  The Higgs mechanism is the favourite cure for the main problem with
electroweak unification, namely how to reconcile a gauge theory with the need
for massive gauge bosons. This problem does not exist in preon models for quark
and lepton substructure with composite $Z^0$ and $W$s, which, consequently,
also avoid all other theoretical complications and paradoxes with the Higgs
mechanism. We present a new, minimal preon model, which explains the family
structure, and predicts several new, heavy quarks, leptons and vector bosons.
Our preons obey a phenomenological supersymmetry, but without so-called squarks
and sleptons, since this SUSY is effective only on the composite scale.
