As many people know, XFactory was dealt a tough blow in 2010 when founder Charles "Chazz" Sinclair was diagnosed with throat cancer.  Since then, he has undergone 35 sessions of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, as well as surgery to remove cancerous tissue.

“I was completely knocked out from before Thanksgiving until mid-January, unable to function at all,” said Chazz.

For those who may not know much about XFactory, it is a small company that produces conversion kits for a line of 2WD and 4WD cars that is ran entirely by Chazz and his son Paul. A serious illness, such as Sinclair’s, can deliver quite a hit to a two-man operation. 

Over the last few months, the company has been operating at full tilt- only with limited man power, with Chazz in the hospital and Paul spending much of his time by his father’s side. As one can imagine, the hospital bills for such a serious illness are nearly insurmountable, so this was a huge blow financially to the privately funded company.

At this time, we are pleased to announce that Chazz has regained a large portion of his health, and is now back in action at XFactory.

“I have a 70% chance to be cancer-free for five years,” said Sinclair.   “But I probably will never return to 40 hours per week.”

Even with the elder Sinclair’s limited presence, XFactory is still running strong and has full plans to continue on with its projects in the future. 

However, the medical costs incurred during the last handful of months have been a major setback to the Sinclairs. With these setbacks, came the most difficult decision the family-owned company has ever had to make.  They could either continue on selling their current line of conversion kits with their top ace Brian Kinwald on staff, or they could continue on funding an entirely new car from the ground up while making some major budget cuts.

Unfortunately, funding a new car requires a lot of capitol investment, much of which had to be put into Chazz's recovery.  The only way to continue on with this project was to free up budget elsewhere, and the only place to make this happen was in releasing Kinwald. 

Before the decision was made, Paul and Brian talked extensively about the options they had.  The first option was to keep Brian on board and hold off on development of the new kit.  Both parties agreed, however, that choosing this route would be a short term solution, and ultimately a lack of new products would lead to the demise of a company that prides itself on innovation.  At that point, both Brian and XFactory agreed that the best decision for everyone involved was to part ways on good terms so XFactory could continue development on their new 4WD vehicle, which will be a complete kit from the ground up, not just a conversion.

Brian personally asked us to make sure that everyone knows that he truly enjoyed working for XFactory, and that they remain on good terms.  He wishes all the best for them in the future, and he completely understands the unfortunate circumstances that led to this. He is also very happy to see that Chazz has made a full recovery, and that XFactory is continuing on in strong form.

Both Paul and Chazz from XFactory would like to thank Brian for his years of professionalism. They proclaim  they would not be where they are at today without his help and support.  He will be greatly missed at XFactory, but they wish him the best in his future and are confident that he will have no problem finding another opportunity to take on within the R/C industry.

On behalf of LiveRC, we would like to wish both parties the best for their futures.  With the separation ending on good terms with both parties- who knows, maybe some day they will have the opportunity to reunite? 

XFactory says they hope to have the new prototype car debuted at Cactus Classic, so check into LiveRC.com to see it first as we will be there covering the event!

As for Brian- we are sure he will have no problem finding a new ride soon. Could he make a return to Team Associated where it all began for him two decades ago? Or perhaps he will rejoin TLR to recreate a partnership that lead to the company’s first IFMAR world title? Or will Brian choose one of the many other players in the electric field, such as TQ, Durango, Kyosho or Tamiya?  We saw Brian driving a Durango 4WD at the Reedy Race a couple months ago. Perhaps that is a sign of things to come?

Where do you guys think he will end up? Or, where would you like to see him end up? Voice your thoughts by posting in the comment section below!