Heard it a week or two ago but didnt see anything posted here, but Mas racing has now closed its doors, the people that own/ed it now had just boughten it maybe a year ago or so, then they moved the business from its long time home, to a pretty good location, but it sounded like the father company went down and with it MAS, i havent been there myself to see whats up but a few buddys tell me the doors are locked and they were gonna have an auctions for the inventory. JEFF
That ****s! I have bought lots of items over the years.I hope they can get there act together and try to save the place.... Steve
That's a bummer for a long standing traditional company Man how many years have they run that same add???
This **** is REALLY starting to piss me off...it's like friggin' water torture. One old company after another is shutting down...this ****s!
That's too bad. I know many people that have purchased things from there over the years and I have referred several people down there from our shop that wanted specialty parts installed. I was just talking with a guy a week ago abbout MAS. He was saying how nice it was to have a place like that in town. Wow- first French Lake goes up for sale- now MAS shuts down. What's next, Little Dearborn? I hope not. Once all these local sources dry up I think we'll realize what a good thing we had when we're stuck getting everything we need from out-of-state and waiting days or weeks for parts. Jay
while i'm not happy to see them go , i'm not surprised. not only haven't i bought anything from them in 25+ years...they did NOTHING to get me inspired to do business with them. maybe i'm off base here...but other than that cheesy ad , what have they done to promote their business? or am i wrong? there is another rod parts seller in Minnesota that has worked tirelessly to get my , and other rodder's business..and they seam to be doing very well with a new building if MAS wanted to sell parts , why did they never have a booth at the GSTA show? Btt50's? host an open house? sponsor an event? have a display at any of the other car shows/swap meets? send out a mailing with specials on parts?
MAS has been in the ****ter since Rich sold it. New guys took all the money out of MAS to keep the fab shop open in Wisconsin! I am building a set of headers for a customer out west, he told me he paid for a axle 2 months ago and asked me to run up there to see whats going on... I called Bruce (they guy who use to build all the axles since the 70's) to see if he had any news on MAS... He said they were no longer, him and Rich were having lunch the next day... I'll see Bruce tomorrow and get more info if there is any...
I'm waiting till I hear something for sure one way or another. This subject with MAS pops up once a month.
Are you refering to Tim @ MN Hot Rod Hardware? If so, I agree! He is a real pleasure to work with!! I wouldn't be surprised to see Little Dearborn gone in the near future. With such limited hours, and their location that is doomed to be condemed in the name of progress thanks to the new U of M stadium, I bet it's only a matter of time. I'm sad to see this about MAS. When it came to off the shelf "speed parts" that I needed, I could ususally find what I needed there. I was actually going to make a stop there after 50's if they didn't have what I was looking for at their booth.
Yep until you threw the "I'll see Bruce tomorrow and get more info if there is any... " Now I have to wait.
Were they ever on the Internet? For me it was easier to click-click and get something from Summit, even though MAS prices were often better. Sorry to hear it's gone -- but hey, guys(!), do something to promote it, will ya?
Ads in major magazines dont count as promoting? WTF? Plus not to mention the neat OLD catalog. If you ordered from them,,, you KNOW which catalog
WELL I REALLY DONT HAVE MUCH ROOM TO TALK , I ONLY PURCHASED 1 PIECE FROM MAS , SPUN TANK, IT TOOK OVER 2 MONTHS TO GET THE PART , AND NOBODY SEEMED TO GIVE A **** . I CALLED AT LEAST 5 TIMES , ON BACK ORDER - SHOULD BE HERE SOON ETC... HEY IM IN THE CAR BUSINESS AND GUESS WHAT , RIGHT NOW I WILL KISS A CUSTOMERS *** TILL MY LIPS ARE CHAPPED TO MAKE OR KEEP THEM HAPPY , I MAY TAKE SOME **** FROM THIS , BUT IVE ALWAYS DONE IT THIS WAY , THEY MAY SELL THE 1ST CAR OUT FRONT , BUT MY SERVICE EXPERIENCE IS WHAT KEEPS THEM COMING BACK , SAME IN ALL ASPECTS OF BUSINESS , SERVICE , SERVICE , SERVICE . IF YOU TREAT ME WITH RESCECT AND TELL ME THE TRUTH , I WILL BE A CUSTOMER FOR LIFE , I DONT KNOW THE WHOLE STORY BEHIND MAS , BUT I CAN SAY , THE CUSTOMER SERVICE LEFT A LITTLE TO BE DESIRED IN MY CASE , ALL IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN FOR ME WAS , SORRY , THINGS ARE A LITTLE IN FLUX RIGHT NOW , IT MAY BE LONGER THAN WE THOUGHT FOR THE PART TO COME IN , BUT SOMEONE WILL LET YOU KNOW , 30 SECOND CAll , SERVICE SERVICE SERVICE , OK ILL GET OFF OF MY SOAPBOX NOW . BUT TO FOLLOW UP , A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE TOLD ME YEARS AGO , THIS IS NOT THAT HARD - STAND UP STRAIGHT , LOOK THEM IN THE EYES AND TELL THEM THE TRUTH , EVERTHING ELSE WILL TAKE OF ITSELF . WOW , LONG WINDED , SORRY...
