1978 SC Correct Door Panel Leather or Vinyl?

[jasperk64]

Hi Folks,

I’m looking for period correctness advice.

According to COA, my 1978 SC came with “Partial Leather”. The current door panels are leather. I don’t know if these are original, but a PO cut holes to accommodate tweeters which certainly are not correct.

I’m considering replacing door panels to cover the holes but can’t decide whether to get vinyl or leather. According to the COA, the car had neither radio nor fog lights nor air conditioning so I think the first owner was on a budget and would not have paid extra for leather door panels unless that was part of the most basic “Partial Leather” package. The PO also redid the parcel shelf. It’s now leather, again I don’t know if the original would have been leather for the most basic “Partial Leather” package. I’m away from the car now but I think the arm rests are also leather, again don’t know if that is original. The dash is vinyl. I do like the smell of leather, at the same time I’d like my car to be as correct as possible. Then again, vinyl door panels with leather arm rests and leather parcel shelf might also look weird, and I’m not ready to go all vinyl on those ..

What would you do, vinyl ($200) or leather ($600) door panels? Not that my car is ready otherwise but would this even matter in a concourse?

Related question, even if they didn’t have a factory radio installed, did 1978 SCs come with speaker grilles in doors and/or parcel shelf?

Cheers,

Jasper

[KNS]

In the '70s you could get many variations of leather in the interior. My 1980 SC had every last surface covered in leather - it was nice and I imagine would cost a fortune today.

Are the rear side panels in leather? What ever those are (if original) would most likely be the same as the door panels. Nearly all SCs sold at US dealers had front and rear speakers. If the dash is vinyl it is possible that it was once leather and replaced in vinyl. The dash usually came the same as the door tops.

[javadog]

You probably had vinyl door panels. Leather door panels were part of the full leather interiors. "Partial" leather generally means leather seats in an otherwise vinyl interior. The rear shelf would not have been leather. Leather armrests weren't used at that time, even in full leather interiors. It sounds like a previous owner updated quite a few of the panels in the interior with parts out of another car.

JR

[Sicklyscott]

JR knows what he's talking about!

[jasperk64]

Thank you folks, this is very helpful!

[javadog]

You might want to post some photos of the interior when you get time. We might be able to offer a little more advice, if we saw what you had.

As for the radio/speaker question, the car would have been wired for a radio and the speakers would have been installed. All you would have lacked is the radio.

My two cents... regardless of the perception that these cars are rocketing up in value, most examples won't ever be worth a whole lot of money. Some will; they are the low mileage, bone-stock perfect examples that you don't see very often. The rest, as long as you don't get carried away, I'd say it would be my preference to finish the car the way you want it.

I would go ahead and finish the car in leather. Having said that, I would do it in a way that matched what the factory would have done that year. There were a few minor differences in the interior details of the later cars; I wouldn't put an interior from an '85 into your car, for example.

The radios and speakers of that era were crap, even when new. I'd try to do something a little more modern, while maintaining an original appearance. Porsche didn't offer separate tweeters in that era; the best you could do was four smallish speakers, 2 in front and 2 in back. You can hide slightly larger, better-quality speakers under original grills, if you work at it. Adding a small amp helps a bit, too. This kind of stuff can be installed fairly unobtrusively; amps can be added without modifying the car or drilling any holes.

JR