Pre-A Interior colour combinations

[Steve Rees]

I'm trying to decide on an interior colour combination for upholstry/carpets/dash colour for my '53 coupe.

I have no Kardex info on this, but the exterior will be the correct Fish Silver Grey and I am leaning towards vinyl rather than corduroy or leather.

I was thinking of blue seats & panels, grey carpet, blue dash but I have an open mind, so I'd be really grateful if you would please post up pictures of your suggestions !!

Not sure if this has been covered before (probably!) so apologies if I'm covering old ground!

Your help is appreciated !!

Cheers,
Steve

[Mike Wilson]

According to Brett Johnson's "A Restorer's Guide to Authenticity", Fish Silver Grey is a '50-'52 color. The interior options were varied. For '53, a Fashion Grey was offered with grey textured vinyl speckled with grey dots or grey corduroy. Hopefully someone with a silver Pre-A coupe can share pics and color options with you to see what you like best.

Mike Wilson
Lomita, CA
'63 B coupe

[Steve Rees]

My car was most probably built in '52 as it left the factory in Jan '53.

I managed to get a photocopy of the factory Kardex from Germany but the only information it provides is the paint colour, the engine number, and the selling dealer & date.

Your photos of interior colour combinations would be much appreciated !

Thanks in advance,
Steve

[Mike Wilson]

Unfortunately there are no pics of the color options for the interior, Hopefully somone on the List with a '52 can post them for you to see.

Mike Wilson
Lomita, CA
'63 B coupe

[FREDRICH GLOCKLER]

Steve,
Here's one in Fish Silver Grey fully restored. One possible combination. Since you don't know and the factory info is incomplete, their are many possibilities for your car as many were offered. Cloth, vinyl, leather in various mixes and colors including plaids were available.
Good luck in your quest. Lets see photos when done.

http://www.mjemotorsports.com/index.php ... icle&id=64

Regards,

[Frank Jung]

fish-silver-grey (R 505) has been one of 9 colours (series) in 1953.

as far as I know:

There were 3 options for the seats (seat cover) & door panels:

1) cloth
or
2) cloth in combination with synthetic leather
or
3) synthetic leather

4 possible colours seat cover (cloth):
- blue (3326 f)
- grey (3361 e)
- beige (3362 e)
- green (3287 e)

6 possible colours seat cover (synthetic leather):
- blue (309 c)
- red (356)
- green (357)
- light beige (366b)
- beige (376)
- grey (377)

3 possible cloth-colours for interieur panels / parts:
- green (3288)
- grey (3364)
- beige (3365)

and finally 3 possible colours for the carpets:
- blue (678)
- green (680)
- beige (695)



hope this will help to make your decision.


Frank

[Michael Banchero]

Steve, my interior is a dark blue leather with beige carpet with blue piping.
a nice combination,
michaelb

[Steve Rees]

Thanks to Mike, Fredrich, Frank and Michael for your input ..... all food for thought.

The sample of blue vinyl from Autos Intl looks very dark, almost black in the car, so I'm still looking for alternative inspiration please!

There are lots of photos of exteriors of Pre-A's but not that many of the interiors ..... to aid my research, any more links to photos of interiors would be appreciated!

Cheers!

[Steve Rees]

Continuing my research, I'm trying to view the PreA coupe section of the "Album" area of this forum and most of the images have gone, or are at least to me they are un-viewable...... am I alone here?

Thanks,
Steve

[Jim Liberty]

I have the factory build sheet for my 1952 Coupe (11441). It lists "Leather" as the interior in the color Red. The VIN # and the color were written on the back of the dash with white chalk. Also "Red" in German.

...............................Jim.

[Jim Karaba]

Adria blue metalic with grey vinyl and grey carpeting.

[Steve Rees]

Hi Jim & Jim .....

Thanks for your photos .....

Jim L,
I didn't think coupes came with leather so yours must have been a special factory order .... lucky you ! .... at least you know the original spec so the decision was easy when it came time to re-trim

Jim K,
Those seats look fairly blue on my screen; what do they look like in reality? ..... were they an Autos Intl colour vinyl or another supplier?

All the best,
Steve

[Matt Wilson]

Adria blue metalic with grey vinyl and grey carpeting.

do you have more photos of this car please, i'm looking for the adria blue colour
thanks

[Guest]

Adria blue with gray seats and gray carpet gray top triple gray cant believe i don't have a picture of my interior complete.

Regards Ned

[James Davies]

Revisiting an old thread here.

Steve, perhaps you've already painted and upholstered your car, but I thought I'd add a bit of info here.

My '53 "USA de Luxe" 1500S coupe (completed July, 1953 per the COA) is Fish silver grey too!

Its original interior is grey cord and grey leather upholstery, grey fuzzy twill headliner and dark blue carpet with cloth binding. I have the original interior, but it is in lousy shape. The COA confirms all this - it says R505/Fish silver grey with Grey Leather/CS interior. "CS" was a code at Reutter that seemed to indicate there was a mix of cloth and vinyl or cloth and leather.

So just to add to Frank Jung's excellent information above, it was possible, and very likely standard, that 1953 USA-delivery coupes delivered with 1500S motors had corduroy and leather interiors. Not a lot of leather - just the seat sides and backs, and the side of the back fold-down seat. All the rest is cord, including door panels rear cushion and A-pillar coverings. Both the cord and leather are a warm grey color.