Re: Closed "Water Ingress", and new leather...

[David Olivant]

I had my 408 lined in the same or similar material.
Its called Alcantara. I've been told it's very resistant to heel marks, but
why any-one would want to walk on it is beyond me!
Happy New Year,
David

[Rubbond]

Ah, I believe we have that stuff on parts of the door panels of our
Discovery. Is it in fact suede (animal skin) or a synthetic material?

[browning l]

Mine is a fabric...

[lansdownplace]

It is from an animal, I believe it is more expensive than the leather used in the cars.

I think BCL use a heavy grade as the nap is quite pronounced and feels more robust that the lightweight alcantara you get in some sports cars.

I could very well be wrong though

I saw lou's car and good as it looks in pictures it is stunning in real life. The exterior colour is about perfect for that model

Paul

[GREG]

Burgundy over Black for the connoisseur of the 603 S2 upgrade surely !

[browning l]

Originally Posted by lansdownplace

It is from an animal, I believe it is more expensive than the leather used in the cars.

I think BCL use a heavy grade as the nap is quite pronounced and feels more robust that the lightweight alcantara you get in some sports cars.

I could very well be wrong though

I saw lou's car and good as it looks in pictures it is stunning in real life. The exterior colour is about perfect for that model

Paul

Thanks, Paul.

In an early email, Toby described the headliner as "A new interior cloth headliner."

That paint color originated in Germany...maybe on Mercedes. I knew it first though, as a RR/Bentley color, in fact had an '03 Bentley on which we specified this color. I was in Toby's office in late March, '08, setting the refurb specs when he asked me about paint color...I quickly replied, "BRG," then said, "Wait a sec, let me call Mrs. B." She suggested we reuse the red we'd had on the Bentley, which scored for me. RR/B called it "Sunset". They also offered Sunrise, a much lighter color, and they were complementary. A two-tone in the two of them would have been gorgeous.

Anyway Toby found the color code - 95.60.014. After the car was painted, he liked it so well that he decided to offer it as a Bristol color option, but Bristol's name for it is Kentucky Red.

I'm not sure I was quite clear on the leather usage on the facia...the normal practice in '08, if I understood and recall correctly, was to use vinyl. When I asked if I could have the same color in leather, their seemed to be some question if they could manipulate the leather properly. As it turned, they did it perfectly.

[lansdownplace]

Hi Lou,

I had the leather on the dash of my car having seen yours. Apparently the current leathers are treated so they don't shrink in sunlight which is why they used to use leatherette before this innovation. Although it isn't a cheap option it does finish the interior. If only I could conceal the door trim!

Paul

[GREG]

Paul,

I have just taken a look at the door trim. What do you mean, it looks like 412 door trim ?

[jimfoz]

Originally Posted by Rubbond

Ah, I believe we have that stuff on parts of the door panels of our
Discovery. Is it in fact suede (animal skin) or a synthetic material?

On the vast majority of cars that have this fitted it is Alcantara and is synthetic suede-effect material although I am not sure on the high spec Land Rovers which have similar trim to the high spec Jaguars. It does feel and look luxurious in car interiors whether it is man-made or not, but DFS seem to like using it on their cheap-looking sofas these days which spoils the exclusivity!

I had an Audi that had it covering the seats and it started bobbling after 50k miles so it is not hard wearing enough for sitting on. Mercedes used to offer a similar material called Amaretta for the w126 S-Class seats but it is rare to find a car with this as it was as expensive as the leather/velour option.