Were original seats leather or vinyl?

[blykins]

?

[Bud Man]

Interesting question, one I have also asked.

I have been told that the original cars that left AC Cars had proper British leather seats. But because the cars sat out in the open unsold for so many months, the leather seats became weathered.

When Shelby American's East Coast sales manager suggested to Shelby that they could be converted to and sold as S/C's, it was determined that the seats needed to be recovered, and the choice was the less expensive vinyl.

Anyone want to jump into this one?

Bud

[pk]

Both

comp cars: vinyl

street cars: leather

I think the 427S/C was leather but Ron will have the answer.

I think the ERA site goes into this in the seating area.

pk

ps as always computerworks is the "keeper of the truth"
edit -damn you're fast Budman

[Mark IV]

...I have seen says that all cars were leather except the race cars that were vinyl......



...how many naugahydes did they kill to make those seats????

Rick

[casaleenie]

YES!

[foothills gary]

Since were talkin' interior trim,were the original cars equiped with the Wilton wool I see offered as optional on many replicas,nylon,rubber mats or any carpet at all?Vinyl seats and rubber mats-can you say "Businessman's Special".There is probably enough room behind the seats for an attache and a few samples.

Gary

[Bud Man]

Actually, on this one, AC Cars is the keeper of the truth.

And yes, I am fast!!!!!!!!

On interiors, comp cars came bare, with covering only on the dash. Rear bulkheads were bare aluminum, as were the floors and sills. No sill plates were fitted, either. Mats were about it.

S/C's were fully carpeted with English Wilton wool, sills were covered with an aluminum strip and the rear bulkhead and insides of doors covered with VyNide. Street cars were the same as S/C's, but the door panels were upholstered with leather pockets.

Bud

[clayfoushee]

From what I've read, my understanding is the "original" interior treatments, e.g. Connally leather, Wilton wool carpets, AC logo in steering wheel, were AC features that were carried over to most of those turned into Shelby Cobras. Needless to say, I suspect many of the AC cars were modified with various treatments over time, some probably before they were sold as Shelbys for the first time.

[SCOBRAC]

Connelly leather... They were often replaced by vinyl (competition cars) for easier adjustment for height, rake etc or if they were damaged. But ALL cars left europe with leather seats.

[brentfenimore]

Of the original 427 cars I have worked on all of the seats were leather, I have only worked on about 20 original 427's but can say that the materials and configuration on all of them were identical to one another. I will look into the original specs for the 427 S/C from the AC contract and try to update the post asap however all 289 production models had leather interiors according to the original specs and logs at AC.

There were no Cobras produced by AC prior to Shelby's involvement so I do not understand the post refering to AC Cobra cars prior to his involvement however the AC Ace specs called out leather interior.

R Brent Fenimore

[CSX 4027]

No aluminum door sills on Comp & S/C.
-Only on Street models

S/C & Comp. - Vinyl-No Leather
Street - Leather

Carpet - Wool Caravelle(Karvel) - Not Wilton

Brent...S/C & Comps that now have leather didn't originally. Most that have changed have done so for comfort. Have you ever had your A$$ in vinyl at 100 degrees and humid weather. Leather was the logical choice in many restorations but not origional.

[Blue66]

My original 427 had leather ..

[computerworks]

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.

[blykins]

I was waiting for you to post Ron....thanks....and thanks to everyone else that posted.

[computerworks]

...had to dig in the archives for this.

This is a driver's seat from an original Comp car.

To me, this indeed looks like a vinyl material. It has none of the 'wrinkling' that a leather seat cushion would obtain over time.... the folds at the edges also look 'plastic'.

..the real question is did they come from AC in vinyl or were they re-done here?

[CSX 4027]

BTW The photo is of CSX 3014. I was the photographer and can confirm it was original vinyl.

[JWheaton]

Ron,

Wouldn't the vinyl have cracked over 40 years? Especially around the edges. Not sure how old the picture is, but just a thought.

Leather would had some cracking as well, the extent to which would depend on how well the leather was treated periodically.

J

[JWheaton]

Steve,

Why didn't you post faster so that I did not have to type all that out.

I guess I have the answer to my question.

[CSX 4027]

Sorry, just banged 2nd gear.

[CSX 4027]

If the vinyl was replaced, it was done with the same or very similar stuff to the original. Geoff Howard was the owner and only maintains cars as per....He also owned and freshened CSX 3002