America's
Land Rover parts store since 1973
British Pacific started in the early seventies, just before
Land Rover left the US market the first time. BP was founded
by Jim Rickman with Hugh Stewart, originally to service Land
Rovers & Rolls Royce. When the local British Leyland dealership
on Colorado Blvd. (Peter Satori) decided to close out their
Land Rover inventory, they expanded BP to take up the slack.
BP was located close by the original dealership in an ancient
garage (originally used for horse drawn vehicles), in the
area now known as 'Old Pasadena', just a few blocks south
of the parade route.
 The
2 story brick and timber building housed service bays below,
and a parts department upstairs.
In those days Land Rovers were used primarily for hunting and camping, or sometimes
even as daily drivers, but virtually none of them were venerated as 'collector's
classics'. Each truck was an expression of the owner's tastes, and every one
was different.
BP's original location: 101 W. Green St.,
Pasadena, California
As the years went by and the remaining authorized BL dealerships
disappeared, Land Rover Solihull recognized the need for
parts support on the remaining vehicles. To that end, they
authorized 2 companies to serve as Genuine Land Rover Authorized
Parts Distributors, one on each coast. Rovers North handled
the east out of Vermont, and British Pacific covered the
west from Pasadena; geographically a continent apart!
That's pretty much the way things remained until about
1992. In the meantime, a few groups of private 'investors'
around the country started importing gray market Range Rovers
as exclusive, up market luxury vehicles, to compete with
the Jeep Grand Wagoneer. Companies like "Golden Acorn" here
in Beverly Hills had permission to bring in one Range Rover,
but somehow 12 were imported, all with the same VIN number!
Despite such troubles, sales started to increase, Americans
liked the vehicle, Rover took note, and in 1987 they formally
created "Range Rover North America".
US spec Range Rovers were now being officially imported,
but without any "Land Rover" badging. To this day there are
consumers who believe that Range Rover builds Land Rover,
and not vice versa!
British Pacific continued to import Series Land Rovers and
'gray' market parts from Land Rover Solihull, and provide
expert service and repair while dealers were still few and
far between; and many of those had minimal experience with
the vehicles, especially Series Land Rovers.
In 1992 there were several major changes. First, Land Rover
announced that they would be expanding the range of vehicles
sold here, and relaunching the Land Rover brand with the
limited issue Defender 110. The owner of British Pacific
in the '80's, Jim Woodaman was forced to relocate BP, as
the original building was being re-zoned as part of an urban
renewal project (the original British Pacific is now an exclusive
restaurant!).
Jim decided to move BP to Burbank, and found an appropriate
location near the Burbank airport (Jim is a pilot and his
plane was hangared there). When that move occurred, the service
end moved out under its own banner (Huntington Service Center),
and BP became parts only (in California's increasingly restrictive
legal environment, service facilities have a very high operating
expense).
 This
9,000'+ sq. ft. warehouse was only a block from Burbank Airport's
commercial terminal. The sign on the building originally
hung over the old Pasadena location. Jim sold the business
to Steve Hedke in 1993, a longtime British car enthusiast
and fellow pilot.
BP continued to operate as an Authorized Genuine Land Rover parts facility
until 1994, when Land Rover Solihull, under a lot of pressure from its US dealerships,
revoked BP's franchise.
BP's location between 1992 and spring 2001
Far from being a crippling issue, this freed BP to pursue
the late model Land Rover parts market (we were prohibited
from it under the old arrangement) and after securing a wholesaler
in Britain (Allmakes Ltd, the largest independent Land Rover
parts exporter in England), it's been nothing but huge sales
increases every year since.
Early in 2001, after an airliner went off the end of the
runway 08, the City of Burbank decided to create a new extended
stay parking lot where British Pacific's Burbank warehouse
was located.This provided the excuse for British Pacific
to move into it's larger and more efficient Valencia location.
Current British Pacific location in Valencia,
next to Magic Mountain
We stock Genuine, OEM and aftermarket parts & accessories
for all US model Land rovers from 1958 to current. We try
to stock whatever would be required to keep your Land Rover
or Range Rover on the road, as well as all of the popular
accessories. We ship throughout the United States, APO's
and FPO's . Sorry we do not ship to Canada, Mexico, central
or South America or overseas.
Our customer showroom provides a first hand look
at many of the Land Rover off road components and
accessories that we stock. |
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British Pacific's Valencia location features increased
warehouse space plus mezzanine storage. The move to
a larger warehouse came just as we needed additional
storage space for Freelander parts and accessories. The
space also accommodates our growing stock of LR3, Range
Rover Sport, and LR2 parts and accessories.
All of BP's operations are fully computerized, including
shipping. Our staff has a lot of experience with
Land Rovers, and are willing to take the time needed
to make sure you get what you need. Special orders
no problem. |
 
The previous and current owners of British Pacific have
been pilots. It seems as though classic cars and classic
aircraft have always gone hand in hand, so it seems natural
that we have started adding vintage
aircraft related prints, T-shirts and mugs.
British Pacific is located at 26007 Huntington Lane,
Unit 2, Valencia, CA. 91355.
Near Los Angeles, California, USA:
Just off I-5 near Magic Mountain, north of the San Fernando Valley.
Hours are 8-4, Monday-Friday, west coast time:
we're closed major holidays (generally when UPS isn't picking up).
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