low back to high back sport seats switch

[JTL]

I have black leather low back sports in my car. They are in good shape but the backs are not tall and thus not very comfy since I'm 6'5''. How much could they be worth?

Ideally I'd like to switch to high back sports. I though about race seats but wife would not think that too cool. What is the going market price for manual ones in good shape?

jt
-84 targa

[javadog]

JT,

You may want to post a picture of the seats you have. All cars built after '74 had high back seats, so you either have early sport seats without headrests or some sort of aftermarket seat. It's kind of hard for us to guess what you have, if we know it's not original. If they are early (pre-74) factory sport seats, they could be worth a fair bit, if in nice shape.

Later style sport seats are usually under $1,000 a pair. It depends a lot on condition and what they were upholstered with originally. The cheapest ones I've ever bought were $350/pair and they were a herringbone cloth/vinyl combination and needed recovering. The foam was in good shape though, so they were well worth the money as rebuildable cores.

JR

[JTL]

You are right. So here is a pic. Both seats are abou the same with driver's having a little more bolster wear. The car was originally optioned with them.



Thanks, jt

[javadog]

JT,

Those are highback seats. That's the second design Porsche used for sport seats, since 1974. The third version came out in 1985. It's not any taller really, but the top of the backrest is contoured differently and so it supports your head much better. Try and find an '85-'89 911 with sport seats and see if you like them better, before you go to the trouble of looking for some.

JR

[Steve 82SC]

The bolsters on 74-80 basically prevented you from releasing the seatback to a forward position and was modified for 81-84. The 85-on seats had bolsters on the bottom cushion, but it wasn't a seperate insert as previous years. The black ones picutred look like 81-84 vintage.

Steve

[JTL]

My last De instructor at Putnam had the newer sports in his car. They were super comfortable especially with a helmet. It's nice having the targa for a little extra headroom for us tall dudes.

So I could possibly get around $500 for my seats? I need to find a pair of manual sport seats of the 85+ vintage. I remember there being a pair fs not long ago on this board. They got snatched up really quickly.

jt

[javadog]

Jt,

I think you could get more than $500 for those seats. They have the usual bolster wear and the leather is starting to shrink a little, but they are still quite usable.

JR

[JTL]

Thanks for you insight Javadog. Yeah, the seats still are in good shape. I'm just about to put some Connolly on them again. So maybe $700 obo on the price?

Jt

[javadog]

I'd put them on either the Pelican parts-for-sale board or Ebay and see what happens. It always seems that when I need a pair, the only ones out there are at least a grand and, when I have too many, there are lots of them for sale.

I have several sets at the moment, so I'm not a buyer.

Good luck,
JR

[JTL]

Do you have any 85+ black leather manual sports?

I did some research and noticed that the later seats have integrated seat belt receptacles. That means I could use the tunnel mounts for my harnesses.

[javadog]

No, all of mine are the first or second generation high back sport seats seats and most of them are destined for projects I have in the works. I do have a pair of vintage Recaros from 20 years ago or so but that's not what you are after.

JR