Two new tidbits from SHR for the interior
2/23/08, 07:57 PM
#1
Legacy Tms Member
Thread Starter
Two new tidbits from SHR for the interior
Ok guys, here's a couple of new ones to go along with our other interior pieces. I'm very proud of the work we did on the mirror controls, they just came back from the finishers and look great. Here's a couple of shots:
And of course, we've had these for about 8 months now (maybe even longer, where does the time go?) but we never were able to get enough time to put a good production run together until about the week before Christmas. So while some customers were able to get them, they were having to call in and ask for it because we didn't have them listed in the website or in our catalogs, but of course when people saw pictures of them in our cars, they wanted to know more...
Both, of course are now in stock in ALL finishes and available on our website. We've got a limited # of GT engraved pieces of the e-brake handles available, but I don't think we'll be producing them again, so if you would like one of those, better jump on it!
And of course, we've had these for about 8 months now (maybe even longer, where does the time go?) but we never were able to get enough time to put a good production run together until about the week before Christmas. So while some customers were able to get them, they were having to call in and ask for it because we didn't have them listed in the website or in our catalogs, but of course when people saw pictures of them in our cars, they wanted to know more...
Both, of course are now in stock in ALL finishes and available on our website. We've got a limited # of GT engraved pieces of the e-brake handles available, but I don't think we'll be producing them again, so if you would like one of those, better jump on it!
2/23/08, 09:46 PM
#2
Team Mustang Source
OK, one more Time ?
Thanks Marcello, You're killing me. 
Just ordered both items, now I can wait for The Mustang to leave Hibernation (April
) to
install them along with the SHR Lower Grill Inserts.
This is getting more Expensive than my Drug Habit, which Canadian Medicare
pays for.
Looking forward to the Mail Arrival.
Just ordered both items, now I can wait for The Mustang to leave Hibernation (April
) to install them along with the SHR Lower Grill Inserts.
This is getting more Expensive than my Drug Habit, which Canadian Medicare
pays for.Looking forward to the Mail Arrival.
2/24/08, 09:44 AM
#3
Mach 1 Member
Join Date: October 20, 2005
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Posts: 874
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
already ordered both on friday without even knowing what they looked like. when i heard they were coming out, i knew i had to have them. was a bit nervous, but they look great in those pics. can't wait to put them on. plus... it gave me a great excuse to buy a t-shirt. hehe.
can't wait to see what else you guys come up with! [subliminal message]body-colored gas covers[/subliminal message]
can't wait to see what else you guys come up with! [subliminal message]body-colored gas covers[/subliminal message]
2/24/08, 03:30 PM
#5
Mach 1 Member
Ha ha! Told you on a louver thread I'd be ordering lots of SHR in the future! Just ordered mirror control and HVAC Controls in satin, to be followed by lots more!
Gotta say Marcello, when you take the time to make really cool and high quality stuff, people will obviously notice. I hope you have a long and prosperous run with all your mustang ideas.
You definitely deserve a naner!
Gotta say Marcello, when you take the time to make really cool and high quality stuff, people will obviously notice. I hope you have a long and prosperous run with all your mustang ideas.
You definitely deserve a naner!
2/24/08, 06:03 PM
#6
Legacy Tms Member
Thread Starter
Thanks guys - realize we're working 7 days a week (literally) trying to bring everything into line so that we can produce new parts quicker and to our level of quality we've become known for. It's just a lot different when you have other products already in the mix that need to be produced every day and then add more onto it, rather than how it was when we did our first product (honeycomb panel) and there was nothing else to worry about.
So when we get a little behind where we hope to be sometimes, realize it's not because we're not trying
On the mirror controls - the real work is on the backside where you can't see it in the pictures. Realize that making a square hole (for starters) that size in solid 6061-T6 to mount to the factory switch isn't the easiest thing in the world. The engraving actually was the easy part!! The nice thing though is that it goes on real easy, as usual, snap off the plastic and press on the new piece, you're done!
As to the drug habits - you're talking to someone who has the same Mustang he started with when he was 15 - you're at least in good company with your addiction
So when we get a little behind where we hope to be sometimes, realize it's not because we're not trying
On the mirror controls - the real work is on the backside where you can't see it in the pictures. Realize that making a square hole (for starters) that size in solid 6061-T6 to mount to the factory switch isn't the easiest thing in the world. The engraving actually was the easy part!! The nice thing though is that it goes on real easy, as usual, snap off the plastic and press on the new piece, you're done!