Excuse me, you're not too accurate there. Ever heard of Tom Hoover? Lutz n' Lunburg? Richard Charbonneau? In the 1960s "Minnesota Auto Specialties" was actively involved with those cars, and more. Gary Kohn built the company into a big player in the industry, displaying at SEMA (Anaheim, long before Las Vegas) and setting up a national distributor network (WDs) for his line of MAS products, straight and dropped axles, traction bars, ladder bars, wheel tubs, 23 T bodies and frames, fibergl*** hoods, scoops, spoilers, one-piece front ends, wheelie bars, fibergl*** seats and more. Then there was "SAI" Sports Accessories International, that sold mail-order one of the largest varities in the world of automotive posters, stickers, t-shirts and just about everything else you could imagine. Don Ness, Bruce Ross, Bob Meyer, Jim Derhaag, Roger Dow, and many others came out of the MAS location on 2538 Hennepin, and nitro Funny Car racer Al Tschida ran the St. Paul retail store back in the day. MAS was the supplier of parts to the huge J.C. Whitney organization for years back in their heyday and when the people that started up Autobuff Magazine in the 1980s needed a financial backer, Gary Kohn stepped up and did it. And, regarding GSTA, I worked there on the counter in the mid-1970s and recall personally loading the truck, driving the truck, unloading the truck and setting up the booth at the GTSA show at the Armory, and loved every minute of it! Over the years I've been to the Car Craft nationals at St. Paul Fairgrounds and brother Richard had a booth, I have been to the Street Rod Nats same place and Richard had a booth. I can't speak for recent years, but Gary (RIP) was very active in the scene. They were running full page Hot Rod magazine ads way back and mailed out catalogs by the thousands, MAS was a manufacturer and a WD for all the major aftermarket suppliers. The place was a leader back in the day and survived the mail order wars of the 1990s and until Richard sold the company. When I was there MAS sold wholesale to places like (Ted Smith) Smith Auto on Lake Street, Lou Feger (Wayzata) and other local speed shops. MAS sponsored tracks with track-side signage and offered contingency for their products. There was no stronger force in Twin Cities, or the five state area for the matter, than MAS. Had you have seen the building in Mpls. and all the floors with equipment, knew about the talented people that designed the parts, you'd better understand how important MAS was to the area. Even the famous Gary Kollofski '55 Chevy ran a MAS front axle for example. When Don Ness needed a place to start his Pro Stock ch***is shop Racecraft, Gary made it available. They were successful at what they did, and the tradition carried on with Richard running the show after Gary's accident. If you think MAS never was a player in the market, you're mistaken. Ask around to people that know and were there.
I swung in there the other day and they are closed. sign on the door said they moved to Oakdale, and no one answers the phone . as i was leaving the guy who owns the pinball machine shop across the alley yelled to me "the dumb ****s moved do you think they would tell anybody? " he was pretty pissed at them. he said he tells 20 people a day that they moved. The crazy pinball guy had the craziest greasy comb over, so that made up for MAS not being there. Went home picked up the phone had my parts from speedway in 2 days and didn't have to deal with the cluster **** at MAS
sorry , i believe you are wrong. everything you are talking about here was 25-30 years ago. yes , at one time they were a big player....my point was what have they done lately to get my business? i am 75 miles from them and it was the last place i would ever consider to go for parts....their existence was not part of my consciousness. while they did nothing but sit on their past reputation, other part sellers have been actively seeking my business. places like Summit , Jeg's , Yogi's , Twin City Rod & Custom and Minnesota Hot Rod Hardware have made me feel like i was important to them and wanted me to spend money. the last time i was ever at their store they pissed me off so bad i swore i'd never so business with them again..that was 25+ years ago. that worked out well for them like i said in my first post on this thread , i'm not happy they are gone....but if they do nothing to get my attention what else could be expected.
I always wondered the same thing?!! How in this day and age can a mail order business NOT be on the internet?? They did seem to have some good deals on stuff, but no on-line catalog/ordering and their oh-so-slow shipping would send me to Speedway most every time. You've gotta hand it to Mr Bill Smith and Speedway for attending as many trade shows and such, and also for the support they offer on the oval track side of their business.
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