Downs Manufacturing - Legend Motors

Anybody got the lowdown on Legend Motors Worldwide (Formerly Downs Manufacturing). I have a feeling they have disappeared and taken my deposit on a glass body with them.They are not answering e -mails or the phone and as I live in Australia it is hard to get any more info or pay them a visit

Chris

 

I heard they went out of business

 

Here's a link to their investors group.
http://www.downsmfg.com/investors.html
ahh,look at that and give them a call?

 

I live 30 min from them and USED to work with them alot... my father worked with Jimmy Downs (who started Downs' MFG) ALOT. Since ...Jimmy has passed, son has taken it over, and the direction has change significantly. They are now owned by Legend motors, and the communication from them is terrible. And, there signs are now down.

I would just persistantly keep calling and emailing, I had to do that on a few parts, and I did get them, quality was great.

Call Legend Motors themselves.

 

I got a buddy that is suppsed to be taking delivery of a 34 3 window coupe body...been getting the run around and it sounds like they are in trouble. Anybody have any more information? Right now both he and the dealer he used are out about $15,000.

 

D-Dickey. Thats really sucks for your buddy. How do you get buried 15K. Do you have to put that up for them to build it? Sounds like a contractor that wanted 100K in cash to build me a house in advance. I DON'T THINK SO!

 

I lost 10k on a reavon st rod body 32 3 window.
BUT i paid with a card so they got my money back took 90 days but i got it. SO the lessen is to all ways pay with a card

 

The dealer wanted $3,000.00 and had to put up the other $12,000.00 to get the body. I am not sure why they required full payment. I know the dealer well. He has been in business for a long time and always had good luck with Downs. It appears they just caught this at the wrong time? There are a lot of questions right now on how this will shake out. Really to bad because I think Downs had a good reputation and built a decent product.

 

That sucks.
I was going to get a Downs 32 Cabriolet body for my build.
The only other source of a 32 Cabriolet body was Gibbons, and supposedly they are belly up too.

Piper106

 

Gibbon (no "s") is gone... but Kyle's dad is still in biz in Gibbon, NE.

 

Don't know what's going on with Downs Mfg. They are giving me the run around also on a grille. They will not respond to emails or phone calls. I had the Better Business Bureau to check with them and they are not getting a reply either. Will keep you posted if I recieve any info about them.

 

I have a friend that ordered a complete rolling 33 Cabriolet chassis. All he got was a bare body and bare frame. They couldn't even make finders for it. And it was the display one the had when he ordered his. He only paid half down so he got his money worth. This was the 5th car he had a hand in getting from them AND will be the last. Good luck on getting what you had ordered or you money back. I heard just keep trying.

 

Also I think all the people having problems with Downs Mfg (Legend Motors) should file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau in Western Michigian.This is the area Downs Mfg is located. I logged in to BBB Website and saw that I was the only person that filed a complaint. I think that this type of treatment should be known by everyone. Their website is http://westernmichigan.app.bbb.org/complaint/.

 

Sad that when the reins of the business get passed to the younger generation they seem to ride the business into the ground. The older generation must have neglected the business education of their youngsters who were brought up in the "me, me, me" era.

 

I have just lodged a complaint with the West MI BBB. Thanks for the heads up.

Chris

 

Talked w/ Jamie, his atty, and the $ guy at K'zoo a couple of years back...had a bad feeling then about it all back then 'cause the money guy didn't seem to know the difference between a toaster and a grill shell...

 

Dan.

This is the picture of the standard grille with my fender and hood side. The contour is the same the grille is just too long. The hood side measures 7 inch .

 

Race, PM sent back.

 

Update: No Downs booth at L'ville; straight from Barry Lobeck's lips "out of business"

 

I had a friend of mine had a problem with his downs body a couple of years ago. He talked to Jamie at Indy about it, Jamie told him to get over it that he had been in business for years and that his problem would not put me out of business. Looks like he had more problems. What goes around comes around.

 

Yea, I was at Louisville too and did not see them either!!

 

Try looking for Legends in Westfield IN. Not sure that is the right name but did hear last winter/spring that a group in Westfield In had bought out Downs along with some other 'glass car mfg's. They were not at the Hot Rod & Restoration trade show last winter. Last time I spoke to Jimmie at a show I was impressed by what a smart ass he seemed to be.

