Quote:
Originally Posted by Barrie
Thank you for a most fulsome contribution Claude!
That's quite a tale you tell.
I'm curious about the 'most beautiful multi-toned leather' and can't imagine what it looked like. Are there any references to it on the internet or pictures that you have?
Regards, Barrie
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http://www.bristolcars.info/forums/a...1&d=1385927856
Your welcome Barrie,
Attached is a photo of the interior. I should explain that my intention was to make the 411 a keeper, thus I did the interior to my own taste rather than a faithful repeat of "factory". Although I do note that in a long conversation with Tony Crook, he made clear that "factory" was often whatever the first customer wanted. He spoke of paint colours to match the customer's school tie, and of course the Elliot Gant 410 had a custom Mota Lita steering wheel, custom trim (that seems to have become the model for the more subdued 411) and the body was repainted three times (at his expense) until he was happy with the result and took delivery of the car which he had shipped to New Haven, CT USA (this latter story from Brian... and I should note only told because Gant had spoken with me on the phone prior, thus they were revealing no secrets about the first buyer of their cars).
Anyway, back to my car, the dash was veneered in burl walnut with the assistance of the Stradivarius violin specialist Peter Moes (who raced Arnolt Bristols along with his wife Wendy... his and hers cars). The carpet was made from a new hand-knotted Persian runner. The brown leather trim was Italian book leather that came from a film company auction (the company that made those fantasy wonders such as Xena Warrior Princess).
The company had a three-day auction to close out a warehouse full of film stuff, and the last day at 5 pm they auctioned off the leather. I was there to buy one shelf to repair some furniture damaged when our container was shipped, but the exhausted auctioneer, seeing about fifty lots at the end of the auction said "Shall we just do the whole room as a single lot?" You may imagine my dismay fearing my day's vigil was a waste, as I was there only for one lot. My reserve for that shelf was $1,000. At NZ$800 my hand was the only one remaining up, thus I bought about $30,000 in leather, plus a room full of tools including a 300 pound Industrial-Revolution era riveter. I had to call in a crane-truck to haul all the loot home and I still have over a cubic metre of skins.
I then found a brilliant leather upholsterer who in a previous life had done the top classic cars in NZ. He decided to go back to art school to earn a degree, and discovered the student's life means being broke. On a very reasonable hourly rate, he agreed to upholster a few jobs for me. He did my 1982 Mercedes G-Wagon in saddle leather (about 1/4 inch thick) to survive the abuse that jeep gets from dogs, horse-daughters, and various construction projects that are part of the territory when living on an island in an island nation. The Bristol 409 had its front seats upholstered in a strong but comfortable leather than was then dye-matched to the original.
With the 411, we selected a blond deer leather for the inner panels and a harder brown leather for the outer parts of the seat squab where there would be more wear. In the back of the seat he made a pull-out table suitable for a picnic when not driving, and then made leather seat covers to protect all. The seat covers have bleached from the sun, thus proving their worth. He also refurbished the foam, making the seats more comfortable. Sadly however, due to the import inspection laws passed after I brought the car into the country, the seats have less than a mile of driving time on them.
And that's the leather story.
Claude