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Thu Aug 16, 2012 4:56 pm

Hi all,
just wondered after posting about dash colours being different on some cars your thoughts on original interior colour combinations..

have any of you changed the seat colour for example or carpet??
my car has bright red seats, dark grey dash and door tops, beige headlining and beige carpets and pearl grey paint!
I would like to keep original combo upon restoration but would much prefer dark blue or grey seats that would work well with my paint colour but maybe its because personally i'm not keen on the bright red, ..wine/oxblood looks nice.

I've seen some bizarre combos out there! what do you think?!

Fri Aug 17, 2012 5:39 am

For '54, there were 2 official offerings. Red (B), which is what you have, and Blue with grey corduroy (A). The A option would give you blue carpet and a grey headliner.

Do you have grey knobs?

Sun Aug 19, 2012 6:22 am

hi Jack, yes i have grey knobs.. the blue and grey sounds perfect! haven't seen any with that combo..did you mean blue (leather?) seats and cord inserts? is that a dark blue do you know?
will look into it...thanks for the info

Sun Aug 19, 2012 8:48 am

I had a 54 cab that was quite original with 45K miles. It had original dark blue leather seats (no other material than leather), dark blue dash, original tan carpet, and the exterior was originally grey (painted silver in the 70's).

Sun Aug 19, 2012 12:15 pm

Hey Drew, sounds nice, do you have any pics? Although my colour is Pearl grey it's actually a cream/mushroom colour than true grey..very nice as quite uncommon it seems..seen a couple of 55 continentals with it..
thanks for info.. :wink:

Sun Aug 19, 2012 3:48 pm

Drew Ogden wrote: I had a 54 cab that was quite original with 45K miles. It had original dark blue leather seats (no other material than leather), dark blue dash, original tan carpet, and the exterior was originally grey (painted silver in the 70's).

I had a '53 Cab that was red and black.

I painted (not restored, it was really a great original car) a '54 Cab in '79 that was Fish Silver and did it in Mode Grau. It had the darker blue seats with gray cord center panels coming apart that got 'period' primarily blue tartan plaid covers and it was very sharp. Was recently sold through Alex Finigan at Paul Russell & Co in MA and is to be restored at their shop, so perhaps pictures would be available there....and I will look for some to scan from those old pre-digital days or pre-sale shots I sent to Alex.

Sun Aug 19, 2012 7:26 pm

Here's a '53 Cab with Blue and Gray. Brett Johnson's book lists the two official combos mentioned above for a '54 Pearl Grey car, but clearly you could order full leather. I think the seats with corduroy inserts were flanked by leatherette as opposed to leather (can anyone confirm?).

I don't have an pics of this combo in '54.

Here's a '55 Coupe but with tan carpets:

Especially with the early cars, it seems you could get just about any combo you wanted!

Mon Aug 20, 2012 6:37 am

Thanks guys..appreciate the pics Jack..got a great vintage 356 show coming up this weekend so will see if we get any early cars there also..we don't have loads normally turn out but here's hoping!
Will see if I can find your old car bbspdstr!
Cheers..

Mon Aug 20, 2012 8:17 am

I have none of the '54's interior, just pre-sale defect details, especially the underside...so just Mode grau/blau/blau saying goodbye, sorry.

Mon Aug 20, 2012 1:12 pm

Hi Bruce, wow! How the hell did you manage to say goodbyeto that!? It's beautiful! Thanks for looking anyway and putting that pic on..lovely colour combo!

Fri Aug 24, 2012 11:03 am

Had anybody got a gray/grey! interior they could post detailed pics of please?
Thanks in advance..

Fri Aug 24, 2012 11:09 am

This may not be detailed enough for you, but it's a '54 Cab with the dark red dash and gray interior.

HTH,

Fri Aug 24, 2012 1:56 pm

Thanks Jack..still helpful..Nice light gray.. :wink:

Fri Aug 24, 2012 8:38 pm

I didn't know early grey strng. wheels were so dark. By the time they built the As, they got lighter.

Speaking of grey knobs; anyone know where to get some these days?

Fri Aug 31, 2012 8:45 pm

ensys wrote: I didn't know early grey strng. wheels were so dark. By the time they built the As, they got lighter.

Speaking of grey knobs; anyone know where to get some these days?

Alan Crawford makes all colors of knobs. [email protected]

Fri Aug 31, 2012 9:22 pm

A fella named Tom Birch has a nice-informative 1950-1952 356 Split Window web site (see below). Go to "Colors" at the top. Interior & Exterior are detailed well.

http://www.356splitregisrty.org/

Brett Johnson's Glaser Cabriolet is noted on this site. It would be nice to get Brett back in the loop with his great depth of background and contributions.

Michael Doyle

Sat Sep 01, 2012 4:36 am

CarreraGT wrote: It would be nice to get Brett back in the loop with his great depth of background and contributions.

Definitely. He used to respond to posts regularly, but I haven't seen anything from him in a couple of years, now :cry:

Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:55 am

jjjjack wrote: CarreraGT wrote: It would be nice to get Brett back in the loop with his great depth of background and contributions.

Definitely. He used to respond to posts regularly, but I haven't seen anything from him in a couple of years, now :cry:
"Every dog has his day"......even a veterinarian. Like many in the 356 world, he has other obligations and interests....now that you mention it, it's been maybe a year since I spoke with Brett, so Brett, if you are lurking, know we're thinking about you....and the '77 Indy Holiday, the folding dartboard with the picture of a major competitor's face on it for those interested in throwing darts sponsored by P.B.Tweeks, the lead-sled, the '55 called Crummy Buttons, my old '51 Coupe that became your racer......and the '51 Glaser Cabriolet now in Austria or Germany somewhere. Hope the new hip became a better "fit" rather than giving you fits, etc. Life moves on.

Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:33 pm

Hi I have a 54 coupe 1300s so is that right then that my car could be red or grey interior. Prob grey being as it was a green car when new.

Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:59 pm

If your car is/was a Jade Green Metallic (536), then for '54 the official choices were yellow with beige corduroy inserts, or just yellow ( ie., no inserts). The "yellow" is more of a tan than yellow.

Post pics in the Pre-A thread (even if it's rough):
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=215732