Is Cartouche still in business?

[Chris Haynes]

When I go to their website www.cartoucheupholstery.com I wind up on https://www.macsautoparts.com/. My experiences with Macs have been less than stellar. Is Cartouche still in business?

[Bob C]

I think you'll find Mac's owns Cartouche.

[rotorwrench]

Ekler's owns Mac's to make it even more complicated.

[McMimmcs]

Simple, simple. Seek another supplier. I personally, will continue to use Macs because I have never experienced a problem with them.

[bobbader]

As reported, Cartouche is owned by Mac's and always has been. The corporate owner of both is Eckler's. If you have bought Cartouche before, and have been satisfied, the quality remains the same. So, even though you may not be satisfied with Mac's, Cartouche may still fit the bill for you.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

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Originally Posted by bobbader

As reported, Cartouche is owned by Mac's and always has been. The corporate owner of both is Eckler's. If you have bought Cartouche before, and have been satisfied, the quality remains the same. So, even though you may not be satisfied with Mac's, Cartouche may still fit the bill for you.

Bob, that is a good way to say that. I will say that IMHO the quality is probably up some since they are now the supplier for the same fabrics and piece-goods that LeBaron Bonney used to make. Before, Cartouche did not have access to those materials, and often resorted to using inferior grade materials.

[msmaron]

Ecklers won the auction for the pallets of material from the LaBaron Bonney auction. The sad part is when they got the pallets of material over half was full of mold and destroyed and had to be sent to the landfills as garbage, turns out they were forced to evacuate the building they were in by the landlord with in days, machinery was tossed and mostly all pattens went to the trash also. So they had to store it where they could and turned out to be a wet damp location for almost a year, they are trying to get through what is still salvageable at this time...So at this time they are still using the same materials as before.

[duke36]

I bought some windlace from Mac's that was an exact match to an existing upholstery job that no one else had.

[700rpm]

My experience with Cartouche for a ‘30 PU 15 years ago: the pattern was right, but the material was thin.

[chrs1961815]

I have also heard the material is thin and wears quickly. Most people are putting these kits in drivers so that is unacceptable for a car that is used a lot.

[McMimmcs]

Originally Posted by chrs1961815

I have also heard the material is thin and wears quickly. Most people are putting these kits in drivers so that is unacceptable for a car that is used a lot.

Again an easy solution, don’t buy it !

[McMimmcs]

It is very unfair to make comments “ I have heard”! The comments we should consider credible are “ I personally experienced”.

[ronn]

thumbs up Mc!!!!!!!!

[nkaminar]

For those of you who are redoing the upholstery on a driver and don't care if you have original material, and can do the work yourself or have a local upholstery shop that can do it, try Sailrite. They have a wide selection of material at reasonable prices, some of it is very durable. I like their Ultrasuede. See https://www.sailrite.com/search?keywords=ultrasuede In the past I have used the old upholstery as a pattern.

[Tinbasher]

Check out Classtique Upholstery. I imagine now LB is gone there going to be busy. But they sell a quality product.

[diomed]

Website: https://www.classtiqueupholstery.com/index.php/catalog

Originally Posted by Tinbasher

Check out Classtique Upholstery. I imagine now LB is gone there going to be busy. But they sell a quality product.

[oldredford]

I installed a cartouche in my 1940 coupe. I removed a LB kit that was 20 years old. Side by side LB material has more thread count than Cartouche. So in my opinion LB is a better material than Cartouche. Time will tell but I can tell you it won't last as long as LB. I am doing another uphostery job on my 30 Model a 5 window coupe and I have a local shop that will make me a kit for half the price.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by oldredford

I installed a cartouche in my 1940 coupe. I removed a LB kit that was 20 years old. Side by side LB material has more thread count than Cartouche. So in my opinion LB is a better material than Cartouche. Time will tell but I can tell you it won't last as long as LB. I am doing another uphostery job on my 30 Model a 5 window coupe and I have a local shop that will make me a kit for half the price.

I think you are likely comparing apples to oranges in this. If you are speaking of a decade ago or longer, then the L/B manufactured piece-goods were definitely better. Since Cartouche is now the manufacturer of the piece goods, the quality is the same as what L/B had. Therefore it will last just as long as what a L/B supplied kit would have.

One thing to think about, most likely a local shop will not have access to the correct style fabrics nor the patterns for a 45B. Since the sewing would likely be the same amount of time whether it was done by a local shop or a kit manufacturer, in my mind, the only way that a local shop can do it for half the price is to use inferior materials. Thoughts on that??