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it appears they have the correct material...only in grey and green. i plan on calling for black to see what they have. i bet they could dye the grey black.

also my back seat had the original fabric only it was super faded to a whitish...like the black was just sucked right out of it. but you can see black where the sun didn't hit.

http://www.smsautofabrics.com/product-info.php?pid=55-2734&pcl=c&ino=42991

Didn't this discussion come up once before as to whether that SMS star pattern is correct? I believe it was in reference to a "restored" ebay car. I only see one gray with stars in 55 and to me those stars do not look the same although maybe they are just extreme closeups and that is the difference.

I don't think that fabric can be dyed successfully. The stars would disappear. I dyed some original fabric in the 54 Pacific I did but it started out white with black patterns. The white was easy to change to green and the black squares stayed visible. Don't think it will work the other way around.

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Hank:

The material of my seats is NOT velvet ... it just sort of feels a little like it. Velvet for car seats doesn't hold up worth a damn: definitely a bad idea. I just looked on the SMS Auto Fabrics website and did not see anything like the seats in a Constellation.

Being hard-headed is OK, as long as you are practical as well, which from all indication you definitely are. I pity your poor mother sewing little stars into the fabric for your car. You might be setting yourself up big time when it comes to pay back! Besides, from what I could tell during the PAC National Meet, even those judges are not that incredibly anal when it comes to understanding that an owner can only do that of which he is capable.

Finding the exact material used in a fairly rare car from 57 years ago might be on the same level as locating the exact brakepad cover used on a 1914 Apperson Jackrabbit, if you get my drift ...

I got material for my 55 Patrician, and 400 from SMS. As stated they are the only game in town.

Henry, there used to be an upholstery shop on Magnola that had Packard material back in the 70 & 80's, but SMS, bought all their material. I suspect they did that around the country.

Hank:

SMS may be the only game in town, but the only material I saw was for the senior Packards. Also, the site takes you to "55 Packard"" -- there is no delineation between a 400 and a Clipper. I am going to conduct a deep Internet search for antique car upholstery fabrics. If I can find out anything for you, I will let you know ASAP! Take care,

I got the original green material for my 56 400 from SMS. They also matched the leather as to color and grain.
I recently bought the boucle' material from them for my Caribbean. It took a long while to get it but it finally arrived.
I looked up boucle' (boo clay) in a French dictionary a long time ago. Boucle' is french for burlap. Some 56 Caribbean owners get upset when you tell them that.

I owned a 55 Clipper Constellation in which the previous owner had retained all the vinyl trim (turquoise) but had placed velour in the inserts. I was able to get the original "star" fabric (or a reproduction) from SMS (I believe)in black with silver stars. I had a good bit left over and installed it in a 56 Clipper Super. Though technically incorrect, it certainly looked good with the black pinpoint nylon bolsters.

I only wish I had some of this fabric to give to you. I will look around to see if there are a few remnants. If so, I'll be glad to forward them to you for use in having more reproduction fabric run (although SMS should have the pattern in their records).

It has been so long ago that I honestly can't attest to where I got the fabric, but that being said, as it has been pointed out previously, SMS is about the only game in town.

It is very rewarding to see Packard restoration folk who take the time to try and bring interiors back to factory or semi-factory status!

I concur about taking a vehicle's interior back to original when possible. The material I purchased from SMS was spot on exact as later evidenced by the real original fabric found underneath rear seats. I love seeing peoples eyes light up with enjoyment as they view my 'new' interior. To really get people exicted, at a night time car show, I display the car with the interior courtesy lights on. When that happens......the gold dash and the gold lemay threads seem to twinkle back and forth in the subtle light.

The interior designers at Packard knew their stuff in my opinion.

Hank:

During my perusal of various sites that sell auto fabrics, this one seems to offer some promise. I sent in a request for information about our mutual cloth and expect to hear back from them on Monday or Tuesday. Here is the site:

http://originalauto.com/products/n-o-s-original-seat-cloth-vinyl

It is Original Auto Interiors. Check it out. I will let you know what I find out.

Craig