| Author | Message | ||
| Toby T (Tobyt)
New member Username: Tobyt Post Number: 16 Registered: 3-2002 |
Looks very nice! | ||
| L.C.Plester (Lcplester)
New member Username: Lcplester Post Number: 30 Registered: 2-2002 |
Oh, and thanks for all for your comments! I�ve received around 15 emails so far (plus your comments in F.C.), it�s been very interesting to study your vehicles as well. World is so small -especially Ferrari world  Regards, LC Finland | ||
| L.C.Plester (Lcplester)
New member Username: Lcplester Post Number: 29 Registered: 2-2002 |
I like the topic "Are there any cows left in Europe?". I can prove there is at least one cow, my ex girl-friend Andrew, there is no difference how cows are treated before the hide is being sold to leather "factories". Washing the cow etc doesn�t improve the quality of the leather (because the hide will be chemically washed afterwards), only thing important is that the hide hasn�t got any markings, scratches or holes. Any cow (well in Scandinavia) could become a Connolly cow. In most of the hides you can find some markings, but you have to remember cow is an animal and during her life shes very likely to get some markings in her skin. Connolly Brothers (the actual factory) is not really such a different factory from the others, it just has so much heritage and good reputation, and their hides are being used in top class vehicles, like Aston Martin, Jaguar, Rolls-Royce/Bentley and Ferrari. This doesn�t mean the other factories couldn�t have equal or better products. Different areas of the hide are used for different things. Near the back the leather stretches less, so those areas are best for seats etc., the stomach area is best for complicated forms like door handles etc. because it stretches a lot. One has to remember that leather is material of nature, so the quality of each hide has to be checked throughly before it can be approved for automotive use. So every hide is unique, and its really in the eye of the guy who�s doing your interior how well he can "read" the hide. You can really tell what is well done interior, and what�s not. Good one hasn�t got any unnecessary wrinkles in, bad one has lots of wrinkles. Sometimes those wrinkles are done in purpose, but usually its carelessness. I did a research what kind of leather Ferrari uses nowdays, but I could only find out it is Italian leather, and confirmation they don�t use Connolly leather anymore. Unfortunately I haven�t got the name of the factory that sells the hides for Ferrari, but bet its very good quality. Did you know even Connolly sells different quality of hides, if I remember correctly they have three different quality groups, priced accordingly. Hope this helps | ||
| Andrew Menasce (Amenasce)
New member Username: Amenasce Post Number: 49 Registered: 10-2001 |
Thks ..i cant answer you about the seats because i dont know what you are talking about ..can you please clarify ? Good luck with the flying monkeys . | ||
| Edward G. Salla (350hpmondial)
Junior Member Username: 350hpmondial Post Number: 98 Registered: 2-2002 |
Andrew, No, I was not being sarcastic. I really didn't know that there were any cows left in UK or Europe. (After your mad cow disease epidemic.) And, here in Texas, I can assure you that NO mistreatment of the sacred cow has taken place. I sware to Shri Ganesha Mahima! It never has and never will. That's all for now, gotta go. (A whole troop of those flying monkeys, from the Wizard of OZ, has just started to fly out of my butt.) Oh, and nice Alfa Spider pic in your profile. Does it have nagahide seats? (You know, those free range naga's are getting to be pretty rare too. We should all rally to protect them.) | ||
| Andrew Menasce (Amenasce)
New member Username: Amenasce Post Number: 48 Registered: 10-2001 |
Edward G Salla , i dont know if you were being sarcastic , but i can assure you there are cows in europe .And a lot . Havent you never heard aboutthe mad cow disease in UK ? And about the Cows used for Connoly leather , well i think they have a better treatment than other cows . Their skin must be cleaned more often etc... | ||
| Manu Sachdeva (Manu)
Junior Member Username: Manu Post Number: 164 Registered: 2-2002 |
Went to your website.... Your interior looks absolutely beautiful. And of course, I've always loved the Testarossa... Gorgeous car. For $3400 (amazingly good value - looks far more expensive!!!) they have done a very special job. Beautiful. Manu | ||
| Edward Gault (Irfgt)
Intermediate Member Username: Irfgt Post Number: 1094 Registered: 2-2001 |
That interior must have been made from "Free Range" cows. | ||
