40 Years of Mechanical Passion & The Great American Salvage
Mechspec MG Centre is not an impersonal corporate dealership or an outsourced broker. It is the life’s work of Dave and Christine Parker, who founded the business in 1985 in Worksop before moving to the historic barns of Prospect Hill Farm in 2000.
In 1990, hearing that dry-climate MGs in the United States were being sent to junkyard crushers due to rising local repair costs, Dave placed a magazine advert seeking cars. He was contacted by 60-year-old Harry Dove of Savannah, Georgia. Travelling across Georgia and Florida in the sweltering heat, Dave, Harry, and their crew dismantled over 50 MGs at a time, packing them into 40-foot sea shipping containers.
Over the subsequent decade, Mechspec received 12 transatlantic container shipments, rescuing rare, rust-free parts from over 2,000 classic MGs. This extraordinary preservation endeavour created the UK's most formidable archive of original factory components—so comprehensive that British Motor Heritage turned to Mechspec to source front suspension crossmembers when developing the factory MG RV8.
1985 · Worksop Foundation
Dave and Christine Parker establish Mechspec MG Centre, supplying spares and servicing local and regional MG enthusiasts.
1990 · The Transatlantic Harry Dove Alliance
First voyage to Savannah, Georgia. Over the next decade, 12 containers and 2,000 rust-free classic MGs are salvaged from American junkyards.
1992 · British Motor Heritage RV8 Supplier
Heritage factory engineers purchase otherwise unobtainable front crossmembers from Mechspec during RV8 prototype development.
1995 · BCV8 Championship Laurels
Dave Parker wins the BCV8 Championship Standard Class and campaigns a 3.9 V8 GT in Class C. Mechspec client Andy Holmes wins Class A in 1997.
2000 · Expansion to Prospect Hill Farm, Wiseton
Moving lock, stock, and barrel into extensive barns and workshops at Wiseton, establishing dedicated engine building benches and full body facilities with Steve, Russ, and Bill.
Today · Over 40 Years of National Authority
Recognised nationwide by MGOC Spares and international collectors as the premier independent classic MG engine atelier and parts vault.