Phantom Auto Works Folds

[packardHawk58]

Thanks,

I appreciate your input. Those are pretty nice seats. I'll definitely need to look into Rene.

Mike O'Handley
Kenmore, Washington
hausdok@msn.com

'58 Packard Hawk

Hey Mike, here is a pic of my Ph rear seat that Renee did last year, nice job and about a 4 week turn around, but going by this thread I will say that will change, he will be flat out again.
While we are on the subject of trim venders, does any members have any feedback on the people who bought all of the Sasco trim, I havent heard anybody buying anything from them yet.

Brian

[JoeHall]

So Brian,
If Rene sold you the PH upholstery within the last year, and me a set of GT carpet within the last year, that is two sales opportunities missed by the folks who bought him out. He sold the business but stayed in the business. Carey's comment "showed restraint" could be interpreted other ways, i.e. kept a low profile.

In retrospect, I now feel like I contributed to a bad cause in buying from Rene. One reason for his quick order-ship time nowdays is that he sold all the equipment for in-house construction to the other guy. Rene is now outsourcing, at least that was the case with the GT carpet.

[jclary]

I'm sorry folks, but sometimes we need to repeat and remind ourselves this...for most of us, Studebaker and the pursuit of all things Studebaker is a HOBBY! Most vendors of Studebaker stuff are doing it as a SIDELINE to another business or as a HOBBY! In addition to working one or two jobs and trying to take care of FAMILY, paying a MORTGAGE, and, like the rest of us, trying to have a LIFE!

We are fortunate that a few even manage to make it their full-time business, but most don't. I am amazed that some manage to keep up with all the daily challenges of having a LIFE and still manage to share their talents in this HOBBY by providing a service to OTHERS. You name the task...and to perform it still takes a great deal of effort that is easily taken for granted. Just to buy and sell parts still requires the space to inventory, the time to catalog, a camera to photograph, advertizing, packaging, shipping, collecting, and putting up with a lot of CRAP!

Overall, we are very fortunate. I have either killed, sold, or given away every animal I ever had that attempted to bite me while I was feeding it. Keep in mind that this is a HOBBY...let's remember we need those who help support our HOBBY. Some may be more RASCALLY than others, but even a rose has thorns.

[cvytrk]

It would really be great to know the COMPLETE and TRUE facts on this subject. I talked with Rene on the phone yesterday, 10-31-11, and he stated he had not purchased anythinh from Phantom. I was in the process of purchasing fabric from Phantom and would certainly like to complete my transaction.........with someone! The Phantom folks are good people, however, now there is no phone or e-mail response from Phantom.

WELL SAID JOHN CLARY......on 11-1-11

[packardHawk58]

So Brian,
If Rene sold you the PH upholstery within the last year, and me a set of GT carpet within the last year, that is two sales opportunities missed by the folks who bought him out. He sold the business but stayed in the business. Carey's comment "showed restraint" could be interpreted other ways, i.e. kept a low profile.

In retrospect, I now feel like I contributed to a bad cause in buying from Rene. One reason for his quick order-ship time nowdays is that he sold all the equipment for in-house construction to the other guy. Rene is now outsourcing, at least that was the case with the GT carpet.

Joe, I have bought trim from Renee over the last 12 years, I go where there is service and being 10 thousand miles away that's a plus. I emailed the Phantom for a price and they didn't get back to me so I just happened to catch Renee as he started up again and the job got done, I am not playing one against the other here, that's just what happened. People are obvoisly happy with the service from Phantom and I am happy with Renee.
I back John Clary's statement, it as at the end of the day, just a hobby and hard to make a buck from it.

[mike super]

Various replies in this thread....

......Rene stated he is not buying Phantom.
.......There is no phone or email response from Phantom.

Sounds like Phantom just closed the doors and someone started a rumor. My understanding is both operations specialized in reproduction Studebaker interiors. There is no suprise here. Not enough work available to both to keep the doors open. Unfortunate, but a fact of life for everyone in a small business today.

[lotsalarks]

Greetings, all,

I can clarify a couple of things based on personal connections...

