Vintique, Inc.

Remember back to the days when everything came from Argentina if you want to see stuff that didn't fit. Their stuff made the Chinese stuff look like NOS.

Hah, now that one brings back a lot of unfond memories!!! I think it's more productive to talk about specifics when tarring manufacturers for sub-par products. Goes for those shovel-ready projects as well, but we don't discuss politics here, fortunately. I have a mix of many manufacturers products on my car, and am for the most part happy with them, and very happy to have them too, especially when I think of what was available back in the '70's
 
Right on about those "Hecho in Argentina" parts! I'd almost totally forgotten about them.
I remember the "hole fillers" we put between the fenders. They were hole fillers because they were so bad we didn't want to call them grilles!
 
I just installed Vintique grab handles on the rumble seat on my coupe. The handle or bar and 1/4 20 screw of this assy was ok, but the nuts were 3/8 not 7/16, OOPS I mean they were 10mm. The plating on the bushings seemed flaky. The parts were new. I bought them at a swap meet, unused, for les than half the original price. This is not really a complaint, just a comment. I thought it was weird having the 10mm nut.
Terry
 
I have a pair of front drums from Argentina for a '40 that I will sell REAL cheap if someone has cash to waste.
 
Back in the late 70's when I was at my first of many Ford dealers part dept jobs, we restored a 1954 Ford F-100 for the owner. I had to get new hubcaps, etc... for it. The hubcaps were 6A 1130-A and were stamped in ink on the inside " made in Argentina " . They were well made and fit good. Ford still to this day has stuff made there. One of many places they use in the world. Most of your plastic remote mirrors on Fords and other brands are made in Australia. World sourcing. THere's good and bad made everywhere.
 
What about Lear Inc, in Shenadoah Co, Va who just moved their entire production line to Ford's new Mega plant in Brazil? They made many of the interior plastic moldings for Ford.
Terry




Back in the late 70's when I was at my first of many Ford dealers part dept jobs, we restored a 1954 Ford F-100 for the owner. I had to get new hubcaps, etc... for it. The hubcaps were 6A 1130-A and were stamped in ink on the inside " made in Argentina " . They were well made and fit good. Ford still to this day has stuff made there. One of many places they use in the world. Most of your plastic remote mirrors on Fords and other brands are made in Australia. World sourcing. THere's good and bad made everywhere.
 
When I worked at a Ford dealership in the early 70s we had a big problem with a batch of Motorcraft DP12 (standard V8) point sets we and several other dealers in the area got from one of the M/C jobbers.

Packages weren't the obvious low dollar knockoffs that could usually be spotted right away - those boxes looked to be genuine Ford/Motorcraft red, white & black. But the pointsets inside were junk.

The Ford zone rep (Wixom/Detroit area) got wind of it somehow and they were recalled. Apparently the points were made in Mexico and if I remember correctly, Ford alleged that they came in thru jobber networks and without Ford's knowledge.

Some guessed it may have been a test to check the target customers' reaction to a 'lesser quality' product?
 
WE had many knock off parts in boxes that were copies of the Moptorcraft boxes. Oil filters were the worst ones. I would get calls every week offing FL-1A filters cheap. I bought direct from Ford or known good jobbers for my stuff. Never saw any bad DP-12 points or DC-13A condensers. As they say, you get what you pay for....
 
I had an F250 Superduty that I took to the dealer for new front brakes. When talking to the service manager about the parts that the dealer used. I said that I went to the dealer becuause I wanted factory Ford parts used. He told me immediately that I would have Motorcraft parts installed. I asked what he mean't. He told me "that factory parts where not available", that Motorcraft was Fords "Napa" and although Ford approved the parts they were not "factory parts"................
 
I had an F250 Superduty that I took to the dealer for new front brakes. When talking to the service manager about the parts that the dealer used. I said that I went to the dealer becuause I wanted factory Ford parts used. He told me immediately that I would have Motorcraft parts installed. I asked what he mean't. He told me "that factory parts where not available", that Motorcraft was Fords "Napa" and although Ford approved the parts they were not "factory parts"................

The dealer rep was not correct. The type of pads installed at the plants are available through dealer parts departments for late model vehicles, but at a higher cost and may need to be ordered. Motorcraft pads are not the "factory" pads, but a lower cost replacement.

Steve
 
Back
Top