This month sees the official retirement of Rory MacMath, who is the longest serving Marcos employee, racking up over 55 years with the marque.
Rory’s career with Marcos started in 1968 as an engineer at the Greenland Mills factory in Bradford on Avon, producing 5 to 6 wooden chassis cars a week.
Marcos moved to its new premises on the Westbury Trading Estate in 1969/70, and Rory was involved in developing the new metal chassis and running the service department, looking after many loyal Marcos customers including some very famous owners such as Rod Stewart, Sam Wanamaker and John Noakes from Blue Peter fame to name a few.
The company fell on bad times during the early 1970’s as a result of the American market falling through, purchase tax being introduced, the development of the Mantis M70 and the move to Westbury. A receiver was appointed, and Rory and Jem were the last of the employees to leave. Rory then went on to work with the new owners the Rob Walker Group based at Corsley, where he continued to run the new service department looking after Marcos customers.
After a year or so Rory left the Rob Walkers Group, and went back to work with Jem Marsh on a new venture, Jem Marsh Performance Cars, selling and servicing and looking after all things Marcos. This went on for many years, continuing to support Marcos owners worldwide with spares and servicing.
Jem had the opportunity to buy back the assets of the old company, and in 1979 the Marcos 3 Litre was relaunched in kit form. Rory built a brand new car for the 1982 Earls Court Motor Show, and the car was a huge success with the press and national television. The company went from strength to strength.
The 1980’s saw the introduction of the Rover V8 engine, which Rory developed, and this engine was used on many Marcos models through to 1998.
Rory decided to part ways with the Marcos company in Westbury in 1992, and set up a company acquiring and selling Land Rover parts.
In November 1997, Rory moved to new premises in Semington, and purchased Marcos Heritage Spares from David Methley where we continue to this day to look after Marcos customers worldwide.
The year 2000 saw the administration of the old Marcos company and Marcos Heritage secured the future by buying all of the assets, which included moulds, tooling and jigs going back in some cases to 1960.
In 2021 Marcos Heritage was purchased by Page Automotive a company stretching its roots back as far as 1906. The company is headed up by Howard Nash who has bold plans for the marque whilst honouring the heritage of Marcos
Rory’s retirement has been marked by the passing to Manager Nick Kleiff who has over 40 years experience in the vintage and classic car industry, with Emily and James MacMath providing continuity, knowledge and their loyalty to the company.
Rory’s retirement has been marked by the handover to Nick Kleiff (General Manager, Marcos Heritage Spares). Nick has over 40 years of experience in the classic car industry. Emily and James MacMath continue to provide continuity, knowledge and their loyalty to the customers and company
A huge thank you Rory for his loyal years of service, he will be missed by the Marcos community, customers, owners, and suppliers alike and we wish him well in his retirement
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