Venetian blinds for rear window

[floyd111]

Been talking to a company in Australia, that does custom-made Venetian blinds for classic cars.
A single kit for the W116 rear window costs 550AUD.
Now, The point is to get he price down.
I can order 2 such blinds, but in order to make a dent, we'd need 3 more people to put in an offer.
Maybe that way, prices will come down a bit.
Choice of white and satin black.
Please let me know!~

[UTn_boy]

I'm in.  So all we need now are two more interested parties.

[beagle2022]

These things were popular here in Oz the 1960's but I have never seen one on any car from the 1970's or later.  A bit like fitting whitewall tyres.

[floyd111]

What WOULD be an acceptable price for a set of such blinds? I might look for alternate suppliers..

[Beastie]

You could try O'Brien Auto Shades. http://www.autoshades.com.au/
These venetians are still very popular here in Australia, especially for people with classic cars. O'Brien have a store here in Adelaide. I've never dealt with them personally but a friend of mine has and he was happy with their service. They'll custom make them so they'll be curved to the exact contour of the rear window, as opposed to the one in your sample photo at the top of the thread which looks like a one-size-fits-all jobbie.

This subject was discussed on the org before, a few years ago: http://forum.w116.org/interiors-and-exteriors/rear-white-venetian/

O'Brien shades has moved to a new location since then but are still close to where I live.

[floyd111]

I was talking to O'Brien..

[Beastie]

Ah.

[UTn_boy]

I'm a bit confused......if these people you are talking with have a business whose sole dedication is to making these blinds for automobiles, then why are they wanting a premium for the Mercedes blinds?  I realize they may not sell many for Mercedes,  but this is a bit fishy sounding on the price.  Also, they don't even list Mercedes cars on their website.....why not? 

[floyd111]

I can't answer those questions. Some people/companies simply don't do the full website thing.
But, they are all over blogs and stuff, and I don't doubt their claims.
About the price, 550AUD inc shipping, that's the quote I got for (my) 2 sets.
They have not offered me more sets for less money . That's just something I hope they will accept, if I can get 5 sets to negotiate with.

[floyd111]

My search fro blinds lead me to old eBay pages from SJS carstyling. They sold W123 blinds for 125usd.
I asked them about W116 blinds, and they asked me for W116 window-measurements. That did not comfort me.

I found forum posts in the Netherlands from years ago about these blinds, and bouncing from dead link to dead link, I found a company called Gradulux, once a Dutch company, now French.
On the forums I found satisfied buyers.
Gradulux were quick to reply to my email, and sent me a pro-forma for a set of blinds, in white. 142 euros, plus 33 euro for international shipping
That a mountain less than the Australian company I found before!

That doesn't stop me from trying to get a better deal. If there are interested parties here, please let me know, so I may attempt a group-buy there.

[floyd111]

As in: getting 3, 5 sets from Gradulux in france..

[atatexan]

In case anyone still considering this, I am game. Will ask a South African W116 guy about availability. These blinds big in SA in the late 1970's/early 1980's when I was there.

[floyd111]

I will wait a little with buying these. Got my hands full with the first car, and the second may be quite a while. The first one will have the old-skool Bosch rear-window brake lights, and I would think those don't allow space for blinds.
If so, Gradulux would be my first choice. Pretty unbeatable price, and verifiable happy customers.