How KMC Started

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Our Beginnings:
Kip had just started KMC as a small restoration business (mostly Studebaker, Ford & Chevrolet) when his wife, Debra, required a new vehicle. She was a salesperson with a large territory when the company she was with decided they would no longer supply cars, but would instead pay mileage. Debra soon realized a new car would be totally worn out long before it was paid for. After reviewing several options, she decided an antique convertible was the solution, a Metropolitan.

For her the car was an icebreaker. For us, it meant alot of work, as she was driving 35-50,000 miles/year. We worked on her car many evenings and most weekends keeping it roadworthy. The flip side was that within a few months, every Metropolitan within a 200 mile radius was showing up at KMC for service & restoration.   We were forced to stock a large inventory of parts, and fabricate many items that were no longer available.  In a short time (1992) we published our first catalog and went mail order to increase the inventory turnover rate.

During the Metropolitan frenzy, many customers and their friends came to us asking if we could service and supply parts for their 'other' British cars. As all of the popular types (Austin-Healey, MG, Triumph, etc.) were already well serviced, these people were actually inquiring about what we now call 'orphans'. The first Orphan Book came out in 1994, and was an instant hit.

We currently have four different catalogs: The Metropolitan Book Mk IV, The London Taxi Book, The Orphan Book Mk III and The Berkeley Book Mk II. Although we still do alot of service and restoration work for customers worldwide, mail order & parts now account for over 80% of sales.

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