Step into a properly trimmed classic and the senses tell you everything: the smell of real leather, the give of a horsehair-and-foam seat, the soft weight of a wool carpet underfoot. The cabin is where you actually experience the car, and it deserves the same devotion as the bodywork. Our trim shop works in the traditional materials and the traditional way, because nothing else feels right and nothing else lasts.
We re-trim seats, door cards, headlinings, parcel shelves and carpets to original patterns, using correct hides — Connolly and its modern equivalents — wool carpet with the right weave and binding, and period-correct underlays and piping. Patterns are taken from the original trim wherever it survives, so seams fall where they should and the finished interior looks as though it was never disturbed.
Built the traditional way
A classic seat is a structure, not a cover. Beneath the leather sits a frame, springs, webbing and a build-up of horsehair, felt and foam that gives the seat its shape and its support. We rebuild from the frame outward, repairing springs and webbing, replacing perished padding, and only then cutting and stitching the hide. A seat re-covered without rebuilding looks acceptable for a season and then sags; a seat rebuilt properly holds its shape for decades.
What we re-trim
- Seat rebuilding and re-covering in correct leather or cloth
- Door cards, kick panels and trim panels remade to pattern
- Headlinings fitted in correct material, including sunroof cars
- Wool carpet sets, bound and fitted with period underlay
- Hood and tonneau work for open cars, in mohair or vinyl as original
- Hand-stitching, piping and detailing to factory specification
The patina question
As with the rest of the car, we always ask whether an interior should be renewed or conserved. A cabin with honest, even wear may be worth saving — cleaned, fed, and gently repaired rather than replaced — particularly on an original, unrestored car where the interior is part of its provenance. Where a re-trim is the right course, we can match the patina of the rest of the car, ageing nothing artificially but choosing materials and finishes that sit comfortably with the whole.
Comfort that lasts
The reward for doing trim properly is a cabin you never want to leave: leather that ages gracefully, seats that support you on a long tour, carpets that wear for years, and a fit and finish that makes every journey feel like an occasion. It is, after all, the part of the car you live with most closely — and we trim it accordingly.