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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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