Leather Seat design options

Do what pleases you. It's never going to be a real Porsche and it's your money.

Those look like a variation of Porsche 914-style seats.  I had 914 seats in my car for about ten years.  They're good for about 2 hours of driving and then you HAVE to get out to walk around and stretch.  Other than that, they're fine, but I eventually swapped them out for something more like Cabriolet-style seats.

Im looking for the actual leather/material.. The style of the seats that come with the VMC Speedsters is fine.

I agree with Gordon.....

Are those fabric inserts or is it stamped vinyl like original VW upholstery?
I’m a big fan of leather, but I’ve seen enough 60-70’s Mercedes with pristine MB Tex that I think it would be a righteous choice as well.

Porsche uses a material called Race Tex and it is very comfortable. It’ll stay cooler in direct sun than vinyl or leather. Might be similar to Alcantara without the copyright violation. Others have used plaid, Houndstooth, or vertical stitching.

@beemerb0y those seats look very similar to some I’ve seen on pictures of speedsters from Vintage Speedsters of Arizona (not VMC).  If you have Instagram you can see them there, just search for Vintage Speedster.

@Jon T posted:

@beemerb0y those seats look very similar to some I’ve seen on pictures of speedsters from Vintage Speedsters of Arizona (not VMC).  If you have Instagram you can see them there, just search for Vintage Speedster.

I think those are the same seats I have, just upholstered differently.

Depending on your build, I think those barely-padded bolsters would be uncomfortable as they fit pretty snuggly against your hips. (At least they do mine)

@dlearl476 I'd put money that they aren't the same. Vintage seats and Beck seats don't come from the same source AFAIK.

Hmmm. I’ve always assumed they were all versions taken off a mold of these.
Just upholstered differently.

Take a look at Allante  it's a soft leather like material that is beautiful.  IMHO avoid diamond pattern on the seat cushion as by having that sewn pattern it acts as a net restricting the compression of the seat cushions.

Allante Vinyls – upholsterycentral.com

I am building a convertible D and I would really like to use Roadster seats.  I forget the reason why Carey recommended againast using the Roadster seats.  I think they are either not available or prohibitibly expensive.  If I end up going with speedster seats, the insert will have a pattern such as these.  Seems like since intermeccanica is no longer in business maybe Beck could purchase the technology to make the Roadster seats and Conv D top.

@550 Phil posted:

I am building a convertible D and I would really like to use Roadster seats.  I forget the reason why Carey recommended againast using the Roadster seats.  I think they are either not available or prohibitibly expensive.  If I end up going with speedster seats, the insert will have a pattern such as these.  Seems like since intermeccanica is no longer in business maybe Beck could purchase the technology to make the Roadster seats and Conv D top.

https://www.speedsterowners.co...pic/roadster-seats-1

Don't feel bad Phil. I forget what I’ve posted all the time, too.

There’s a few roadster seats on eBay, but they’re all $2000<.

ps: Maybe @PaulEnvemo will weigh in with what seats he’s using in his roadsters.

I've never been a fan of Kirk 'n Mary's "comfort seats", which were not super comfortable on the car I had.

These, however:

are gorgeous, and about 4" wider across at the back of the bottom pad than anything I ever saw on those old benches. Back in the day, everybody (Kirk included) called those "cut down 914 seats", but the 914 seats were wider (like these) and way more comfortable.

I'd love to sit in these to see how they actually feel, but they look really comfortable (if not very supportive with the near total lack of side bolsters), and are undeniably gorgeous with the stamped or perforated centers.

I'd love to see them close up.

I'd like to see the image with Stan's message.

Me too….   “image not found”, Stan.

>$2K on eBay for a roadster seat?

Suddenly, my salvage yard “Roadster Seats” at $75 for two, looks like the deal of the century.

Henry built a wider speedster seat that is so comfortable.  I have them in my IM6, and they are great for long trips.  Three way seat heaters help a lot.  They were a tight fit, but well worth it. 

In my CMC I switched to a JPS seat instead of the original CMC seats because the JPS seats are wider in the back.

I have since made my butt narrower too.

Bob:  Is that some sort of “grab handle” just to the immediate right of the passenger seat?

https://www.speedsterowners.co...pic/roadster-seats-1

Funny. I started that post about seats almost 3 years ago. At the time I was going to build a vintage motorcar coupe with a Subaru engine and transmission. Now I’m building a Beck convertible D with a Type 4 and a 901 transmission and of course a hardtop. The VM coupe would have been great. But I think the Conv D will be amazing. Trying to be patient.

We’ve all been there. It’s when you start replying to your old posts that you have to worry. BTDT.

@Gordon Nichols posted:

Bob:  Is that some sort of “grab handle” just to the immediate right of the passenger seat?

Gordon:  Yes.  That was installed in place of the dash grab handle.  I believe originally it was for a Jeep.   

And yes, it gets used...

Can you see it now?

@Stan Galat posted:

Can you see it now?

Yes. Corduroy is back! Reminds me of some recaros we had in a fox GTI.

Yeah, Stan.  Those seats remind me of the Corduroy pants I wore to primary school in the winter.  😜

Seriously, though…….  That interior looks awesome.

@Michael Pickett posted:

Yes. Corduroy is back! Reminds me of some recaros we had in a fox GTI.

It really felt like velour though, didn't it? I had a 77 Scirocco. Then an 87 Scirocco 16v, then a 90 Corrado G60. The material quality did increase over the years.

I’m now certain that the seats shown with the initial post, and reposted by Stan are from a car built by Vintage Speedsters, AZ.  The car is gorgeous inside and out, if not everyone’s cup of tea.  In a VS Facebook post date July of 2021 there are a few photos, with photo credit to a professional photographer so I won’t lift them.  They are described as ‘hand woven leather’.  A quick zoom in at least confirms they don’t look like they are fabric.

Just in case anyone wants to see, here are the leather comfort seats we ordered from Greg at VMC to go into our IM rebuild. They are indeed comfy. I'm 5' 11" and 194 lbs and never get uncomfortable while driving.

@Michael Pickett wrote: "They are indeed comfy. I'm 5' 11" and 194 lbs and never get uncomfortable while driving."

Well, you live on a small island that's, What?  Smaller than Rhode Island?.  You can't go all that far before you fall off into the ocean, right?

And since we're all showing seats, here are my $75 Blue Light specials:

@dlearl476 the seats on the roadster we are doing are completely new and built in house by the coachbuilder. They are copied right down to the chrome Porsche hinges that are specially cast.  The only difference is that these seats just recline and don’t fold all the way down like the originals. Not a big deal because there are no back seats.

@Gordon Nichols your seats look great but let's not forget what you did to make them fit. Not everyone can do that.

Yeah, that's true.   And if I had anything BUT a CMC, they probably would have fit easier without all that finagling.  Chalk it all up to "gaining experience".

Anyone have speedster bucket seats with vertical stitching ? Similar to these, but with the typical speedster seats (3rd pic)

From what Carey and others told me and doing some basic math, a few reasons the real 356 roadster seats don't fit in replica speedsters is:

1. the VW center tunnel is too tall. The real 356 tunnels were low and square and the seat edges could fit over them.

2. The doorsill on a real 356 is narrower than a replica as the VW pan is also narrower than a Porsche pan.

3. The area behind the door on replicas is usually wider and the outer top of the seats would be hitting it.

You could do a lot of surgery to the pan and body to make them fit I'm sure.

Jeff

Not to forget the parking brake lever location would never fit between the roadster seats.