VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions LeBaron Bonney news

This is still up in the air. I have just received an email from the USDOJ. There has been a new bidder for the LeBaron Bonney assets. The court has received a counteroffer filed by Creditor Eckler Industries Inc. I don't know if this is going to be a bidding war or not, but it's not over yet.

Interesting. Thanks for the update.

Ecklers buying would probably be better than SMS. Eckler already specializes in different lines like Chevy and Ford plus would most likely have the capital to put the business back as it was, making full interiors. For some reason it felt like SMS was looking to get the LB line off the table making themselves the only show in town. I’m only guessing here but based on the current customer service described by others at SMS, it doesn’t sound like they would have attempted to bring the LBHC lines back as we know them. I don’t know what the current selling price of the assets is but I was offered them for $70k, not counting the EzBoy line that was relocated to ME. That’s not a lot of money and I could imagine a bidding war could easily happen. One would think Ecklers might have more capital to invest than SMS also. Time will tell but hopefully who ever buys the assets, brings the lines back.

Christech
If you had a lazy $70k that would have been a good purchase looking from my side of the fence but the devil is always in the detail and could well ruin the whole deal. I agree hopefully the buyer will bring the LeBaron Bonney lines back.
Tony

Christech I hope you are right about Ecklers. They were one of the creditors that LeBaron Bonney owed a lot of money to. As I have commented in a post long ago, I had not had good reports about dealings customers had with SMS. I don't know if the bankruptcy judge will allow bidding to continue. I would think for what has been offered, the EzBoy section would be worth at least half of all the assets. As of a few days ago, Christech, if you had $70,000 laying around you could probably get a loan for another 70K and then you would be in the ball park,

Funny you say that Tony. I hadn’t said anything to my wife about it, but I did start investigating the possibility somewhat extensively. I live about 80 miles due south of LBHC so the move would be fairly easy hiring a friend I know whit his own TT rig to haul the containers here. I got a quote for some mill space that was doable while a planned expansion on my own 30x60 garage (adding a full barn roof on my current flat roofed garage would give a 24x60 area) could be carried out. I located some retired seamstresses in the area who would have done the work and I already had a business manager (my wife who’s background is business management and she’s excellent at it)! I had requested to have an former LBHC employee to call me and I was told she would. I was waiting for her call as I knew she would provide a good insight to the goings on of the business plus she could have put me in touch with others in the office. I never heard and kept asking for her contact info and was promised I’d get it. It never materialized so I didn’t pull the trigger.
So just a couple days ago my wife and I were chatting and I brought up the issue mentioning the SMS-Ecklers thing. So my wife out of the clear blue sky says to me, I’m surprised you didn’t talk to me about buying it!! What did she just say?? Then after she paused,she started giving reasons why it would be bad for us. It’s what she usually does!

Having done business with Ecklers in the past I am not excited to have them in the business of exclusively supplying older Chevrolet interior kits. Not too keen on SMS either as they are not in the kit business and gearing up might be too expensive. They have a major strangle hold on the older fabrics as they have purchased stocks of nearly all the older established upholstery suppliers across the country. I think it would be far better to have an old Chevrolet enthusiast be at the helm. Like Stan Brown who started Hampton Coach. If Ted were to seriously consider jumping in I could be convinced to be an investor.

Christech
I didnt realize you were that geographicaly close as my US geography was never good.
It seems like you should have "pulled the trigger", when wives start telling you why it is a bad idea they mean "go ahead" so that if it doesnt work they can say "I told you so".
Of course there is the other side of the coin in that your other restoration projects would nearly come to an end.
Tony

Hello all. I'm not sanguine on Ecklers winning the bid for the remnants of LBHC. Does Ecklers have any experience & expertise in auto interiors and the fabrics used? To be honest I've never heard of them, I did go to their website and I didn't see any interior product lines, just parts for mid 50's and and later GM & Ford products (engine parts, body panels, wiring etc.) If they are one of LBHC's largest creditors I think they are looking to purchase at auction wholesale cheap and sell piecemeal either at auction again or other methods to gain a maximum return on their loss. I think some people would pay top dollar for the patterns of individual car models and years. (How did Ecklers become a creditor of LBHC anyway?)

At least with SMS (I knew of them but they're in the pacific time zone and I eastern so when I was ready to go for an interior for my 32 sedan I was going to go with LBHC....sigh) there is the experience with the fabrics and the infrastructure (they are already making door panels and seat covers in the proper fabrics) for later model cars) to make a go of it, if that is what they are intending.

Other than that the club can take pledges (like PBS) to enter the bid to by the lot and ship it to CHISTECH (seeing how he is so close) at least it would be safe there.

OK every body, The judge just awarded the assets to Ecklers. If any of you would like to see the court documents on this case you can send me an email and I will send the judges order. Whether you like Ecklers or not they are the one that have the patterns we need.

Thanks John,
It good that it is progressing. Glad someone who can understand the value has ended up with this rather than laying in a seacan somewhere indefinitely...

Since you seem to have a good knowledge of these things, do have an educated guess as to when Ecklers will know what the content of the inventory is? I would love to know if they have any '51 Delux stock.
Jeff

That's very unfortunate, dealt with Eck once and never again , BANDITS

Jeff, I think they would have a pretty good idea what they are getting but I don’t know how the patterns are listed on the inventory. I thought I would give them a call in a couple of months and see what they are planning to do.

Thanks for the reply. I think I will wait until then to decide which way to go. I would hate to have it done with repro fabric, only to find that they have quantity of the original for sale.
Jeff

If anyone might have the fabric SMS in Oregon would be on the top of my list. A phone call might be warranted even if they don't show it on their website. They might have a small amount that is not listed.

I spoke with hem today and all they have is their repro. They told me that there is no original '51 Deluxe fabric anywhere. I guess I will have to buy theirs. I have the shop ready to sew it up for me.
Jeff