Blykins 'original' question was "were original seats leather or vinyl'...
289 and 427 Cobras all had leather seats.
The uncertainty arises with the Comp and S/C cars.... there are several 'stories' on these.
The Registry breaks out the interior differences, indicating leather for street cars and naugahyde for Comp and S/C. There is no doubt that the optional competition driver's seat was vinyl, but I have doubts about the regular configuration. All published copies of AC manifests and mfg logs do not indicate a departure in interior make-up on the first batch of 427 cars.
Bud, I too heard the 'weathered-reupholstered' seat story... I think I heard it from Bill at Motorsports. It made sense until I looked at the time line... 12 of these cars were sold within 6 months of receipt from AC, hardly enough time to weather the interior.
Plus, you remember the lyrics, "...it never rains in Southern California..."
With tops and side curtains in place, it is hard to fathom such severe damage in the year's time frame.
I will ask Ned to check in on this thread for more expert opinion.
Steve and I have discussed the carpet issue before; we have compared swatches to original and, yes, it look like Wilton was not the weave in Comp-S/C carpets.