The Automotive Archaeologist

LEICESTER, UNITED KINGDOM – June 1, 2011: Brendan Willcocks, business manager at MG Rover parts supplier XPart, is celebrating 20 years of service to MG Rover cars. Whilst the demise of MG Rover in 2005 could have caused the link to be broken, XPart has kept the business alive, going to extraordinary lengths to keep these much loved cars on the road.

The title of business manager does not do justice to Brendan’s pivotal role within XPart. Brendan is constantly challenged with finding new and ever more ingenious ways of sourcing critical parts against the clock. XPart’s rasion d’etre is clear, to keep MG Rovers on the road. Brendan is a key figure in XPart’s Close Call scheme which offers reduced rates on parts for MG Rovers that are in danger of being written off. Most insurance companies will declare the car a write-off if Brendan cannot find the necessary part within 24 hours.

“People are proud to drive an MG Rover” says Brendan, “it’s not only a mode of transport, it’s a passion and we share that with MG Rover owners. I myself have two Rovers, an 11 year old Rover 600 which has done 165,000 miles and a 16 year old Rover 400 which has done over 200,000 miles. They are both going strong and I wouldn’t swap them for the world. I receive around 20 urgent enquires a week, it gives me enormous satisfaction to please the customer and let’s be honest, if I save a car it saves my job. I’m happy to say we do save the vast majority of cars, putting in enormous amounts of effort to source unusual parts, it is certainly a unique role, I’ve even heard it described as automotive archaeology. If your MG or Rover is in danger of being written off, email the XPart Close Call team: closecall@cat.com or give them a call on 0845 603 4451. ”