We had a fine crew. But there weren't that many. Maximum was 5 builders and 2 painters in the late 80s. In those days we had racks of frames built in every model and size and could pull one down and get it painted and out in a week. Customs took a month, or two if they got chrome. I don't know any builder who could make a frame faster. At the end of steel production in 2014 there was just Bill, one builder, and one painter. Bill hadn't done all the work on any frame since the late 70s but he was always and still is hands-on, and always had the final say for quality control, design, and finish work. A big part of our history was when Bill partnered up with Seichi Kikuchi of Takahashi Press to produce investment cast lugs of our own design. We sold these to many prominent builders, and you will see them on PDG Paramounts, Medicis, Moultons, Holland, Terry, Stowe, Serotta, Tesch, and many other builders. One set we made was unique to the industry, and was made to complement our own unique tubing set from Tange as well. It had a 30mm down tube, 28.6 top tube, and a flared and ovalized seat tube that was 28.6 front to back and 32mm side to side at the bottom. That was for our Stiletto model. Since I retired, I have acquired one of those, and also a Tesch and Serotta (made for Ochsner) with our lugs. By chance, the original owner of the Stiletto found me on flickr and contacted me recently.

1987 Davidson Stiletto | Flickr

Bob Freeman