| John A. Suarez (Futureowner)
New member Username: Futureowner Post Number: 21 Registered: 3-2002 |
Looks fantastic. All you need to do now is fire up a chuchill sized cigar and break that sucker in!!! ;) | ||
| Racer 001 (Mr_0011)
New member Username: Mr_0011 Post Number: 32 Registered: 3-2002 |
It looks great. Have fun!! | ||
| Edward G. Salla (350hpmondial)
Junior Member Username: 350hpmondial Post Number: 92 Registered: 2-2002 |
Martin, Dem ain't cows, Dem is steers. (ha ha) And they know that their grazin time is short, thats why we have that there barbed wire. And, LC. That picture is nice. But these here cows don't think so. (I currently reside in Texas). It scared them to death. Just about caused a stampede! Only way to keep-em calm was to tell-em that they were gonna win-a trip to India. Do they have barbed wire in India? | ||
| L.C.Plester (Lcplester)
New member Username: Lcplester Post Number: 25 Registered: 2-2002 |
I found a pic of traditional Swiss cow bells. Now when we have new info about the cow situation in Europe - this whole tradition has been a fake! Someone has lied to the Swiss people! Milking that stick must of been quite a project! LOL  | ||
| Martin (Miami348ts)
Intermediate Member Username: Miami348ts Post Number: 1880 Registered: 5-2001 |
Yeeeeeeehhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa and I thought the ones from Texas were "Steaks" on a lighter note: can you imagine that Florida has the second largest cattle population in the US? | ||
| L.C.Plester (Lcplester)
New member Username: Lcplester Post Number: 24 Registered: 2-2002 |
Martin I bet you have been smoking something... Cows in Europe?? NO WAY - they come from Texas! LOL | ||
| Martin (Miami348ts)
Intermediate Member Username: Miami348ts Post Number: 1877 Registered: 5-2001 |
There are no cows in Europe? Man I must have been smoking something then when I saw all these cows in the Alps. There is even a weird looking creature on the Milka chocolate that looks like a cow. Your interior looks great. Who cares about the purists. It is YOUR driving pleasure! | ||
| L.C.Plester (Lcplester)
New member Username: Lcplester Post Number: 19 Registered: 2-2002 |
Ross, the interior was done by Design Eugen (here in Finland), http://www.designeugen.com/ -unfortunately their site is in Finnish only. Check that C5 in their gallery, and the golden Renault Clio RSR - they both were my cars. The rest of the cars are not there because the company hasn�t updated their site for a long time. I have some bad experiences trying to find some true professionals in the UK. Most of the companies seem only interested of taking your money and then they give you lousy work. But there are some companies that are extremely good in what they are doing (mainly the older ones), but the price can be very high - lets say like �8-10.000,- UK Pounds. Well, this is my experience with them. After all, Britain is well known for its craftmans, sadly some of the heritage is now dying when these guys are ending their business because of older age. | ||
| ross koller (Ross)
New member Username: Ross Post Number: 29 Registered: 3-2002 |
interior looks great ! where did you get this doen? and does anybody know where i could get htis kind of work done in the uk? | ||
| Michael (Mtabije)
Member Username: Mtabije Post Number: 256 Registered: 10-2001 |
Great job, nice pic on your website too! | ||
| L.C.Plester (Lcplester)
New member Username: Lcplester Post Number: 18 Registered: 2-2002 |
Thanks guys! You�re funny! Ok, Connolly leather is actually very old English brand and the cows come from Scandinavia! This is because in Scandinavia we haven�t got barbed wire where the cows live in (=no unnecessary holes in the cows - just the usual ones ;). Many people don�t realise this, well have you seen those fields in the UK - lots of barbed wire and cows like Indian fakirs! Anyway I though they killed all the cows during the last years... (sorry had to say it!) Well, believe or not - but that barbed wire thing is the truth. The main different between different leathers is the chemical treatment. Connolly leather has plenty of silicon like chemical in it, this makes it look very good but also fragile. Anyway Connolly leather has strict quality test, so I can�t really say the leather is low quality - in fact it looks damn good in new cars. The leather that was used in my car comes from Germany. It also has to pass some very tight quality control, and this is the reason why some top German car makers use the same leather as well. Their cows come from eastern Germany where in fact are no barbed wires ;) Unfortunately I don�t remember what brand of leather Ferrari uses nowdays - bet it is very high quality because the new ones seem to have better lasting interiors. Regards, LC | ||