As to the drug habits - you're talking to someone who has the same Mustang he started with when he was 15 - you're at least in good company with your addiction
2/25/08, 08:04 PM
#9
Legacy Tms Member
Thread Starter
George,
I will not get drawn into an argument with you here, but I will state for the record that I did approach you early on regarding offering some of your products rather than making our own versions because my first rule is that if someone is doing it well, and it is something we can offer our customers, we would rather go that route than be known as a "copy cat" in the market. I have been the recipient of such copying already as well, so I do not like being on either side of this issue. If you look at our agreements with companies like Agent 47, Legend, etc... you would see that we do not overlap parts when there is possibility of working together (we were in development of the retro mirrors very similar to AG47's when they released them - we instead scrapped our plans and became a dealer for their product that I felt was a good compromise piece).
UPR's "designer" part caught my eye, as we were advertising the e-brake in Mustang Enthusiast since last October, and their ads seemed to hit around Dec-Jan, but they tend to do that with everyone. At least this time they didn't use our photos in their ad...
That said, my original emails to you seemed to fall on deaf ears, and to further the issue, when we did try one of your cup holders early on it was found that they didn't fit a 12 oz can or 20 oz bottle in the existing holes, and that it was a relatively simple fix to make them functional. So we did. And then everyone altered the design to match ours, and now we aren't the "only" ones making a cup holder that holds cans of soda... which is kind of an important design element for a cup holder, agreed?
To address the e-brake directly - I wanted to do an entire arm replacement, but it is not cost-effective or needed. I have had these available for sale since early last summer, but never had time to ramp up the production due to other projects continually taking our time up. We're working on another VMC which will solve the current spindle time dilemna, but for now, we just need to schedule as we can our production. Given that this was an "afterthought" part for us(hence the name tidbit in the title), we made the original run, and never advertised it via the website until early this year when we had a chance to make a rather large run of them and get them off for finishing. I just looked at the photo folder date stamps, and some of the shots we used in the current website ad were taken as far back as 3/7/2007, hardly a "new" thing. But yes, they (the non-engraved parts) look similar to your parts, I won't deny that - the piece looks good, fits well, and functions as required without rattling like some of the others on the market do. You do not offer a dealer program, nor do you offer it in all the finishes we offer our interior parts in, so that kind of leaves us with little choice if we want to offer a quality part to our customers to match all of our other interior products, since yours is off the table.
I would further state that NONE of our other products bear any resemblance to yours in any way other than function, and that I do not look to your product offerings as a guide to designing ours as I personaly don't care for the black insert that you do. When customers have called looking for that type of part, I have always sent them in yor direction without hesitation or animosity. We have a lot of products in common in function, but this is the only one that is in common in appearance. In the end, I leave it to the customers to decide who's products they like the best, and never have said an ill word regarding MGW's products even though we compete for the same market on a few of our other offerings.
BTW, here's a picture of our GT engraved handle - same picture stamp time too - back in spring of last year - other than the fact that it fits on the existing arm, they don't look very much like yours, do they? But for non-GT customers, we need a solution, and in this case, the options were limited in how they were going to look.
If you'd like to discuss it further, either PM me, email me directly, or give me a call. But given that there was nothing to say to us a year or two ago when we were still really just getting started and you guys were already moving along, why bother with us now?
I will not get drawn into an argument with you here, but I will state for the record that I did approach you early on regarding offering some of your products rather than making our own versions because my first rule is that if someone is doing it well, and it is something we can offer our customers, we would rather go that route than be known as a "copy cat" in the market. I have been the recipient of such copying already as well, so I do not like being on either side of this issue. If you look at our agreements with companies like Agent 47, Legend, etc... you would see that we do not overlap parts when there is possibility of working together (we were in development of the retro mirrors very similar to AG47's when they released them - we instead scrapped our plans and became a dealer for their product that I felt was a good compromise piece).
UPR's "designer" part caught my eye, as we were advertising the e-brake in Mustang Enthusiast since last October, and their ads seemed to hit around Dec-Jan, but they tend to do that with everyone. At least this time they didn't use our photos in their ad...
That said, my original emails to you seemed to fall on deaf ears, and to further the issue, when we did try one of your cup holders early on it was found that they didn't fit a 12 oz can or 20 oz bottle in the existing holes, and that it was a relatively simple fix to make them functional. So we did. And then everyone altered the design to match ours, and now we aren't the "only" ones making a cup holder that holds cans of soda... which is kind of an important design element for a cup holder, agreed?
