There’s No Shortage of Cows AKA Why No Leather Sale This Spring

From Moss Motoring 1986

If you’ve been a Moss customer for the last few years, you’ll remember that we started 1984 and 1985 with a big sale on our leather upholstery kits. This year we chose not to. Here’s why.. .

When we started making upholstery kits in our own plant a few years ago, our primary goals were complete ori­ginality of design and quality. Pleat for pleat, seam for seam, we wanted our kits to duplicate the factory originals as closely as possible. Where seats were originally a com­bination of leather for the’ wear’ areas and vinyl backs and sides, that’s what we did. As fast as we could find cars with genuine, original interiors to pattern from, we increased the range of kits we carried. To encourage people to use our kits, we offered them on sale from time to time.

Were we successful? Beyond our wildest dreams! The ‘Spring Leather Sale’ of 1985 backed up our production facility to the point where we just could not keep up with the demand. Despite our efforts to hire and train new person­nel (and we weren’t prepared to sacrifice quality just to turn out kits that had been ordered) we fell woefully behind our delivery schedule. Many customers had to wait far too long for the interior kits they ordered and we know that many restorations were not completed in time for the car to be used last year. Were we right to refuse to compromise quality for the sake of delivery? We believe so. Although our late deliveries caused major disappointment, to many people, when their kits eventually arrived we believe the excellence of the product and the value for money went a long way to earning us forgiveness.

As well as insisting on quality, we at Moss also believe in learning from our mistakes! Our Upholstery Shop staff has been increased by the addition of new, skilled personnel and new Manager, John Sarena, has been working with them to increase production without sacrificing quality. At the same time, John is supervising the development and addition of new kits for the continually expanding range of models for which we supply parts. Priority is being given to completing the few remaining backorders for the tail- end of 1985. and soon we hope to be back in the position we consider optimum: shelf stock of the most popular styles and colors, others available 3 to 4 weeks from the time you place your order. For the time being, we are not planning any Sales on kits made in- house. (They are bargains at their regular prices, anyway, compared to the cost of custom interiors!)

Owners of Austin-Healey BJ8s and MG or Triumph models made after 1970 are being catered to slightly differently. These cars largely used seats and panels covered with vinyl that was patterned and sealed by a dielectric (heat) process. This cannot be duplicated on a sewing machine, however talented the operator! To serve the needs of those customers who want to restore these later cars to original condition, we sent people to England to seek out sources for the correct materials and manufacturing techniques. Again we were successful – but again there have been some delays! The companies we are dealing with also had some trouble keeping up with the demand, especially during the initial months as we learned which color combinations were going to be most frequently ordered. However, we have recently stocked up (hopefully with sufficient quantities of the most popular kits!) and the current Sale includes some late MGB and TR 250/6 kits. You BJ8 owners who have been so patiently waiting will be pleased to know that we finally found a source for the chrome mylar piping and your kits will be available very soon.

The goal of our Upholstery Division for 1986 is to continue broadening the range of kits we carry so that anyone restoring a British sports car can turn to Moss for an exact duplicate of his car’s original interior. Quality and authenticity will be paramount but we will also catalog some non-original colors and materials for those enthusiasts wishing to personalize their cars. In order to maintain production levels without having to backorder for more than 3-4 weeks, we will not be able to entertain requests for non-cataloged color schemes, so if you really want green leather with red piping, you’ll have to find someone local to do it for you!

To those of you who waited so long in 1985 – a public apology and a sincere ‘Thank You!’ for your patience. To those of you (and you number thousands more!) who are enjoying your Moss interior, a ‘Thank You!’ for your confidence in our products and for agreeing with us that our kits are straightforward to install and just as great as we say they are. To those of you hoping for another upholstery Sale in 1986 – be patient. If we can round up enough red, green and tan cows, we may be able to make your wish come true later this year.