 

Hey Chris
A buddy of mine sent me a link to this thread as I told him I was considering buying a 37 Cabriolet from LMW. Have you had your problem resolved yet? I talked to a Greg Mavrick last year at the Nationals gathering info on 37 Ford options. Based on that conversation, the quality of the product and their history I started making enquiries with him at LMW recently after finally getting into a position to do something and now it looks like they will no longer be a contender for my business.
He did stste that they would be able to complete my order in time for my return to the US in Dec. Their absence from L'ville is a concern though

John

 

John
My issue is still not resolved and .
I have contacted Greg Mavrick a couple of times trying to find out what has happened. To be fair though, he is not the one I was dealing with. I was only going through him to try to get contact with a guy named Ian Marsh who is/was the President of LMWW. I am starting to doubt that Ian Marsh even still works there because I have not heard from him for 3 months! Greg Mavrick simply replies that he will forward my emails to Mr Marsh but I still haven't had a reply as late as this morning.
Note too that the the LMWW/Downs Design (Lawton) website is still up but the phones are disconnected but the LMW Indianna website that I presume you used is still operating and offering Downs product!!

My advice - don't go near them unless you can closely supervise your order. Something I couldn't do from Australia.

My lesson - don't spend any money over the internet/phone that you can't afford to lose!

Chris

 

Same thing happend with Harwood. Not that many good body manufacturers left. Wescott, Redneck, Kilbourne, russ-no-more are still in. There is always Brookville if you just knocked over a bank...

 

Better Business Bureau isn't going to get you anywhere. What you need to do is contact the prosecutors office in the city where they are located. If you shell of $15,000 for a body thats called grand larceny. Everyone has fallen on hard times once or twice but be a stand up guy about it. If these people are giving you the cold shoulder and not being professional enough to return phone calls or emails then they are hiding and only a thief hides from an honest person. I had dealings with a company in Fla. a number of years back who built a bunch of different kits. Classic motor cars well that was one of the names they used. I had three friends who were building cars at my shop and I was getting totally jammed up by these guys. Same deal no phone calls, this was way before email and the quality of the kits was total crap. One day I had enough and the four of us went to the airport I slapped down the old AMEX card and we went down to pay them a visit. The tried to give us a load of crap and weren't giving us our money back. We went to the Dade county prosecutors office and he opened two file draws full of complaints on these Bozo's. We got our money when we told the guy it would be in his best interest to give us a check and come with us to the bank. One of the my friends was a lawyer who had a relative who was a high price shark in Dade county so that helped a lot. I'm not saying everyone could do what we did of course but you can't let this guy get away with stealing your money. Would you just fork over your hard earned money to some J/O on the street so why this guy.

 

Bullshit, it boils down to INTENT. If he wasn't out with the intention,,,, it becomes a civil matter. Have your lawyer buddy explain it. All you guys did was threaten, huff and puff, and the guy responded, but he could have let his lawyers handle it and file bankruptcy if his intentions were to deliver.

 

Here you go Perry Mason as per Wikipedia and I did call my lawyer friend who referred me to this link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breach_of_contract

"Breach of contract is a legal concept in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party's performance."

So being just a dumb ass mechanic I would say if their money was taken and their goods which were PAID for were not delivered that constitutes a breach of contract. More then likely this dirt bag is going to file bankruptcy and most of the people are going to be left twisting in the wind but there are still charges that can be filed. Just because this guy is a fuck up and runs his fathers business into the ground he should get a free pass by filing bankruptcy thats bullshit. Oh and by the way the BBB has no legal authority to do anything all they can do is post a negative against someone and warn people about complaints against them. and refer consumers to the proper legal authority, as per the BBB website

 

I sent a query off to Greg Mavrick last week about some of the issues raised here but have yet to hear any more. Strange, because he was always very prompt when I was about to order.

It is interesting Chris that you refer to Ian Marsh as the President when in the email I got from Greg Mavrick, he refers to him as the Plant Manager.
Anyway, looks like this forum has saved me from making a big mistake.
Thanks all

John

 

Always use a credit card! Personally I never ever pay a deposit with anything other than a credit card. Especially anything having to do with cars, or car parts.

If the car was never invented, most of these people would be in a carnival and you'd be piching dimes at them.

15k is not a deposit. Paying $15k for a promise is [expletive deleted].