To address the e-brake directly - I wanted to do an entire arm replacement, but it is not cost-effective or needed. I have had these available for sale since early last summer, but never had time to ramp up the production due to other projects continually taking our time up. We're working on another VMC which will solve the current spindle time dilemna, but for now, we just need to schedule as we can our production. Given that this was an "afterthought" part for us(hence the name tidbit in the title), we made the original run, and never advertised it via the website until early this year when we had a chance to make a rather large run of them and get them off for finishing. I just looked at the photo folder date stamps, and some of the shots we used in the current website ad were taken as far back as 3/7/2007, hardly a "new" thing. But yes, they (the non-engraved parts) look similar to your parts, I won't deny that - the piece looks good, fits well, and functions as required without rattling like some of the others on the market do. You do not offer a dealer program, nor do you offer it in all the finishes we offer our interior parts in, so that kind of leaves us with little choice if we want to offer a quality part to our customers to match all of our other interior products, since yours is off the table.
I would further state that NONE of our other products bear any resemblance to yours in any way other than function, and that I do not look to your product offerings as a guide to designing ours as I personaly don't care for the black insert that you do. When customers have called looking for that type of part, I have always sent them in yor direction without hesitation or animosity. We have a lot of products in common in function, but this is the only one that is in common in appearance. In the end, I leave it to the customers to decide who's products they like the best, and never have said an ill word regarding MGW's products even though we compete for the same market on a few of our other offerings.
BTW, here's a picture of our GT engraved handle - same picture stamp time too - back in spring of last year - other than the fact that it fits on the existing arm, they don't look very much like yours, do they? But for non-GT customers, we need a solution, and in this case, the options were limited in how they were going to look.
If you'd like to discuss it further, either PM me, email me directly, or give me a call. But given that there was nothing to say to us a year or two ago when we were still really just getting started and you guys were already moving along, why bother with us now?
2/25/08, 09:40 PM
#10
Legacy Tms Member
Thread Starter
Just a little "tidbit" of a follow up with the facts...
Folow the link below to see I actually made reference to contacting you in a public forum back in mid 2006 and allued to the 1911 business which we both are in to different extents, which was the timeframe that I mentioned above. I knew I had done this, but couldn't remember where until a customer reminded me about the statement I made in it. As I said, when we didn't hear back at all, we moved forward with our plans, and haven't looked back since.
http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showth...t=49331&page=2
Again, I'm sorry that in this case our paths had to cross in such a way, I do try to avoid it whenever possible. I would also like to point out that I have never had one of your E-brake handles in hand, or in our shop. Our piece's appearance came from another copy made by someone else, and so your part in question was knocked off 2x removed before we ever even considered it. You might want to go have a talk with them first... given the choice of offering their product (they do have a dealer program) or none at all, we decided to make our own that fit in to help out our customers that wanted to have a single-source solution for their interior products, and know that we stand behind it if there is any problem.
Folow the link below to see I actually made reference to contacting you in a public forum back in mid 2006 and allued to the 1911 business which we both are in to different extents, which was the timeframe that I mentioned above. I knew I had done this, but couldn't remember where until a customer reminded me about the statement I made in it. As I said, when we didn't hear back at all, we moved forward with our plans, and haven't looked back since.
http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showth...t=49331&page=2
Again, I'm sorry that in this case our paths had to cross in such a way, I do try to avoid it whenever possible. I would also like to point out that I have never had one of your E-brake handles in hand, or in our shop. Our piece's appearance came from another copy made by someone else, and so your part in question was knocked off 2x removed before we ever even considered it. You might want to go have a talk with them first... given the choice of offering their product (they do have a dealer program) or none at all, we decided to make our own that fit in to help out our customers that wanted to have a single-source solution for their interior products, and know that we stand behind it if there is any problem.
2/26/08, 03:20 PM
#12
GT Member
Join Date: November 13, 2007
Posts: 157
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Imitation is the highest form of flattery.That said I just retired after 44 years as a tool & die maker and I will say I am proud to buy products that both of you make the form and finish is excellent.Made in the USA still means alot to me and many other car lovers.
2/26/08, 06:12 PM
#15
Cobra R Member
Join Date: September 26, 2006
Location: East Moline, IL
Posts: 2,019
Likes: 0
Received 5 Likes
on
4 Posts
Well, I hadn't fully made up my mind about MGW, but I'm pretty sure I have now. It's quite unprofessional to bring this up on a public forum. You should have approached Marcello in private, not on a public forum, in a post about his product. And it sounds like Marcello made plenty of attempts to come up with an agreement. I will attest to the need for multiple finishes, to match the other pieces, also.
Anyway, pieces look great Marcello.
Anyway, pieces look great Marcello.
2/26/08, 06:21 PM
#16
GT Member
Join Date: April 10, 2006
Posts: 167
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have purchased many interior pieces from MGW.
I have been quoted as saying that I think their offerings are the best, with SHR catching up quickly, and UPR basically sucks.
