can anyone recommend a leather artisan in NE? i very much want to replace my stock 550 rear shelf with a gto-style quilted-leather rear shelf. i haven't (thus far) had any luck sourcing the part(s) via the f-car dealer channels. it's not something apparently that has a part number. it was a scaglietti option, etc. etc. so i'm considering having one fabricated. it might very well end up being cheaper this way, to-boot. here's a pic, fwiw. it's the quilted bits. i think it's four pieces: main deck, upper deck, and two speaker sides (and i can live without the latter). doody.
Check with Sal Messina, at Columbia Auto Seat Covers, Inc.165 South Broadway, Lawrence, MA 01843 (978) 683-2205. He's a member of the FCA, drives a TR, and does really first-class work, from concours winning stuff and full restorations to straightforward recovering jobs. vty, --Dennis
Doddy, You want the best, go to the best... Paul Russel and Company in Ayer, MA at http://www.paulrussell.com/ . While they are not cheap, you KNOW you are getting excellence. Will probably use them to completely redo the interior of the 308 here. Hope this helps. Enjoy the Drive, Steven R. Rochlin
Bob Hatch's business may not be as old as Paul Russel's, but he's well known. F&MoNE send their body, suspension,& upholstry work to him. He also races a 355 Challenge car. Knows Ferraris well. http://www.hatchandsons.com/pages/about
I also recommend Sal Messina, he does all Ralph Lauren's collection and is well known among the local restorers. Cheers, T.C.
for the curious in the crowd... there are part numbers for all this stuff. it's all basically unobtanium that has to be ordered from italy and takes some unspecified quantity of time to arrive. and it's priced to not move . impressively overpriced. so now i'm following up this fabrication route. factory-official leather is not very expensive (relatively speaking) to start from. the guys at hatch and sons were very cool, and are trying to figure out if they can do this. apparently the particular sewing machine required is a non-common device. we'll see what they can figure out. the guy at paul russell wasn't too helpful. they didn't really want to deal with me and wouldn't refer anyone either. they have a leather guy, who apparently could do this, but he's booked up and that was that. non-helpful non-starter. and i'm waiting to hear back from mr. messina at columbia. so hopefully somebody can help me out! many thanks everybody for your pointers - most appreciated! doody.
Doody, Thanks for the follow up. Will scratch off Paul Russell from those who may redo the interior of my car. Let me know how things go as would like to suppoort the "good guys". MANY thanks my friend. Enjoy the Drive, Steven R. Rochlin
connected with sal messina. he seems to be DA MAN! we'll see what he has to say once he's gone through all the gory details. thanks dennis & tcm! fingers crossed...... doody.