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Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Strato Silver
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ecallaway
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 12:24 am    Post subject: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Strato Silver Reply with quote

I am planning to restore the paint and interior on my 1955 Beetle to original, but wondering what are the correct leatherette upholstery options. The original paint was Strato Silver (found in locations that survived the white/cream overspray). The Birth Certificate only indicates "M 079 Upholstery leatherette instead of material". Looking through the forums it seems clear that the brick red is likely possibility but I am kind of hoping that there are other "correct" options.

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Last edited by ecallaway on Sun Oct 16, 2022 3:59 pm; edited 1 time in total
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ecallaway
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 12:29 am    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Strato Silver Reply with quote

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Last edited by ecallaway on Sun Oct 16, 2022 3:59 pm; edited 1 time in total
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esde
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 5:24 am    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Stratos Silver Reply with quote

Several years ago I dragged a stratos silver 55 out of the Maryland woods. It was rusted badly but donated lots of good parts. The interior was a dark grey, that had some blue to it, with a light silver blue piping. I have the back seat waiting for mew upholstery to go in my zwitter
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I'll look around to see if I have some more pics.
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 12:21 pm    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Stratos Silver Reply with quote

Usually there were at least 2 optional leatherette colors. As esde noted blue was certainly an option in addition to red. From paint & uphostery. Go with what you like best.

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BGLOCOTE
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 9:40 pm    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Stratos Silver Reply with quote

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Our cars are so close delivered to the same dealer within a few weeks. My car is also strato silver although the birth cert doesn't state it but one thing is for sure mine calls out the red leatherette. From what I understand red leatherette was very common for the US cars and there isn't any options that I've been able to find for US cars. Euro had the blue fabric.

Looks like you car came with the towel bumpers like mine.
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 9:58 pm    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Stratos Silver Reply with quote

BGLOCOTE wrote:


Looks like you car came with the towel bumpers like mine.


I thought the first several months of 55 were euro bumpers and the corresponding low mounted egg tail lights. But January of 55 is pretty early
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 10:02 pm    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Stratos Silver Reply with quote

esde wrote:
BGLOCOTE wrote:


Looks like you car came with the towel bumpers like mine.


I thought the first several months of 55 were euro bumpers and the corresponding low mounted egg tail lights. But January of 55 is pretty early


That is true they all came with egg taillights but some came with the towel bumpers as stated on the birth certificate.
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Looking for 54-55 TYPE 1 finger tin.

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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 10:37 pm    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Stratos Silver Reply with quote

BGLOCOTE wrote:
esde wrote:
BGLOCOTE wrote:


Looks like you car came with the towel bumpers like mine.


I thought the first several months of 55 were euro bumpers and the corresponding low mounted egg tail lights. But January of 55 is pretty early


That is true they all came with egg taillights but some came with the towel bumpers as stated on the birth certificate.


So strange. I had read that the change to the higher mounted snowflake lights coincided with the beginning of the over rider US bumpers. The egg lights are low and practically behind the over rider. Seems like there's always an exception to the rule with these cars.
Your car is a Jan 55 car, so it has ribbed doors and eggs, but it was delivered with later US spec over rider bumpers. Does it have semaphores? Have a pic?
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 10:38 pm    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Stratos Silver Reply with quote

esde wrote:
Several years ago I dragged a stratos silver 55 out of the Maryland woods. It was rusted badly but donated lots of good parts. The interior was a dark grey, that had some blue to it, with a light silver blue piping. I have the back seat waiting for mew upholstery to go in my zwitter

I'll look around to see if I have some more pics.


Thanks. I've seen pics of Strato Silver oval restorations that look how that might have looked when new. Good to know that might be an original color option.


Last edited by ecallaway on Tue Oct 04, 2022 11:01 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 10:45 pm    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Strato Silver Reply with quote

BGLOCOTE wrote:
Our cars are so close delivered to the same dealer within a few weeks. My car is also strato silver although the birth cert doesn't state it but one thing is for sure mine calls out the red leatherette. From what I understand red leatherette was very common for the US cars and there isn't any options that I've been able to find for US cars. Euro had the blue fabric.

