Tips on photographing black interior

you need a lighting kit where you can indirectly bask it in light

 

Have you tried overcast, diffused daylight with a small aperture and longish exposure (which would probably require a tripod)?

 

Your Key light should be backlit or 3/4 backlit to catch the highlights. Move the light until you get what looks best.Don't be afraid to let some the blacks just fade,lLet the darks fall off and fill ever so slightly with a card. Move this white card at various angles until it suits you. Remember you are shooting light not leather. Do this in a dark studio.......no ambient light.

 

Tom, obviously most of the time when we shoot interiors we have a 'Buck' built which means we don't have to worry about the roof or the 'A' and 'B' pillar. We can light from any angle and put the camera most anywhere.
Basically the only option you have is to light and shoot through the door which limits your angle of lighting and camera. Try walking your key-light source around by hand to find the best angle for your backlight before you lock it off on a stand. Get a piece of foam core for your fill and try bouncing a secondary light source off it for your fill.....be careful not to overfill or you'll take all the depth out of the shot and it will go flat. Unfortunately without the proper equipment this is going to be a little tough.
I don't know what your equipment is but for the most part we use strobe heads for some of the interiors with multiple pops / exposures.You should just bracket a number of shots with various exposures and shutter speeds to find what works best with the equipment on hand.
Interiors are tough, sometimes we will pre-light for a couple days with multiple light types, flags, cards and even mirrors to get what we want, so don't despair, work with what you have and have fun............mileage is the key.

 

HDR it.

 

Tom, forgot to mention one of the most important things for your backlight, it should be diffused and soft not hard light. Build a light-box out of foam core and tape.......it's east.....just google "Light Box" and there will be a variety of options........you can make your own or buy a commercial unit.......it just depends on how far you want to get into this thing. Also, you should make a trip to the bookstore for illustrated techniques of lighting in the photography section. There are many ways to light an interior and this way you can see your options. Try googling 'Automotive photography' or 'Automotive Lighting' this will get you started.....good luck.

 

Good luck Tom and a great attitude.
It's a fun jouney you're about to partake and quite rewarding as the results reveal themselves. It's like a drug that hooks you but in this case only great things can come about. I'm glad to hear you're getting the pros involved, they have the right equipment and knowledge that will create your vision as well as inform. Sorry I can't be of more help on line here but it's one of those things that you just have to be there to make the calls. Shooting cars is always trickey and there are no absolutes. Syles, trends are constantly evolving and changing and you have to change with them or become a dinosauer.......that's the fun part.Guys that specialize in shooting cars are unique to other photographers in the fact that cars are giant mirrors and reflect back everything.As I mentioned before you're shooting the light not the sheet metal or the leather, light is the magic not the camera which is just the tool to capture and manipulate it.
You might want to Google some of the guys I work with and the best in the automotive field. Tim Damon,Vic Huber,Rainer Stratman,Bob Stevens,Rick Rusing, Rodney Rascona,Michael Rupert, Anatol Kotke, I could go on but this will give you a show. We've all worked on probably automotive brand in the plantet and continue to do so.
I've been creating concepts and shooting cars in print and film for over 25 years and I know jack.......the learning never stops, it's the journey that makes it fun...............so go have some.