Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Aftenoon chaps,

I am starting to make plans for the refurbishment of the leather interior of my 745.

Its difficult to tell whether the leather is original (I doubt it!) or how old it is but it is still in pretty good shape but dirty, faded and damaged in small areas.

I have access to specialist products to repair and recolour the leather and plan to do it a bit darker than it is at present.

As you can see, its a bit of a washed-out parchment colour at present and, because the car is red, I'm planning to make it a tan or light brown colour.

I suspect that this will still look period as such colours were popular in 1930 but the question is, what finish should I apply? Gloss, semi-gloss, satin, semi-matt or matt?

Would the leather of the period have been shiny or not.

I'm tending toward a satin finish but thought I would ask for opinions first.

bump....

Would appreciate anyone's thoughts

i like the shine that is on it now, but i have not idea what is period correct.

i would make it a darker leather color too myself.

Hank

My experience with various leather products (very little upholstery) from the prewar and immediate postwar period is that gloss and semi gloss leather was used. There may have been somethings that were less than semi-gloss but not that i've seen nor even heard of.

Such terms as satin, semi-matt or matt i rarely heard to describe any kind of finish until sometime in the early 1980's or heard such terms only rarely. Some saddlebags were somewhat mat finish but most were gloss to semi gloss during the 30's and 40's. But those were real thick articles too.

My personal opinion is to clean/shine up the upholstery in your car and get it looking as good as possible without any significant modifications to it.

From the pics above i would be most proud of it just the way it is.

Being clueless as to what the 'correct' sheen would be, I'd go with satin or semi-gloss (similar to the current finish). I'd stay away from a glossy finish as it might end up looking like plastic. Just my thoughts.

Oh!! i just remebered that u are in England. The English are the worlds superior upholstery and leather craftsmen. My recommendation is to get with some local Englishmen who have worked in the trade for many decades. Get several opinions. Base your decision on what they recommend.

LEt us know what they say.

Anyone have any comments on whether that broad pleat pattern with buttons is authentic for the 740/745 open cars?

Getting opinions of several people who worked in the
trade will not serve you well unless they were working on fairly new Packards during the 1930's adntheir memory is near perfect. People are all entitled to their own opinions but not their own facts. Better to get facts than a bunch of well intentioned guesses

I have in my collection of Packard stuff a 2"thick book of original Packard leather samples for the early 1930's cars prepared as a showroom sample book by Eagle Ottowa Leather Company who was the original supplier. All of the samples are of Colonial Grain which is a deep coarse grain. Interestingly , all colors are an antiqued finish, that is there is one color applied an allowed to dry, then another color is applied and wiped off leaving the first color on the peaks of the grain and the second color in the valleys.

Such combinations as dark gray/lighter gray, brown/tan, and a most surprising green/red which looks quite nice. The sheen I would describe as semigloss. The valleys were flat and the peaks were semigloss. This was accomplished by "polishing" the finished surface with a cloth that was rather thin so it polished the tops only. A "deep" cloth or a sheepskin would reach into the crevices and polish both levels. Leather finishing was an art, now is's all done by machines and the antiqued finish on your leather was done with a light overspray of a darker color.

The grain you show , while not possible to see in detail, is most likely "hair cell" grain which was common in US cars in the 70's. It is a very smooth grain and has little pores in it. Lincoln and Mercury used this color/finish in the 70's

Thanks all for your valuable input.

As Fred suggests the finish is quite smooth (with little in the way of hide grain) and this confirms my suspicion that the leather dates from a 1970's refit, which was of a very high quality.

The problem with the smooth finish is that it might look like plastic if I apply a gloss or semi-gloss finish. In fact the photo of the back seat is one I received from the vendor before I bought the car. I was convinced that it was pvc. I said as much in our discussons and he never argued. It was only on close inspection that it became obvious it really was leather.

Hence my preference was for semi-matt but its difficult to know. I guess I will do a small panel and test it out.

For your info, the firm supplying the materials is

http://furnitureclinic.co.uk/Rolls_Royce_Leather_Colour_Chart.php

I am tending toward the Rolls Royce Fawn Brown colour as I will also be replacing the carpets in red to match the bodywork and pipe them in the same leather. The interior of the car is small compared to the exterior and it needs something more dramatic to show the interior off better.

The Youtube clip here shows how the product is applied. Certanly looks impressive. Of course I will post some detailed pics as the work proceeds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkIXY_ODCZQ

If anyone is horrified by this plan please let me know. Originality is my aim but I also want it to look special.

Dave,

The question of the broad buttoned upholstery is my hot topic of research at the moment so I'm glad you picked up on it.

As you know, some 745 Phaetons, like other models, were the subject of body swaps. I asked Jim Pearsall to have a look into mine, but he was not able to find any definitive data. He did say that, to determine the history, its necessary to really know the specifications of the interiors although, again, he didnt have exact references.

If the phaeton body tub was originally off a smaller car then the interior would have been a different spec to one originally fitted to a 745. Having studied photos of as many 7th series cars as possible (amazing how few interior shots there were from the period) it seems to me that the 745's exclusively featured an inlaid panel on the door tops as the primary difference.

Of all the images I have (including sales brochures) the shorter models had vertical striped upholstery whereas, I think, the 745 had the deep buttoned pattern you see on mine.

You may recall from another thread a member from LA who posted his own car which is identical to mine but for the paint colour. I'm in touch with him and his has the same deep buttoned panel upholstery. He also believes the bodies were actually made by Dietrich but badged as Packard but that is another story which I am chasing down (interesting little details emerging)

I've inspected the undersides of the seats and can see that mine was a straight recovering of the leather - the springs and stuffing are all original and its clear from the way the springs are covered that the orignal was the same pattern. So for these reasons, I like to think mine wasn't a body swap but I need some more definitive proof.

Did you raise the point as it seemed unusual to you? I'd love to know more details but there is little info out there

Sales brochure images here show the 745 Phaeton (single cowl) and the 745 Sport Phaeton (Dual Cowl).

Photos show a 733 with the striped upholstery and a 740 sale brochure pic also with striped upholstery

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