White Leather

[dgs]

I came across this '60 for sale and found the interior curious:



It seems to be the correct trim pattern, but I wasn't aware of white leather with black trim before. Not that I'm an expert of what is what, but I thought all the leather interiors, except the tan, were monochrome. Mine's red seats and trim, for example.

Is this a factory option?

(Oh, and I love the typical dealer mention of 'numbers matching', which,of course, isn't possible.)

[Alan H. Tast, AIA]

NO - white leather was not an upholstery choice prior to 1963 in T-birds, and even that was in a limited-edition model. Many people confuse white with beige, i.e. trim code 84 for 1960 and later (especially 1961-1963 as a very light color was used). As you noted, leather interiors were typically monotone, with the color of the seats matching the door panels, carpet, dash, etc., but beige leather interiors have been documented with lighter-colored seats and the side panels slightly darker.

In studying the photo, I'm not seeing panel seams in the front seat back surround at the upper corners that are present in original covers. This implies that the covers were custom made and the previous owner wanted white as a personal preference. Personally, I wouldn't want a white interior as it would be very hard to keep clean, much as I do not want to own a black car.

[jopizz]

Here's a partial picture from the '60 sales brochure. As you can see the door panel is two toned beige-brown.

John

[dgs]

I have that same brochure, I love how they stretched that shot to give the impression there was lots of rear leg room.

I also realized that I forgot the link to the ad, check it out here. Seems like a clean coupe. With the leather look door panels, I'm guessing it was a black leather interior originally.

Another thing they got wrong is the engine compartment. All black. And what is that big bottle up front?

[YellowRose]

White Leather

That big bottle looks like a radiator overflow bottle to me.

[dgs]

It does, I've just not seen one on a Squarebird before.

I also noticed it has the booster spacer bracket but no AC.

[tbird430]

Maybe whoever restored this Bird was tired of burning his "****" in the hot summertime (on black leather seats)??? LOL!!!


-Jon in TX.