The 'E' Type Forum

Folks, some assistance please:

I am about to order a new carpet set for my Series 3 OTS. According to the heritage certificate, it is the 1st of only 5 cars with terracotta trim. Mine is 1S2400, made August '73. The carpet when I bought the car was dark blue, whereas the sill and rear wheel arch coverings are terracotta coloured, as are the seats. So, do I opt for red carpets, as the closest colour, or does someone know what colour it would have had from the factory?

Many thanks
James

Hi James, and welcome to the forum.

This sounds like a very interesting car...pop some pictures up, eh? Not sure I can help, but the only special scheme I've seen was in a Heather (Pink) S3 which had Cerise (lipstick pink) trim. The seats, door trim, sill trim and carpets were all very pink! Well, we are talking about 1973. I don't think that red would go too well with Terracotta, but maybe it would depend on the color of the car...what is it? My guess is that it would have had terracotta carpets as well, and I'm sure there would be someone somewhere who could dye some carpet to the right color for you. Hopefully others will have a more definitive answer though.

According to Clausagerthere all five cars made with "Terra Cotta" trim were painted 'Turquoise' as part of a colour trial. Jaguar would not have mixed and matched so the carpets would also have been trimmed Terra Cotta. Give Mick Turley or Eric Suffolk a call as they worked in the Jaguar trim department at that time so can either supply or point you in the right direction.

Gents,

Many thanks for your responses - what a great forum! I'll be on the phone to Mick Thurley first thing in the morning. The car was indeed originally painted turquoise, but mine was repainted Jaguar Dark Blue in the early nineties, a colour it still carries. I have to say I think I would have found turquoise and terracotta somewhat challenging on the eye!! Another historical question: the heritage certificate says mine was the first of 5 cars this way. XKE data has no information on the next 5 UK spec chassis numbers after 1s2400, but could a turquoise US spec car have followed it down the production line? Or, did they do a 'batch' of UK, then a 'batch' of US etc etc?

PS - I'm a slight Luddite with technology, but my mission for tomorrow is to post some pics of the car on here...

Thanks
James

Posting pictures guide here: http://etypeuk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1666

The cars were sent down the production line and LHD/RHD were created based on the build sheet for each - so a mix of LHD/RHD cars at any one time.

Ah - thanks David. So I guess from what you say, there is no guarantee that the 5 turquoise & terracotta cars were even sequential on the line? Makes tracking down its 4 'brothers and sisters' a little harder... I'll let you know if Mick Thurley remembers anything, and thanks for your help!

Regards

James

They could have gone down the line sequentially but the others given RHD chassis numbers (1S 1XXX). There were 137 cars painted Turquoise (with Black, Cinnamon or Tan interiors), just these odd five that had the Terra Cotta interior as part of a colour trial.

Spoke to Mick Thurley earlier today, and he was great! He recalled the 5 turquoise / terracotta cars, and said that the interior was so unpopular, not only was it not produced any more after that, but a few owners actually later changed them over to black or tan interiors! As regards the carpet, he felt that the pervading low-cost mindset of the day would have stopped Jaguar doing a special run of 5 terracotta carpet sets, so they would probably have used an existing standard colour - but he couldn't recall what that would have been. Apologies for the standard of the photos - I am c. 400 miles from the car, and these are the best I have of the interior.

Before we go any further, please can someone confirm to me that the interior is NOT a standard red colour? Although in the small photo, it looks red, in the large close up, it looks 'pinky', so I have assumed it is what Jaguar called terracotta. However, as it has clearly been re-trimmed over the years, am I mistaken in my colour identification?







Many thanks folks!

Looks standard red to me. Terra Cotta, although this is very subjective, would be the same colour as a plant pot. This is how Porsche supply it:



When combined with Turquoise it might be not to everyone's taste:

I agree that is the standard red James, and looks very good with the blue colour. For me, as much as I'm interested in originality, I think that I would stick with blue with a red interior.

Maybe put a little flowerpot decal on the side as a nod to the car's heritage!!!

Thanks David.

On balance, although a factory original car would have been great, a more 'normal' colour scheme is easier on the eye.

For those that are thinking "silly idiot doesn't know what colour his car is..." I would say in my defence that 'red' could be anything from a deep Oxblood, and at the other end of the scale, David's Porsche picture could arguably be a colour towards 'tan'. As you say, all very subjective, and so all very confusing.

Anyway, I will happily order a red carpet set, and will show some better photos on here when all is complete.

Thanks for your help

Looks red to me too. Here is a picture of a 1972 colour guide showing Terracotta, and Cerise as well.



http://www.jag-lovers.org/include/iv3.p ... bGAskLL4ih

Pim and Mark - thanks very much for your confirmations.

Those old colour-cards are so useful...

I love the idea of a flowerpot decal - I'll work on it!

James

There is an eBay listing at the moment for a genuine Connolly Terra Cotta hide - $375: http://tinyurl.com/lk3bexd