(btw, I just put in the SHR lower grill inserts, very happy).
I think you are both quality companies, not just putting out cheap imitations.
I don't believe this was a blatent attempt to copy MGW, at least I certainly hope not.
I will continue to look to both of you for my needs, because frankly, you both are miles ahead of the rest.
I am interested in a black GT handle,
I currently have the MGW polished, but like to change things up now and then. (I have 3 different after market shiftknobs, including the MGW gripper ****),
I have been quoted as saying that I think their offerings are the best, with SHR catching up quickly, and UPR basically sucks.
(btw, I just put in the SHR lower grill inserts, very happy).
I think you are both quality companies, not just putting out cheap imitations.
I don't believe this was a blatent attempt to copy MGW, at least I certainly hope not.
I will continue to look to both of you for my needs, because frankly, you both are miles ahead of the rest.
I am interested in a black GT handle,
I currently have the MGW polished, but like to change things up now and then. (I have 3 different after market shiftknobs, including the MGW gripper ****),
2/26/08, 08:06 PM
#18
Team Mustang Source
Well, I have to say the similarity between the MGW and SilverHorse design sort of irked me when I first saw it and I have nothing to do with either company (other than being a repeat customer for both).
SilverHorse has set a pretty high bar for themselves as far as innovation as witnessed by their honeycomb trim panel, first class flush louvers for the coupes, and top quality billet fuel doors and rear medallions.
When I first saw photos of the brake handle, I was very disappointed as I felt it really was a significant step back in SilverHorse's efforts to provide unique high quality products. I really expected something new and special, instead we got a 97% similar rehash of another companies long existing product. Whether it was twice or ten times removed, the similarity to the MGW design is painfully clear.
It also seems to me that in large part Marcello's statement boils down to "If you won't cut a deal with me, It's ok if I just make the identical item on my own then". For me at least, that's a pretty shaky ethical position.
SilverHorse has set a pretty high bar for themselves as far as innovation as witnessed by their honeycomb trim panel, first class flush louvers for the coupes, and top quality billet fuel doors and rear medallions.
When I first saw photos of the brake handle, I was very disappointed as I felt it really was a significant step back in SilverHorse's efforts to provide unique high quality products. I really expected something new and special, instead we got a 97% similar rehash of another companies long existing product. Whether it was twice or ten times removed, the similarity to the MGW design is painfully clear.
It also seems to me that in large part Marcello's statement boils down to "If you won't cut a deal with me, It's ok if I just make the identical item on my own then". For me at least, that's a pretty shaky ethical position.
2/26/08, 08:40 PM
#19
Bullitt Member
Join Date: April 11, 2006
Posts: 277
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
In my humble opinion, they design of the e-brake doesn't allow for much diversity in developing aftermarket covers. I completely agree with Marcellos choice to offer an identical product because as has been mentioned, they offer unique finishes that are made to work together either to contrast or compliment existing pieces.
2/26/08, 09:27 PM
#20
Cobra R Member
Join Date: September 26, 2006
Location: East Moline, IL
Posts: 2,019
Likes: 0
Received 5 Likes
on
4 Posts
Well, I have to say the similarity between the MGW and SilverHorse design sort of irked me when I first saw it and I have nothing to do with either company (other than being a repeat customer for both).
SilverHorse has set a pretty high bar for themselves as far as innovation as witnessed by their honeycomb trim panel, first class flush louvers for the coupes, and top quality billet fuel doors and rear medallions.
When I first saw photos of the brake handle, I was very disappointed as I felt it really was a significant step back in SilverHorse's efforts to provide unique high quality products. I really expected something new and special, instead we got a 97% similar rehash of another companies long existing product. Whether it was twice or ten times removed, the similarity to the MGW design is painfully clear.
It also seems to me that in large part Marcello's statement boils down to "If you won't cut a deal with me, It's ok if I just make the identical item on my own then". For me at least, that's a pretty shaky ethical position.
SilverHorse has set a pretty high bar for themselves as far as innovation as witnessed by their honeycomb trim panel, first class flush louvers for the coupes, and top quality billet fuel doors and rear medallions.
When I first saw photos of the brake handle, I was very disappointed as I felt it really was a significant step back in SilverHorse's efforts to provide unique high quality products. I really expected something new and special, instead we got a 97% similar rehash of another companies long existing product. Whether it was twice or ten times removed, the similarity to the MGW design is painfully clear.
It also seems to me that in large part Marcello's statement boils down to "If you won't cut a deal with me, It's ok if I just make the identical item on my own then". For me at least, that's a pretty shaky ethical position.