We're Not the Old SSBC. Here's the Real Story.

If you searched "SSBC" and landed on a forum thread about a company that stopped answering the phone in 2019 — you found the right name, but the wrong company. Here's the real story.

The Original SSBC: 1974–2019

Stainless Steel Brakes Corporation was founded in 1974 by George Jonas in western New York. For decades it was a genuine industry powerhouse — one of the first companies to build a stainless-steel-sleeved caliper for classic Corvettes and Mustangs, and a name that showed up in nearly every drum-to-disc conversion conversation for muscle cars and trucks.

After Jonas retired, ownership changed hands. Quality control slipped. Customer service slipped further. Orders went unanswered. By July 2019, the original company had ceased operations entirely — leaving customers with unfulfilled orders and a name that, fairly or not, had earned a bad reputation.

What Actually Happened Next

Later that year, the assets of the old company were purchased through an Article 9 bank sale by new ownership. That's an important legal detail: it means SSBC-USA acquired the brand and the tooling debt-free and liability-free — not the old company's obligations, not its backlog, not its baggage.

New ownership. New management team. New 18,000-square-foot facility in Elma, New York. Every caliper is machined and assembled here, in the USA — that hasn't changed and isn't negotiable.

Why This Matters to You

We know some of you have old scars from the last chapter of this brand — a kit that never shipped, a call that never got returned. That wasn't us, but we understand why the name alone doesn't earn your trust back automatically. Reputations built over decades don't get erased overnight, and we're not asking you to forget the history — we're asking you to judge us on what we do next.

If you've ordered from us before and something didn't go right, we want to know about it directly. Call or email our team and tell us — not the forums, us. We can only fix what we know about.

Built Here. Stops Anywhere.

American Stopping Power isn't a tagline we picked because it sounded good. It's the standard the new SSBC-USA was built on: made-in-the-USA calipers, a team that answers the phone, and a company with no interest in repeating the mistakes of the last one.

Browse our current lineup of drum-to-disc conversion kits and heavy-duty truck brake upgrades, and see for yourself.