| magoo (Magoo)
Intermediate Member Username: Magoo Post Number: 2429 Registered: 2-2001 |
L.C. the entire job looks great and professionally done. | ||
| Edward G. Salla (350hpmondial)
Junior Member Username: 350hpmondial Post Number: 90 Registered: 2-2002 |
There are no cows in Europe, so were do they get the leather? And, that's why the French eat all that weird food. (You know, snails, thinly sliced horse, goose liver, capers...etc.) We grow all the food here in the states. (I remember disposing of capers by the bucket-full, we raised rabbits!) So I 2'nd Ed's question. Why does italian leather cost more? Do the cows fly over to Italy from texas first class? | ||
| BretM (Bretm)
Intermediate Member Username: Bretm Post Number: 2345 Registered: 2-2001 |
LOL. | ||
| Edward Gault (Irfgt)
Intermediate Member Username: Irfgt Post Number: 1083 Registered: 2-2001 |
What is supposed to be so special about Italian leather? Are their cows somehow different from ours or someone elses? Is a cow raised to be a Connely cow? Is "Cheap Leather" from promiscuous cows? Inquiring minds want to know. Good looking interior by the way. | ||
| William Huber (Solipsist)
Junior Member Username: Solipsist Post Number: 250 Registered: 9-2001 |
Looks great. A nice look to the steering wheel. | ||
| Andrew (Mrrou)
Junior Member Username: Mrrou Post Number: 117 Registered: 3-2002 |
LC, car looks truely stunning, but you mentioned that ferrari used to use connoly leather? what do they use now? | ||
| BretM (Bretm)
Intermediate Member Username: Bretm Post Number: 2334 Registered: 2-2001 |
Wow. It looks better than new. | ||
| L.C.Plester (Lcplester)
New member Username: Lcplester Post Number: 17 Registered: 2-2002 |
Thanks! John, I payed 3.400 US Dollars for the whole job (materials alone were $1.850, but included in the price!). But you have to remember they wanted to do a Ferrari, so the next one would be in the region of $5.800,- (incl. materials). It takes about 150-200 hours to finish a TR interior, so the price is not too bad. But the $3.000 per seat you were quoted is way too high! Yes, they are more complicated than normal seats, but I bet there was some Ferrari extra in that price Regards, LC | ||
| John J Stecher (Jjstecher)
Junior Member Username: Jjstecher Post Number: 166 Registered: 1-2002 |
How much did it run you? Just curious because I had someone quote me 3K per seat...frickin nuts if you ask me!! I am going to get my new set of OMP seats covered in leather and have some other areas to touch up. Just want to plan for costs :0) It looks great and is the same color as my interior! | ||
| David Bob� Jr. (Supraoz)
Junior Member Username: Supraoz Post Number: 84 Registered: 9-2001 |
Looks beautiful! | ||
| L.C.Plester (Lcplester)
New member Username: Lcplester Post Number: 16 Registered: 2-2002 |
It took a while to get the job finished, but everything was worth it. Eventually I ended up paying a lot more than previously was agreed, but the interior shop did twice the work that was estimated. Let me tell you, doing Ferrari interior is not a simple task and should only be left for professionals. They�ve done 4 of my previous cars as well for me, and just for statistics I can tell you there are 30 leather pieces in �97 S-Class Mercedes, but 168 pieces in Testarossa! Ferrari really is hand-made from multiple pieces! My '89 TR with 15k miles was showing some wear in the seats, anyway I didn�t like the black interior - so it was instant decision to get the job done properly. Unlike most people think, Connolly leather (what Ferrari used to use) is not the best leather in the world - and just for this reason you may see many Ferraris with not so good interiors. Some purists may argue I did something wrong when I decided a new interior was to be done - but what the heck - this ones even better than the original. So, if you know a good interior man in your area - well the best - then do it! I�m very, very satisfied with my car, it even smells new! A newspaper reporter saw my car and after that he wrote articles for 10 different newspapers (most of them were 4-color and one full page!), they are even going to do a special report in next few weeks because I offered them to test drive my car. Hopefully this is good advertising for Ferrari Well check the pics from my site: http://195.170.148.222/ferrari/index.html  Best Regards, LC Finland |