Hi Everyone, At long last, my first production parts have arrived and I feel I can finally reveal my "next great invention" that all 308 owners are going to want to own. Here are pictures, starting with engineering drawings, then finished parts. They are made of spring steel, and it was actually pretty tricky finding a company to make these for me. Punching and precision bending spring steel is not as easy as I thought. I will not have the rest of the production parts for a few weeks. These were FedEx'd to me from the manufacturer to test before they made the whole run, but the rest of the production will be identical to these first units. What is it???? I'm calling it a Mat Grabber. (I almost called it a Carpet Muncher! ) It goes under the driver's seat bolts, below the frame rails, and grabs the back edge of your floor mat, to prevent it from sliding forward and getting in the way of the pedals. It prevents annoying "mat migration," as well as the dreaded "Italian Cruise Control." All you 308 owners know what I'm talking about. It uses a pair of "teeth" to be sure that the mat doesn't slip out. I know for a fact that this will fit the Mondial and 308. I also believe it will fit hundreds of other cars, but I have no idea which. Certainly MANY older Ferraris. You can install it right-side up or upside-down, whichever produces the best angle for holding the mat, and the slot in it allows you to adjust it to hold the mat in just the right position. No mods to the car or mats, very clean. The first production model pictures here are unfinished, but the finished pieces will be flat black. I will be selling these on my website (http://www.birdmanferrari.com) very cheap when I have them in stock in a month. I have been waiting a long time for these, I hope you guys dig it. Birdman Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Sweet invention Birdman! I am sure you will sell a lot of them! I definately see the need for the Mat Grabber.
Thanks Mitch. I built them because I needed them, and I figured others would too. My wife wasn't so crazy about the investment I had to put up to get a run of 1,000 of them made (500 pairs!) but as long as I recoup that in a reasonable period of time, she will be happy. It wasn't really economically smart to make less than 1,000. My unit cost would have gone down substantially if I had 2,500 made, but I just couldn't see how I would ever move that many and they would end up taking up space in my basement for the rest of my life!! Birdman
Nifty. Can you manually disengage the carpet if you need to without removing the grabbers from the seat?
Yes, the carpet will slide sideways out of the grabbers. You can't pull it straight out (towards the pedals) because the little teeth are like barbs and they won't let it go. Elegant and simple!! (If I do say so myself). Birdman
I hade something like that on a Porsche i used to own. Only difference was that the clip had a piece of plastic that went through the hole in the floor mat. It worked great. Good idea.
Leave it to Birdman to think of a great invention! Hey, what else is he going to do for 5 months hanging around the house
Great invention! I will most definately be buying some when you have stock, please post thread, all the best and hope you have a prosperous year. Regards Ashley
Birdman you should pattent you sweet invntion. Anyway add me to your list, would I need two per side?
Hey Gang, Thanks for the kudos. I have been dying to show these off but I was waiting for the production sample. I highly doubt it's patentable, and even if it was, I doubt the cost of doing that would be worth it in the end. Who knows. I certainly would have to raise the price! I'll put these in the car later today and post some pics. Unfortunately, the 308 is on the lift with the wheels off for the suspension work, so I can't easily get in the car to install them! (Try opening the door to work on the seat with the car on a 2 post lift!) Anyway, I'm going to have the whole production run in my hands (supposedly) in a few weeks, but given the difference in time between when they told me I would have the sample and the time it took, I would bet MORE than a few weeks. I'm hoping early March, plenty of time for driving season!! I will sell them as a PAIR. You use a pair on a seat to secure one floor mat. So if you just want to secure the driver's mat, you buy one pair. If you want to secure the passenger mat too, you buy 2 pairs. I doubt it is really necessary to use them on the passenger side, but if you want to, be my guest! As I have both a Mondial and a 308 at my disposal, I have made sure they work on both. However the design is so generic that I'll bet they will work fine on just about any older Ferrari. I'm pretty sure the newer Ferraris (348 and forward) have OEM mat management. I was hoping someone would catch the "Carpet Muncher" comment. Chris, I'm shocked it wasn't you. Parker got it! Can you imagine that as a brand name? LOL. Birdman
Got the same thing in my Jetta but not as simple: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Since I don't know what the innards of a classic Ferrari look like, how does this device attach to the car? I understand how the mat is held, I don't know how the Carpet Muncher is held. Great idea, BTW!!
Birdman - thou 'art a friggin' genius....I keep having to reach under my mat and give it a 'tug' every few miles. These won't rust/corrode over time, will they?
Great idea!! Sign me up for a set. Do we need 4 of them (2 for each seat)? Or one per seat/mat? Any idea on pricing yet? Regards, Steve
It bolts under the seat rails. You loosen the front two bolts on the seat rails, slide the mat grabber under, put the mat in, adjust to hold the mat where you want it, and tighten the bolts back down. Birdman
1 pair for each seat/mat. $20 a pair. I personally don't think you really need to do the passenger seat. More info on my website!!
