Corvette Stainless Steel Brakes, Inc.

The Corvette Stainless Steel Brake, Inc. Story:

'John Corvette King Putz' that's what they announced at the 1975 Palmetto High School graduation in Sunny Miami, Florida. In fact Corvettes were very common in John's family: the mom, dad, and who ever else had a drivers license drove one. And if you were an owner or knew one, Corvettes had an inherent problem, The Disc Brake Caliper!

Back in the late 60's and 70's the General (GM™) was your only option for Brake Calipers on Corvettes. John and his family struggled with these brake problems for years.

In the late 70's John became involved with his Uncle Dean Franklin, a pioneer in amphibious aviation. At this time, John was hauling freight off the port of Miami. His Uncle Dean had just sold his claim to fame Chalks Airlines (an amphibious airline that flew to all of the out islands in western south Florida and all of the Islands in the Bahamas. Dean now had a large Grumman Amphibious Aircraft Restoration business near Miami International Airport. This facility was once upon a time was one of Prat & Whitney's Radial Aircraft Engine contract machining houses. Dean Franklin had now turned it into Franklin Aviation. At this facility Grumman Amphibious Aircraft and parts were rebuilt and shipped worldwide. When John was not Trucking, he was at Dean Franklin Aviation working on his idea to correct the over engineered problem of the constant leaking Corvette Brake Calipers. When he had asked his Uncle for some ideas, Dean had mentioned to John that he had sleeved Goodyear aluminum disc brake calipers with Stainless Steel for amphibious aircraft. Because the saltwater was always exposed to these aircraft, corrosion was common like the Corvette Brake Calipers.

Now, John had something to work with. The only problem was that Dean's process involved High and Low temperatures for installing the sleeves. John tried this and problems occurred: Cost for one and also high humidity caused sweating. John knew he was on track but had to figure a better process. It wasn't until the mid summer of 1980 when John had met his expectations. That's right; in July of 1980 John put his first Corvette Stainless Steel Brake caliper on his Mom's 1969 Corvette. John was on his way being one of the largest Corvette Stainless Steel Brake manufacturers in the World. The first thing he did, was name his new company Corvette Stainless Steel Brakes, Inc.

As time went by John's company grew into a Corvette Brake repair shop and distributor of Stainless Steel Brakes. In 1985 Luke (John's younger brother) graduated from college with his Bachelors degree in Business Management. Luke immediately went to work with his brother John and in 1986 Corvette Stainless Steel Brakes, Inc. went national. Doing business from coast to coast in the U. S.A. and Canada, the Brothers ventured out to the Corvette Swap meets up and down the Eastern U..S. Doing business through the next few years brought the two boys up against new competition. A new war started, it was called the Brake Caliper Wars. It was terrible and bloody; Stainless Steel Sleeved Brakes went from a pricey $ 100.00 each down to $ 49.95. It was time for Luke and John to react So, they did. They started to manufacture components for the Sleeving process not only for their own consumption, but for their competition. They also started rebuilding 1963-82 Corvette Power Steering Components and fabricating original style hoses for the steering. At this same time Brake Lines and Fuel Lines for Corvettes became a big demand. Some of the other products that the two brothers offered were Stainless Steel Sleeved Master Cylinders, Rebuilt Brake Boosters, Trailing Arm Restoration, Rear End and other rebuilding services.

Hurricane Andrew, Wow! What a bad taste of Mother Nature, and an ass kicker too! In the summer of 1992. It was time for Luke and John to leave the facility of their Uncle Dean Franklin. What a stepping-stone for the two boys, they were so grateful for the things they learned from their now aging Uncle. What to do and what not to do, that was the lesson the brothers were taking from Dean Franklin. The Brothers moved into a new facility closer to home and in August of 1992 (3 weeks after moving in) the new facility had major damage form Hurricane Andrew. With the entire Miami area crushed like the affect of a exploded bomb, Luke and John immediately called everyone back to work. After drying in the building and calling on some good competition to help out with filling in some orders, Corvette Stainless Steel Brakes, Inc was back in business. As the years rolled on and business grew, so did the size of the building. Working close with their competition and paying attention to the growing demands of the Corvette market, certain products and Swap meets were dropped and others picked up.

In the late spring of 2001 Luke and John shocked the entire Corvette community. The two brothers announced the Purchase of long time competitor, Dr.Vette. Jill Stanley, past president and owner of Dr. Vette became very good friends of Luke and John. Not only was she a competitor, but a very good customer of Corvette Stainless Steel Brakes, Inc. This acquisition for the brothers was very good, like Luke says: 'Be proud of your competition and thankful for Their Success, for if they open the door first, you can always follow and move ahead.' Every business needs a little competition, even though it can get to be a rough battle and slinging mud. That is why Luke and John have broken a lot of barriers within the Corvette market to help improve business relationships. This positive attitude pays off in many ways, especially to the consumer. New business, well you are looking at some of it. The website! I hope not everyone has had the pains of dealing with websites, but the Internet is definitely the future. We are trying to make it easier for our customers to access our products. Another new service that we have introduced on 2003 is our D.O. T. compliant brake hose assembly operation.

From rubber to braided stainless steel, from 1 to 10,000 assemblies, we can do it. We also offer tube forming and hose assembling along with our power steering products. Our ears and eyes are always open to new ideas and comments, because we always strive to make more out of our growing business. Besides, profits are merely a by-product of what we love doing.