New Stereo and Seats Reupholstered

I just had the seats reupholstered last week by a company here in Charleston. I think they turned out quite well. Not a perfect match to the door and bulkhead panels, but very close. The leather is really nice, butter soft and pliable; much more so than the original which was always kind of stiff, even when new. In the last couple of years, it had started coming apart at the seams and leaking dried foam rubber all over the interior.

The Alpine stereo is a bit of an indulgence. It's their basic model with no external amp, but sounds excellent with the (again basic) Boston Acoustic speakers. I know that all of the purists will cringe, but as I've said before, I intend to enjoy the car. Good installation job, but they screwed up one thing. They hooked it up so it only works with the ignition on. I have to take it back so they can rewire it "hot all the time". I wondered why the car was a bit hesitant to start after the installation, they had the ignition on with the fuel pump running! I'm sure all the new Ferraris have an "accessory" position.
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Here's a pic of the car. The color (as someone here reminded me yesterday) was called "Verde Germoglio". I looked up the translation and it means "new shoot" (as on a plant). The original "smooth as glass" paint has held up remarkably well.
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No, not factory, but period-correct "Sebring" mirrors. The originals were put on when the car was new and were recently replaced with "new old stock". If you look at pictures of old F1 cars from the 70's, a number of them used these mirrors, which were available in black or chrome.

 

Thanks for all the compliments on the color. I was talking to my dad last night, and he was telling me how for months he saw it sitting on H.R. Owens' (London) showroom floor as he passed on the bus commuting to work. I don't recall ever seeing another one that color, though I probably have at some point.

I wouldn't ever consider selling it. Having said that, I've always figured that the RHD would have a real negative effect on the selling price in this country.

The only RHD drawback (once you get used to shifting left-handed, which is easy) is passing on two lane roads because it's hard to see around vehicles in front. When I was at the stereo shop the other day, I noticed those back-up camera set-ups that they have for RVs. That gave me an idea. It turns out that it would be perfectly feasible to mount one of the tiny cameras (forward facing) in the left fender-mounted Sebring mirror. This would be connected to a small LCD screen which could be mounted (in some non-invasive way, of course) to the left of the instrument pod. They said $600 - $800 total cost. Talk about trick!