The Official 356Talk Forum

I searched the feeds for brown interior as well as two tone and haven't seen much so here goes,

I believe my interior although rough is original and the front seats are two tone brown and tan. I have noticed an Original Seat for sale now with the same two tone colors.... Its a 58 coupe Aquamarine Blue with Brown Interior, I have seen the Corduroy Inserts doing research but just not many two tone vinyl seats or many shown in pictures. I have attached a photo, most of the interior seems a lighter brown and then the darker brown in the middle of the buckets. I have seen plenty of the lighter brown/tan but none with the inserts till the one listed for sale. All the horse hair is still in the seats so I don't think it has been replaced. I can also tell the carpet is the Oatmeal and it had the light tan rubber matts as evidence from the tunnel cover still remaining.

The Kardex has no mention of any special interior but I know many details aren't always listed. Is this more common than I think or does anyone else have this same combo? Has any interior shops done the two tone before?

Thanks for any help,

Still a Newbie here Learning as much as I can

I think what you are seeing is the dye difference after the materials have aged. I would guess that the center sections of the seats are leather and all other portions are vinyl. They most likely started out the same shade but they have faded and aged to a two tone look.

I'm not sure the 356 had partial leather seats yet. cords/ vinyl yes, but i am not sure about leather/vinyl. That was a 911 thing iirc. 'Teilleder'

I was wondering about the fade as well, and have peaked under the seam at the Vinyl that was not exposed to sunlight and they still seem to be different, as well I didn't notice any leather only vinyl was present. I will try to get a clearer close up of the seam and colors of that.... Its just odd enough but seems to be original? Everything else seems to match with the lighter and only the center of the seats were darker.

Good 356 shop like Auto's International,Autobahn Interiors etc could redo your seats dual color.

You guys are spot on, I couldn't imagine how it could fade out so drastically different.

It is a deep brown underneath that hasn't seen daylight. An upholstery friend came over and poked around in it since i wasn't home. He said the center of the seats were certainly a different batch of vinyl as one had a woven back and one a knit back. The colors on the front were close enough that they seem to be meant to match and not a two tone. I guess this one was started at the end of one roll at the factory and finished with a new roll. The two tone would have been cool ...... but the solid brown will save the cost of a custom order.

Thanks!