Celebrating 48 years of University Motors with John Twist

John Twist celebrated the 48th Birthday of University Motors on January 21, 2023 in Grand Rapids, MI with his employees, customers, and friends.

John opened a small British car repair shop on Eastern Avenue in Grand Rapids in January 1975. His wife Caroline Robinson ran the office and John ran the repairs. He named it University Motors after the largest MG car dealership in the world, where he worked in 1973 and learned the trade.

In 1994 University Motors moved a larger facility on Fulton Street.

John closed University Motors in 2009 and took a leave of absence for Caroline’s cancer treatment. After her death in 2010, John and his son Brooks renovated a new UM location on Patterson Avenue.

At the end of 2016, John closed the Patterson facility and transitioned to University Motors Online. His expertise is now available to people around the world. He holds rolling technical seminars at MG events, teaches on YouTube videos, hosts Zoom events with 250 participants, and continues to answer questions by phone and email. He has 5300 members on Facebook and more than 24000 subscribers and 10 million views on YouTube. In 2017 he was inaugurated into the British Sports Car Hall of Fame. It’s been quite a ride for John Twist!