Well I find it sad that no one has mentioned this yet, but if you have been watching TV or reading the papers or talking to UK, you will have heard that Rover had gone to the receivers and now its gone one step lower, They have closed never to re open, the Factory at Longbridge where once our Fine Loves were produced has finally bit the bullet, speaking to UK the dealers are selling up the stock of cars, the warranty is void as there is no company to warrant them and also it will be interesting what will happen to the spares,when i left there was a stock pile of parts held for the future, but this was getting hit pretty hard from dealers and mini shops in UK, so there will be nothing left for the future, no more parts being built for Rover only aftermarket shite

Rover had suffered a pretty dark decade they were bought out by BMW in 1994, BMW took the Mini many steps forward producing one of the greatest examples of the History of the Mini over the 41 years of production, many circles hate BMW for this though, they did great things for the Mini whilst owning Rover but not to keep the company alive but to line there own pockets, they sold off what they didnt see viable, Land Rover and Rover was serperated, they kept the brand Mini (classic) and sold Rover back to the people for a sum of 10 pounds and kept Mini for them selves, and called there new creation MINI

Since the sale in 2001, Rover produced some great little cars the 25, 45, and 75 three size family cars and of course the MG F the 25,45, and 75 was also avaiable in MG versions sort of like a HSV, this kept the company afloat untill now, the numbers struggled and of course as you know no sales no maney means no company, and like most countires the goverment dont care, UK pollies let another BIG car company go down the tube, with that many jobs, and effects far beyond what we can imagine,

The mark has gone for good, its a wonderful part of the Mini history that now will fade with time, the Mini has to be one of the best things that came from this factory, but along with the Mini many great moments in motoring history was also born at Longbridge.

ITS A SAD DAY FOR US, remeber when you look at and drive your Mini tommorow thats its Birth place is now closed and will decay in time,

Monaro

see something you will never see again

http://photobucket.com/albums/y137/mini ... llborn.jpg

http://photobucket.com/albums/y137/mini ... P00906.jpg

luckily spare parts division was sold many years ago to the big yellow bulldozer company as im sure somebody mentioned before.Only downside will be a panic buying of hard to get parts which will push prices up

Sad day I reckon, parts will be scarce and expensive within a few short years.
So much for their 10 year plan.



Damn rust!!!!

Sorry for the bad news but Cat, cleared there supplies out last year sold of there Mini Stock, Dealers and Mini shops ran in and bought up skips and truck loads full of the stuff, they flogged most stuff last year, now we have to pay silly prices that ebay and other auction house call for, the Mini shops have there stocks full, but can name a price as they bought the only stock left,

I know this first hand as my container had many of these parts in it, and seen the results first hand, there was a mother load of Mini stock avaiable , but now has disapeared to the forgotten world, but will appear for a price

Monaro

This is abit of a worry. However won't places like Mini Spares still make aftermarket items? Most of their items are aftermarket anyway right? I can only see very few genuine parts oin their list. Certainly the performance parts are not Rover genuine parts?

Since most of us don't own rovers, should we really worry that much? They haven't made Morris genuine parts for like 20yrs! Or I am missing something?

_________________
Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

Things like diff gears are still Rover parts, and Rover baulk rings are better made than aftermarket (MiniSpares etc) ones.

I guess if there is enough demand these things may not disappear, but the aftermarket quality will probably be inferior.

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Sadly, around 5000 employees are now out of work as well

_________________
I got nuthin......................

Gees, this is not good. especially owning a rover it has me worried

_________________

this doesnt have to be a bad thing as it applies to parts supply.. That may depend on how BMW are about the fate of old mini.. If I am correct, I assume their ownership of the word/brand will mean they have control over wether parts are still made for mini's.. ie they own all rights to all things mini... how they use that position will be interesting.
this isnt a MINI bashing exercise although i have been know to go there.. its purely down to licencing agreements and the likes, ie making money... stuff all to do with enthusiasm for the make. however it wouldnt be in BMW's best interest to get ofside too much with mini owners after the fuss it caused overseas last time.. clearly the marketing of the new MINI, on the heritage of the mini, isnt well served by cutting off supply of old mini parts..

_________________
No longer Ms Westwoods mini outside her original kings road shop

I don't believe BMW are part of the `Mini' parts supply chain at all. They could care less what happens- Rover's demise could even benefit them, if people get into MINI instead.

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Well not sure what to say. I guess only time will tell. minimonaro would know better than most of us what this is going to do to our Minis as he has had first hand experience of recent happenings in the Uk.

With two Rovers in the family I don't like the sounds of it.

_________________
mutant mini 1380cc '73 UK imp-Chroma Lusion-leather interior-8 x 300W Diamond Audio Dual Voice Coil 8" subs, Phoenix Gold 4 chnl amp, Pioneer 7550 DVD, 2x Phoenix Gold A1.800d MonoBlock Amp, Focal Utopia splits, 14" chrome rims 195/40/14 tyres

Xpart is the Parts arm for MG Rover. Operated by Caterpillar Logistics.
See here for current situation.
http://www.xpart.com

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Don't know what the worldwide population of Rovers are....

but it would be substantial.

Don't know much about this XPart group but have had a little to do with CAT Worldwide Logistics and they are impressive world leaders....

QUOTE
XPart is a division of Caterpillar Logistics Services, Inc. Cat Logistics provides world-class supply chain solutions and services to its parent company, Caterpillar Inc., and more than 50 other leading corporations throughout the world. Headquartered in Morton, Illinois, USA, Caterpillar Logistics operates more than 100 offices and facilities in 25 countries on six continents. Caterpillar Logistics provides its full service capabilities to companies in market sectors, which include automotive service parts, industrial service parts, consumer durables, technology and electronics, manufacturing logistics, and aerospace service parts.
UNQUOTE

dont worry ...be happy

_________________
"Show me the Mini!"

So who owns Bristish Motor Heritage?

I would imagine their role would become greater now.

_________________
72 Clubman and a 75 Van.

Ford!

British Motor Heritage was sold to Ford with Land Rover. They sold a lot of the cars that they didn't like at the Gaydon Museum.