The BMW Group has reached an agreement to sell its British Motor Heritage Limited classic car parts business, based in Witney, Oxfordshire, to the Legacy Consortium.

Legacy is a private Consortium consisting of three people, David Bishop, Neil Morrick, and John Yea, who have extensive experience in the classic car field both in manufacturing operations and parts distribution.

Subject to completion of necessary due diligence, ownership of the British Motor Heritage Limited operation will transfer to the Legacy Consortium by the end of November 2001.

Following the sale, the existing employees will be taken over by the new owners who will continue to operate the business from the Witney site for the foreseeable future.

Established in 1983, British Motor Heritage Limited manufactures parts for a number of classic vehicles, including complete bodyshells. These include the Mini Classic, Austin-Healey Sprite, MG Midget, MGB, and Triumph TR6. In addition, British Motor Heritage Limited distributes via a world-wide network of Approved Specialist parts, for these models from a range of suppliers to provide a comprehensive service to the classic car owner.

About British Motor Heritage Limited

British Motor Heritage Limited was established in 1983 as the commercial arm of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust. Its aim was, and is, to put original components for classic British cars back into manufacture, using original tools wherever possible. Initially part of the Rover Group alongside the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust (now run independently and the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon, now owned by Land Rover), BMH remained part of the BMW Group following the restructuring of the group’s UK activities in 2000.

British Motor Heritage Limited is the largest organization of its type in the world. Drawing upon a wide range of expertise and original production tooling, BMH is able to manufacture previously unobtainable parts for a variety of popular classic British cars. BMH occupies a unique position, in that it reproduces entire bodyshells for the Mini Classic, Austin-Healey Sprite, MG Midget, MGB, and Triumph TR6 using the original tools, presses and assembly jigs – a feat still not matched by any other organization in the world!

The traditional skills employed in producing BMH body panels are matched by the extensive use of modern materials and processes. Zinc coated steels are used throughout and all panel work is electrophoretically primed, offering the same level of corrosion resistance found on most modern vehicles.

Formerly based at diverse locations in Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and West London, British Motor Heritage Limited has centralized all of its activities in one location at Witney in Oxfordshire. Its office and manufacturing complex now houses all of the essential elements of the company, from its design, engineering, manufacturing, storage and distribution facilities to its purchasing, sales, marketing and administrative support.