My first Publication Alumni Magazine21-online | Page 7

ISSUE 21, JUNE 2019
What have you been up to in the 13 years since you
graduated?
I will be honest. In a way, I am a little bit lazy and I get
bored easily. A lot of these 9-5 jobs were a waste of time for
me, because normally I would do proper work for 2 hours
a day and for the rest, it would be more or less killing time.
So I saw that as a big waste of time and I just wanted to do
something on my own. Now, when I work on Vinghen, very
often I start working around 11 in the morning, and I will
go on until 1 at night. So I am busy now.
Well, I started with a gap year in the Netherlands, then I went
to the UK to study automotive engineering, and I was basically
killing time at universities. After that I worked for Mercedes
for a year in Germany and then I got tired of Germany and I
went back to the UK to study at the University of Sheffield.
After that it’s been four years of work in the automotive
industry, first in Bulgaria and then in the Netherlands. Later
I finally got to the stage when I decided that I could now
create something on my own and start working on it. That’s
a company for electric bicycles and push scooters where I do
the design and my idea is to also do the manufacturing.
But then, again, you manage your own time?
Yes, I do. If I want to, I go skiing on a Wednesday, so that’s
a lot nicer.
Would you tell me a little bit more about your blog?
Well you’ve certainly been busy!
Sure, so I started it back when I returned to Bulgaria in
2014, after I earned my Master’s. Once again, it was because
I was really bored at work. I decided I should drive some
nice cars and I started it. It is called RoadHunter. I write
in Bulgarian. I tried English as well, but it’s too difficult to
keep two languages at the same time. So I stick to Bulgarian,
because I take the cars from Bulgarian dealers. So, basically,
I will get a car for a couple of days, then drive somewhere
nice, take a lot of photos,
drive fast sometimes, on some
mountain roads, so it’s really
good. Sometimes I get cars
like the Mercedes SL or a Ford
Mustang, or the Jaguar F-Type
etc. - cars with over 400 hp, but
other times I’ll get small city
SUVs, which I don’t really like,
but it’s still part of the job.
Yeah, in a way.
So, you worked for Mercedes?
Yes, that was on engine development. Basically, all my
engineering work has been on engine development.
Cool, AMG* & stuff?
Еmm, no, diesel vans,
unfortunately. When I was in
the Netherlands, I moved up
to diesel trucks. But it’s not
been anything sporty. I left the
sporty cars for my free time,
because I also run a blog about
cars and sometimes I test some
very interesting ones.
“Some people probably remember
me as the kid who would
always be drawing cars in his
notebooks, instead of paying
attention in class.”
So is it safe to say you do
have a passion for cars?
What’s your favorite car
that you have driven for your blog?
Definitely. Especially since some people probably remember
me as the kid who would always be drawing cars in his
notebooks, instead of paying attention in class. (laughs)
I think, actually, it’s probably the Mercedes SL-500, from
the ones I have taken on the road properly. Because it was
powerful, it was very comfortable and it was convertible
and it just felt nice. Otherwise, I’ve also driven some cars
on race tracks, one of them being the Ferrari 360. I didn’t
like Ferraris much before getting into the 360, but this car
made me change my mind. Ferrari is an amazing company.
Can you remember when that passion started?
I think when I was about 7 or 8 years old. Someone in my
family told me that even when I was a baby, I would point at
cars in drawings and stuff. But definitely, when I was about
7, I started drawing cars. A lot of cars. Actually, my flagship
was called Arno Vinghen and that name Vinghen came
out of nowhere, but is now the name of my bike company.
After I hadn’t found this meant anything offensive in the
many languages I checked, I registered it and that’s my
company now.
What’s the origin story behind Vinghen, apart from you
coming up with the name when you were 7 years old? How
did you decide to go into electric bikes and push scooters?
I think in a way I saw a market possibility, because when I
created the first sketch back in 2016, it was actually before,
or at the very beginning of the boom of electric scooters that
we’re seeing in the US and Western Europe. So, in a way,
I was ahead of time, but I didn’t have the resources to get
there quickly, because if I did, I could have had something
ready for the market in three or four months. And it took me
two and a half years because first of all I was busy at work –
sometimes you get back from work and you just cannot stare
Tell me, what was it that made you realize you would
rather be doing something on your own instead of
being part of a larger company, working on diesel
trucks and whatever else?
* AMG stands for Mercedes-AMG GmbH, and is the
high-performance brand used by Mercedes-Benz.
5