help ID these early Recaros

chris steineger · chris steineger's Garage

I picked up these early Recaros and want to best ID the year(s) these are. I plan to add D-style headrests and install them in my '66 911. Does anybody have a the little steel tubes that mount in the back rest that recieve the head rest rods ? Best I can tell these are 1966-68 style - How 'bout that blue upholstery ??

What are your thoughts ?
Any help is appreciated.

Soterik · Soterik's Garage

It's 1967 ONLY imho based on the pics. The 1967 seat is different from a 1968 in that it's a bit thinner overall (smaller'ish inner supports etc). The tip bracket is definitely 1967 in that it doesn't have the "lock" to the tip bracket... essentially it's like a vintage 356 Speedster tip bracket.

The covering is decidedly incorrect. Please don't try to put a headrest on it... the seat is very valuable "as is", try to have the person recovering it try to save the foam, as the spec of this foam is thinner than the later stuff. The screws holding the hinge to the seat are also not available... make sure those are saved as well.

Imho I would send it to Tony at Autobahn and tell him to "conserve" the seat as much as possible saving all the bits. I would even skip painting the recliner as it "might" be original paint... though I haven't seen a smooth finish on one, that doesn't mean it wasn't originally like that.

Good luck! It's a wonderful piece.

confused · 06-19-2019, 05:12 PM

My take on it is - its probably a 67 seat and won't have the inserts for a 68+ headrest. The screws being flat head are for a 67 and I would love to get my hands on them, the base and sliders are for 67, what gets me is the hinge looks like its from a late 70s sport seat because it has a spline for a crossbar which went to an opposite side hinge found only on the 74-80 sports seats, probably a replacement hinge.

Here is what a 68 seat frame looks like for headrests

If you are interested I would trade parts to get you a 68 seatback for headrest and take your 67 version seatback if you were interested.

These seats were in evolution through 69, the first ones were not that great so they made many changes. I have some experience with these seats....