Originally Posted by SRT SIX

After working with a few companies I realize that to make a grille at an affordable price takes several things.

1) Volume, there has to be a large enough group to expect volume sales

2) Plastic molding. This is an example of what the car companies do. The Bentley, new Jaguar and others that appear to have a wire mesh grille are in fact molded plastic. Volume plays a big part in this. I had an offer from one company to make a plastic grille. They required guaranteed sales of 200-400 pieces. The design, setup, mold, and production costs (all need to be paid up front) is around $10K. If you do a search on the forum, I brought this up and found only a handful of people willing to commit.

3) If you don't have either of the above, you have to go with ease of production. The SS grille frame is wide enough to allow a quick weld of the heavy SS mesh to the frame. A narrower frame would require much more time and quality control which would add dramatically to the cost.

4) The current APS grille I am offering has sold a total of around 40 worldwide. There are pending orders just from us for another 5-10. These same grilles are sold thru Grilles4U on eBay. Because of my involvement and promise that forum members wanted an inexpensive yet good looking mesh grille, I was able to make a deal with APS. As a result, after S&H is included, forum members save almost $50 by buying from me as opposed to going direct. BTW I have sold more grilles to forum members than G4U has sold across the internet.

5) Just before APS made their grille available, I tried to get a local house to make the grille custom. It was to have a thinner frame with the same quality and weight, faceted wire mesh. The first prototype grille was going to cost somewhere in the $1K to $1.5K range just for the upper grille. Check the internet and see what is being charged just for the mesh fabric.

Yes a custom grille can be just that, custom! But for $237 delivered FedEx to your door for not just the upper, but the two lower grilles as well, seems a lot more reasonable.

Funny thing is that I and other members commented on the wide frame of the TRex grille, which has a very similar appearance, based on photos presented in the forum, thought it was not very attractive as well. Those grilles are still selling for $600 or more on the internet. After getting the grille, installing it, it really doesn't look that bad. In fact it looks damn good. I am not the only one to feel that way. If you have been reading the threads there has been one positive comment after another posted by people who have purchased this grille. Again considering the price this grille is a winner.

I am not saying that because it is reasonably priced everyone should immediately embrace one. Rather, some will love it, and some will not. Some love the look of a $250 chrome plastic overlay for the OEM grille, some don't. Some like the look of the $400 billet grilles, some don't. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks as long as the owner likes it.

Some of us on the forum have taken the next step and did something more than offer their opinon and actually made products available at reasonable prices. Two years ago there was very little and what was available was at very inflated prices.

Opinions are great when given constructively. Remember the person who posted whatever modification it is, probably really felt good about it, and they should. After all it is THEIR car they are excited about. If you don't like it, a simple "it's just not my taste" or perhaps something like "...A little far out for me, but glad you like it" would suffice.

Caddyman3, I am not singling you out or implying that you have acted as described above. You said you hope "someone re-creates" that one off grille with no frame that looks great. Why not check into it and see what you can come up with?

This is a great forum and it is wonderful to see all the Crossfire people who love their cars share experiences, offer help and support for owners of a vehicle far more loyal to it than the company who designed and sold them.

I think the fact that it is Memorial Day influenced my words. To most it is just another day off. To some it is a day dedicated to those who gave everything so we can have the freedoms we do.