Looks like you car came with the towel bumpers like mine.


Wow! Very cool. Two still surviving that might have even been on the lot at the same time. From what I can tell the red leatherette was standard and had the M104 code wheras the M079 code indicated either an optional color or (at least by 1957 or 1958) beige leatherette. The other posts above suggest that one of those optional colors was blue with white piping.


Last edited by ecallaway on Sun Oct 16, 2022 4:00 pm; edited 3 times in total
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 10:49 pm    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Strato Silver Reply with quote

esde wrote:
BGLOCOTE wrote:
esde wrote:
BGLOCOTE wrote:


Looks like you car came with the towel bumpers like mine.


I thought the first several months of 55 were euro bumpers and the corresponding low mounted egg tail lights. But January of 55 is pretty early


That is true they all came with egg taillights but some came with the towel bumpers as stated on the birth certificate.


So strange. I had read that the change to the higher mounted snowflake lights coincided with the beginning of the over rider US bumpers. The egg lights are low and practically behind the over rider. Seems like there's always an exception to the rule with these cars.
Your car is a Jan 55 car, so it has ribbed doors and eggs, but it was delivered with later US spec over rider bumpers. Does it have semaphores? Have a pic?


It has ribbed doors, heart taillights (are those also called eggs), and semaphores.


Last edited by ecallaway on Sun Oct 16, 2022 4:01 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 11:37 pm    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Strato Silver Reply with quote

Corwin wrote:
Not original, but mostly correct.

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Found the quote and pics above here:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=338688

I think that this color blue/grey leatherette with white piping looks like the original posted by esde:
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Last edited by ecallaway on Sun Oct 16, 2022 4:01 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 05, 2022 7:36 am    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Stratos Silver Reply with quote

esde wrote:
BGLOCOTE wrote:
esde wrote:
BGLOCOTE wrote:


Looks like you car came with the towel bumpers like mine.


I thought the first several months of 55 were euro bumpers and the corresponding low mounted egg tail lights. But January of 55 is pretty early


That is true they all came with egg taillights but some came with the towel bumpers as stated on the birth certificate.


So strange. I had read that the change to the higher mounted snowflake lights coincided with the beginning of the over rider US bumpers. The egg lights are low and practically behind the over rider. Seems like there's always an exception to the rule with these cars.
Your car is a Jan 55 car, so it has ribbed doors and eggs, but it was delivered with later US spec over rider bumpers. Does it have semaphores? Have a pic?


Yes ribbed doors, semaphore, and overriders. Unfortunately the previous owner made some modifications to the car like adding bullet fenders and later rear fenders to move the taillights up. You can find pics of 55 cars with the lower taillights and overriders. The taillights are almost completely blocked by the bumpers.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8101659
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 05, 2022 7:48 pm    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Stratos Silver Reply with quote

The easiest way to tell if your oval was installed with towel bars from the factory is to look for the plate at the bottom of the spare tire well. This was installed to keep the spare tire from getting wedged between the two upper bumper brackets.

These were a lot more common on late '54 and early '55 U.S.-market cars than many want to believe.

Also, the pre-'56 red leatherette was much brighter than the brick red material found on '56 and later cars. It should also match the material found on the B pillar and below the quarter windows on pre-'56 cars, making it harder to swap interiors at the dealership, which was a common practice with later cars.
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 11, 2022 4:14 pm    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Stratos Silver Reply with quote

Found a pic of the inside of this 55, as found. Based on some stuff in the car, we think it was parked in the early 80's. Front seats were beat, front seat covers probably were not original, but you can see the door panel. The arm rest had a cool silver blue color
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 12, 2022 6:39 pm    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Strato Silver Reply with quote

esde wrote:
Found a pic of the inside of this 55, as found. Based on some stuff in the car, we think it was parked in the early 80's. Front seats were beat, front seat covers probably were not original, but you can see the door panel. The arm rest had a cool silver blue color
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Thanks esde. This is very helpful. Motorola radio also suggests that this was a US import so probably that color interior was an option. Any idea if there is a birth certificate for the car?