Phantom's owner, Nicole, contacted us a couple of months ago to let us know that they were selling the Studebaker elements of their business, and she let us know that they wanted the stock to go to Studebaker folks, if at all possible. She said at the time that they were contacting several potential buyers. After Will made a trip out to Ohio to see what they had and determining that their inventory would fill the gaps in our inventory, we decided that we would purchase the seat covers, door panels, arm rests, and visors. I don't know whether they've found someone to purchase the fabric and vinyl roll-stock or the machines and dies used to make the door panels.

While we had completed a by-the-numbers inventory of all the 1959-1966 seat covers and ordered (not yet counted) all of the door panels, console covers, pockets and trim accessories, kick panels and other soft parts, we have yet to sort and organize ALL of the headliners and floor coverings. Will and a friend of ours made a four-day trip last weekend to retrieve everything from Ohio, and we have now added a good number of 1961 seat covers and door panels, a few more truck seat covers and door panels, and some Hawk door panels (we previously had very few), Lark visors, and arm rests (some good, some not-so-good).

Are we nuts???? Probably, yes. Do we want to have a corner on the market? No, definitely no.... we just wanted to help save these things to get them to their rightful cars and trucks.

A very real problem is what jclary mentioned above - we actually have day jobs as educators (more than 40 hours per week during the school year), so the time it's taking to sort and inventory is limited to nighttimes, weekends, and breaks from school. While we would love it if one or both of us could work on this full-time, the reality is that the economy is too unstable, and we can't base our livelihood on a hobby-market.

The good news is that slowly-but-surely, we are getting some things out the door each weekend. The hard news is that we can't work fast enough to get caught up real-time to everyone who has sent requests on "look-fors" as we sorted. Prices are mostly set, with some very-plentiful seat covers and door panels priced at $30 - $40 each and the much-less-plentiful seat covers and door panels priced at up to $125 each.

We thought long and hard before we invested additional money and time into this extra stock, and we discussed the current and future markets. We know that there really is enough business to spread around to meet everyone's needs... we've got the bulk of 59-66 NOS stock, JDP handles reproductions and alternative styles for those who want new fabric, vinyl, or leather, and Rene is doing more of the high-end reproduction interiors along with other original-style interior kits. It sounds like all of us have our own challenges in meeting the on-demand timelines to which our society has become accustomed, though. I'm hoping that the Studebaker restoration community will continue to find the value in what each of us is offering and be patient (with us, at least) as we try to meet customers' needs.

That's all for now... thanks for taking the time to read this long post!

~Lori

[58PackardWagon]

Lori thanks for posting and presenting the facts. Forums at times can be a very positive and productive source....and on the other end of the spectrum, they can cause more problems than necessary. Take care and best of luck to you and Will.

[hausdok]

OK,

So potential sources for interiors are:

Rene' Harger - Custom from scratch
Starlight Studebaker - NOS 59 -66 Stude
Phantom Auto Works - Patterns
JDP (???) - ???? Who's JDP?

Sorry, I'm new here; I haven't had time to learn all of the players yet.

Mike O'Handley
Kenmore, Washington
hausdok@msn.com

'58 Packard Hawk

[avantilover]

Hi Mike, See post no 7 in this thread. We refer to John Poulos as JDP he's a vendor of Studebaker Upholstery and buys , does up and sells cars as well. No-one is more honest and easy to deal with as John.

[hausdok]

Thanks, much obliged.

Eventually I'll figure out who everyone is here.

Mike O'Handley
Kenmore, Washington
hausdok@msn.com

'58 Packard Hawk

[Phantom]

Thank you all for your interest in Phantom Auto Works. No, Phantom Auto Works has not folded. We have gone through a few changes is all. As many of you have discovered, we have sold off most of our NOS and have started to sell Pattern and Assembly Instruction Kits. We did sell our NOS Seat Covers, Door Panels, Seat Inserts, Door Panel Inserts, Arm Rests and Visors to Lori and Will of Starlight Studebakers and are really glad they are doing what they are doing. As of October 1st, we transitioned from selling and manufacturing interiors to selling Pattern and Assembly Instruction Kits. Additionally, we are actively selling our significant stock of reproduction & NOS cloth and vinyl. The cloth has a website special right now that could save you $100!! Please do check out our website at www.phantomstudebakers.com. Regards, Nick Bush, Nicole Paolozzi, Owners; and Kevin & Carrie Haines, Operators.

[TX Rebel]

If you are still in business, I wish you would let me know where my interiors are- I left you a message 2 weeks ago!