems for major building projects. As an MEP designer, I like to say that I brought buildings to life. Without MEP design, most buildings today would be uninhabitable or just not work. My firm designed building fabric and orientation, glazing, shading, ventilation, drainage, air-conditioning, lifts, electrics, lighting, heating, IT, security, acoustics, fire safety, and sustainability etc. etc. Strangely, a lot of my best work is never noticed, because it just works; people are comfortable, safe and everything does what you expect it to, so people can just get on with living, working or whatever.

I have worked in a lot of different countries, mainly around Europe, but also setting up offices in the Middle East. Most often, I worked in London, as that is where the major clients were, no matter where the construction projects were. You may have shopped in a Mall, stayed in a Hotel, swum in a Pool, connected to a Data Centre, been treated in a Hospital, worked in an Office, Factory or Laboratory, sat in an Auditorium or Sports Arena or even lived in an Apartment building that I was involved with.

I am proud to have been a senior partner in the firm, and helping it to grow into the business it is today. I will always wish it every success. My work had always kept me happy and busy, perhaps too busy. As my job involved being with clients and architects, I never really had a 9-5 day. Most days, I was commuting very early and very late. 80-hour weeks were normal. I am now revelling in the freedom to do what I wish when I wish.

Cars (from banger to better)

I have always been interested in cars and tinkering with all manner of mechanical and electrical things. I dismantled things as a boy and was eventually able to repair far more than I broke. Luckily my dad was a fitter, working with precision engineering, so he was practical and had tools I could borrow until I collected my own. My early car and motorbike history as a schoolboy and student was funded by part-time jobs. I have been: on a market stall and a petrol pump attendant. For a couple of years, I was the quite big chef at Little Chef, eventually running the whole café while the manager bunked off. I even worked night shifts at one of Mr. Kipling’s bakeries.

During my A-level studies, I found I could join an agency as a bizarrely named “permanent temporary” worker. The agency didn’t seem to notice my age, but they were happy with my ‘O-level’ exam results and put me forward to work at the Independent Broadcasting Authority. They were quite surprised when a schoolboy turned up to work in their accounts department for an adult pay-packet. Luckily they overlooked my youth and gave me a chance. It was in the early days of computers, and thanks to a progressive physics master, I had played with computer programming. I was able to write a programme on the IBA’s computer that automated the task they gave me, so I was effectively out of work after a couple of days. The head of accounts and the lovely secretaries decided I should continue to come in to work whenever I was available, and they passed me around the different departments, always finding things for me to do. I loved working in the Research Laboratory where the engineers patiently explained what they were doing as I found the bits and bobs they needed and fetched them tea, coffee and snacks from the canteen. I was lucky to be paid pro-rata the adult salary, so school holidays paid for most of what a schoolboy needed, including illicit pub visits, I saved very little.

Lack of funds before graduating meant that the only way I could keep on the road was to repair, rebuild and maintain everything myself, often with the help of my brother. I did have my dreams of better cars, which never faded even as a succession of company cars went across my front drive, but I had to wait a long time until other life essentials were paid for. My foremost schoolboy dream (triggered while working as a petrol pump attendant) was to own an E-Type, and that, eventually, came true when I was 50 (and again at 52).

In the summer of 2017, I needed another diversion after a disappointing venture into American Muscle.  American cars from the late sixties were beautiful to look at but barely evolved from hay-carts in terms of build quality, technology or handling, frankly American cars, apart from some very rare exceptions are still hopeless, no wonder Motown died.

I had developed a strange desire for an open two-seater to ruffle my hair whilst it remains, as I have never had a convertible. The plan was to have a large V8 to make the soundtrack. I considered a TVR Griffith, then thought about the possible fun of building my own car. I am retired, I needed another project (my other cars work and don’t need a whole lot of attention!)… This quest led, after much review, to Gardner Douglas. In my opinion, Gardner Douglas is the most developed and modern vision of the Cobra. It is not slavish to superseded elements of the original design or materials and is sensibly upgraded. The GD Cobra is also within my reach as some dreams aren’t; I realise I am unlikely ever to own a Maserati Bora (that is a really old childhood memory of instant desire).

Welcome! (This is really for me, but hopefully, you will find something of interest)