Let's find a way to replicate the 355-360 cf seats??

Damn, those Daytona carbon buckets are so hot...

 

Worthy of uploading pics here as EBay links will eventually be broken.


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550 Maranello is such a good looking car. It's the beautiful taller sister, while 355 is the shorter, but hotter sister. Same mother, can't go wrong .

 

Anyone know what magazine this is from?

Aside from the interesting looking Ferrari head unit, on the far left corner there is a glimpse of carbon buckets seats with what looks to be an OE type red harness. Would love to see a full picture.


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Update regarding how to distinguish between a “Large” and “Narrow” seat from a 98-99 car.

I’ve realized the numbers on the bottom tag don’t reveal the size. They only reveal they are 355 seats and production date. Only the window sticker reveals the size. Most owners don’t have the window sticker. We’ll have rely on visual cues.

I noticed there is a difference between the leather trim of the belt loop and it’s positioning relative to the outer trim of the seat.



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I also noticed on the rear outer trim, there is a joint-line in the very middle whereas some there is no joint. The red black set recently advertised for sale from Japan also has the same line my seats have. It might just be a late model thing.

@Senshi458 is your car a 98 or 99?

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Another detail I noticed… seats which have suede inserts have a straighter stitch/dividing line where the suede seat cushion meets the thigh cushion. On 550 carbon seats, the thigh cushion is separable from the main seat cushion. On the 355 it is not. It is stitched together as one unit although the color separation makes it look like it could be a separate piece.

When the seat is all leather (all one color) whoever trimmed them at TiR/Ferrari didn’t really make sure that line was absolutely straight. They probably figured it’s all the same leather, close to straight is good enough to the eye. Unfortunately, it’s not good enough to my eye .


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Superb! Anyone care to post a pic .

 

Another update regarding trimmer Justin Placek from Germany. (Instagram @justinplacek).

I did get a chance to speak with him in great length when he visited Southern California in December. Spoke with him for a good 5-6 hours along with a nice dinner conversation. Brought down both of my seats for him to see.

He is confident he can trim the seats even better than OE/TIR standards. He’s the type of guy you want to work with if you are anal. With these seats, you should be extra anal. Every attempt I’ve seen at a re-trim of these seats have not been to my standards. Jeff Segal (Modificata) has told me privately he’s not happy with the re-trim of his carbon sport seats. He just used a local no name shop. I believe he has found a new trimmer Kenneth Michaels (@kmcoachtrim) he is happy with, however, it might still be a challenge to re-do them.

Personally, from scrutinizing people’s work online, I still feel Justin is #1. No less than top 3 in my book. His attention to detail is immaculate and I could sense it even more speaking to him for 6 hours straight. His english is great if anyone cares to contact him.

Only problem is he’s a Porsche guy. Doesn’t really know all the little nitty gritty details of Ferrari trimming standards. I’ll have to be that guy for him.


I want one of my seats partially re-trimmed by him. Particularly the seat cushion. That’ll be a nice little project for him. He’ll have to take mine apart and keep patterns. Then I guess he can offer seats cushion replacements in all sorts of fun variations for those interested in changing them out either for fun or preservation of the originals. If you check out his Instagram page, you’ll see his Porsche inserts for carbon seats are rather popular.


Connolly leather (autolux) that matches what’s in our cars is currently non-existent. Either the color is off or the grain is too smooth. Even straight from Connolly, the color might match, but the grain is too smooth.

I was told Connolly would be willing to do a matching color/grain etc with an order of 20 hides for ONE color. That really isn’t ideal for one person .

There is one source for Connolly-like hides I haven’t reached out to is Henk in Norway I believe. I’m skeptical of his Autolux samples, but we’ll see.

The other challenge is getting the right stitch. Color, size, etc…

My seats don’t come apart until the stars align.

 

Image Unavailable, Please Login Oh. One more important detail. In a majority of cases, Ferrari/TIR didn’t do such a great job embossing the Cavallino on the headrest. Often times you’ll see bubbling around it on these seats in particular. It was explained to me it’s the pattern of the plate showing and TIR didn’t execute properly. Justin is confident he can do much better.

Looking at these seats in great detail, although I love the look and feel of the seats, I can see why Ferrari moved away from using TIR and why TIR is no longer since. The quality is good, but Ferrari most likely felt they needed to reach 1 or 2 levels higher to get to where they felt they needed to be.

Ferrari carbon these days is a much higher standard. I would argue it’s the gold standard. Not always perfect, but a VERY high standard. Today’s level of trimming precision is also a gold standard. Poltrono Frau leather is probably also a better leather and pushes Ferrari towards a more modern look. However, I feel it is more feminine. Connolly leather portrays a rougher more masculine look. Touch, appearance, and even smell. I’d go as far as say even new Ferrari carbon seat design looks feminine. They’re cool at first but since Ferrari has been using the same ones since 2008, they’re played out to my eyes.

 

@ShineKen
Congratulations for all informations you give about the carbon seats, very interesting.
I'm waiting about my ones.

 

When you see seat kits from places like Re-originals for the 355, are they not accurate?

 

My car is registered in 98 but its 99 if you check my VIN: ZFFXR42B000112982 and Assembly Number: 112982

Also from my understanding this have been written order sheet factory:
NARROW RACING SEATS W/CONNOLLY

https://ferrari355registry.com/registry/1866

 

Thanks for confirming . So it is early model 99.

 

From where? Got a link?

I highly doubt you can just buy a “kit” and come close to OE standards. Maybe for the cushion its possible to get close to OE, but not for the rest of the seat.

 

I talked to a few shops that do seats, specifically Ferraris, and they all said the same thing, if you can get a kit use it its cheaper and is just as good. They tweak as needed.

https://www.nicksforzaferrari.net/leather-seat-kits.html

 

You haven’t told us how much you ended up paying for the seats ?

BTW. For those who don’t know. The red black carbon seats recently posted on Facebook from Japan, the seller was asking $20k USD and I believe he also needed standard seats to make the trade happen. Mr. C’dwic here from France was eager to pull the trigger, but the logistics and trading seat aspect made it difficult, if not, close to impossible…. As I explained in my story . Mr. C’Dwic also believed I paid too much at the time. I’m glad he came to his senses . I believe the seats ended up selling to someone in Japan within days of posting. I’m glad Mr. C’Dwic found another pair. Not sure how he did it, but it appears he did.

So yea. $20k sounds about right to me . Seats in Japan were also late model, plain weave carbon, narrow version just like mine. Probably better condition too. Someone should post pics here because I never saved the original pics from FB.

 

You know anyone or anyone on Fchat with actual experience with one of these?

 

So for us having the carbon seats our value is 20k + from standard car right

 

More like $60k

 

Yeah mine is LONG term keeper

 

For me, it's priceless. Too much work, too much time, too much thought. They're burying me with this car.

 

@Senshi458

Do you know who Henk is from the Netherlands?

http://www.hvl-autobekleding.nl/index.html

 

No looks great, I will send my car to Netherlands to Stradale Vintage Cars for BIG service + manual conversion ++ in 2 weeks from now. But I can check with Eric at Stradale know him