I would love to have had the time and patience to have done the job myself like Dirk has done on his car but that just was never going to happen! 
Upholstery
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lakesrally
Upholstery
I just had to get the seats recovered on the 16/50, I've been resisting it for years but I either had to get them repaired or the car would have become a museum piece because the front seat in particular was coming apart every time I sat in it. On lifting the back seat I found a bad case of woodworm so had to replace a lot of the floor under the back seat. I received a recommendation to a local company up here in the Lake District and decided to give them the work. It seemed too good to be true to find someone locally who could do the work to a high standard for a fair price but I'm very pleased with the result. They are called Loungy, Andrew, the main man, has over 20 years experience and he has a very good apprentice. I would have no hesitation in recommending them to other owners. It turns out that the original hide would appear to have been rhino, something that I strongly suspect would be illegal nowadays so the restoration has been done with more conventional leather but Andrew took great care to obtain hides with as close a matching finish as possible. Their work on my car can be seen at http://www.facebook.com/loungy.upholstery and their own web site is http://www.loungyupholstery.co.uk. I have no connection with this company other than as a satisfied customer. I would love to have had the time and patience to have done the job myself like Dirk has done on his car but that just was never going to happen!
I would love to have had the time and patience to have done the job myself like Dirk has done on his car but that just was never going to happen! Re: Upholstery
Hi Stewart, what a cracking job, the car looks great.
cheers Jeff.
cheers Jeff.
1937-20 SS _ 1938-20 SS _ 1946-16 SS _ 1947-16 saloon
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lakesrally
Re: Upholstery
The rhino hide that came off the 16/50 had this trade mark on one of the panels. It's not terribly clear but appears to possibly be a letter B in a shield with 'London' and 'Reg Trade Mark underneath. Anyone got any ideas on how to trace what company this may have been?
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dhbuchanan
- Posts: 76
- Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2013 5:01 pm
Re: Upholstery
I think this trademark, found on the reverse, "suede", side of the leather, may be one of those registered by Connolly's of Wandle Bank, Wimbledon, the principal historic manufacturers of automotive hides. The firm was originally called "Connolly Brothers" and their mark was a letter "B" superimposed on the initial "C" in such a way that the "B" appeared dominant.
In the early days they produced leather for cars under the names "Luxan" and "Vaumol", the latter becoming the standard for the 1930s and later decades. Vaumol's pigmented cellulose finish was durable but had the disadvantage that, when the hide was scratched, a light brown base colour always showed up in the damaged area. Today, all hides are "drummed",i.e. dyed the same shade as the top colour all the way through the thickness.
Connolly's in its original form went out of business about 15 years ago, but the name still survives as a trademark for a range of luxury leather goods and a well-known hide dressing. I understand that a scion of the founding family, Jonathan Connolly, still runs a bespoke specialist leather company supplying hides which are historically correct for restoration purposes at the top end of the market. Crucial in this area is the "print" of the grain, examples being "rhino", "crocodile", "buffalo", "snakeskin", "pigskin" as well as the more common "morocco". Since the top surface of all premium "full grain" leather is, paradoxically, perfectly smooth when tanned, the texture you see on all auto leathers, apart from the unprinted "Autolux" used by Rolls Royce and a few other top marques, is embossed by skilfully-tooled plates or rollers. A few years ago a rumour went round the leather trade that Connolly's historically important collection of original leather printing plates was in danger of falling into Chinese hands. The word now is that they are, in fact, safe in this country. Does anyone out there have definite information? Correct historical print patterns are important not only for interior leather, but also for the restoration of fabric-covered coachwork such as that associated with the name of Weymann.
Today hides in many original Connolly colours, standards for the historic motor industry, can be purchased from The UK Hide Company of Chobham. As one who is generally sceptical about so-called "progress", it pains me to write this, but the facts are that nearly all modern auto leather is far more resilient and durable than in the past and requires no maintenance apart from occasional cleaning.
In the early days they produced leather for cars under the names "Luxan" and "Vaumol", the latter becoming the standard for the 1930s and later decades. Vaumol's pigmented cellulose finish was durable but had the disadvantage that, when the hide was scratched, a light brown base colour always showed up in the damaged area. Today, all hides are "drummed",i.e. dyed the same shade as the top colour all the way through the thickness.
Connolly's in its original form went out of business about 15 years ago, but the name still survives as a trademark for a range of luxury leather goods and a well-known hide dressing. I understand that a scion of the founding family, Jonathan Connolly, still runs a bespoke specialist leather company supplying hides which are historically correct for restoration purposes at the top end of the market. Crucial in this area is the "print" of the grain, examples being "rhino", "crocodile", "buffalo", "snakeskin", "pigskin" as well as the more common "morocco". Since the top surface of all premium "full grain" leather is, paradoxically, perfectly smooth when tanned, the texture you see on all auto leathers, apart from the unprinted "Autolux" used by Rolls Royce and a few other top marques, is embossed by skilfully-tooled plates or rollers. A few years ago a rumour went round the leather trade that Connolly's historically important collection of original leather printing plates was in danger of falling into Chinese hands. The word now is that they are, in fact, safe in this country. Does anyone out there have definite information? Correct historical print patterns are important not only for interior leather, but also for the restoration of fabric-covered coachwork such as that associated with the name of Weymann.
Today hides in many original Connolly colours, standards for the historic motor industry, can be purchased from The UK Hide Company of Chobham. As one who is generally sceptical about so-called "progress", it pains me to write this, but the facts are that nearly all modern auto leather is far more resilient and durable than in the past and requires no maintenance apart from occasional cleaning.
1939 20 H.P. Salmons Tickford D.H.C.
Re: Upholstery
Thank you for a very intersting article. Here is one version of the Connolly logo:
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lakesrally
Re: Upholstery
Great feedback, thanks Howard & 'luli'. It certainly looks like the hides may have been supplied by Connolly. My upholsterer thought the hides may actually have been rhino because of the way the grain went right through to the reverse side but I will follow this up with him.