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 13, 2022 6:44 am    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Stratos Silver Reply with quote

No birth certificate. I sold the shell after stripping it down and the owner disappeared. I would have bought it back later, but I didn't know enough about early cars back then. It was beyond repair for sure.
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2022 11:20 am    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Stratos Silver Reply with quote

esde wrote:
BGLOCOTE wrote:
esde wrote:
BGLOCOTE wrote:


Looks like you car came with the towel bumpers like mine.


I thought the first several months of 55 were euro bumpers and the corresponding low mounted egg tail lights. But January of 55 is pretty early


That is true they all came with egg taillights but some came with the towel bumpers as stated on the birth certificate.


So strange. I had read that the change to the higher mounted snowflake lights coincided with the beginning of the over rider US bumpers. The egg lights are low and practically behind the over rider. Seems like there's always an exception to the rule with these cars.

Your car is a Jan 55 car, so it has ribbed doors and eggs, but it was delivered with later US spec over rider bumpers. Does it have semaphores? Have a pic?


https://www.wolfsburgwest.com/wired/wired_08_01/wired_08_01.htm

Wolfsburg West wrote:
Oct'54 (chassis # 1-0722916) - May 2, 1955 (chassis 1-0871207) U.S., Guam, and Canadian models.

This is probably the most misunderstood taillight assembly of them all! Most people refer to these as "1955 only" taillights. We will set the record straight on these, so forget everything you heard, or thought you knew!

Dimensionally speaking, this taillight is the same size as the Oct'52-July'54 assemblies. The upper brake light lens is deleted, and the lower lens is constructed of dark red, convex shaped dark red plastic and is surrounded with a chrome bezel. The brake and running lights were illuminated through this lens.

Here is yet another twist for this particular taillight assembly. From April 1, 1955 through May 2, 1955, VW offered as a factory accessory a flashing indicator package for Beetles bound for the U.S., Guam, and Canadian markets. Beetles equipped with this option were outfitted with "bullet" style front flashing directional indicators (in place of semaphores), and a larger style rear taillights that controlled the brake, running and directional lights. We receive many questions from people restoring 1954-1955 Beetles with regards to what taillight is correct.

Here is a condensed breakdown of how to determine which taillight is correct for your car:

**All 1954-1955 European Beetles were outfited with "heart" taillights.

**All Oct'54 (chassis # 1-0722915) - Mar'55 U.S., Guam, and Canadian market cars used the red convex plastic lens taillights. All of these cars had semaphore directional indicators.

**April'55 - May 2, 1955 (chassis # 1-0871206) U.S., Guam, and Canadian market cars, there are two possibilities. Your car could have the red convex plastic lens taillights and semaphores, or it could have the optional flashing turn signal package with the larger glass taillights and "bullet" style front flashing directional indicators.

**May 3, 1955 (chassis # 1-0871207) - July'55 (chassis # 1-0929746) U.S., Guam, and Canadian market cars were equipped with the flashing indicator package as standard equipment. So, this car would have the larger glass taillights and "bullet" style front directional indicators.


But like you said - there are always exceptions to the rule. My Birth Certificate shows overider bumpers and 'egg' tail lights:


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2022 4:39 pm    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Stratos Silver Reply with quote

David wrote:

https://www.wolfsburgwest.com/wired/wired_08_01/wired_08_01.htm

Wolfsburg West wrote:


with the larger glass taillights and "bullet" style front flashing directional indicators.


So, this car would have the larger glass taillights and "bullet" style front directional indicators.



So, by "larger glass taillights" are we meaning 56-60 snowflakes?
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2022 12:39 pm    Post subject: Re: Leatherette upholstery options for Jan. '55 Strato Silver Reply with quote

54/55 nearly every oval delivered to USA had leatherette, which is just the vinyl seating with a grain pattern.
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