P2 Authentic Boot Interior

[bruceclaudette]

Dear Friends,
I am restoring the boot interior of my 1946 16 Sports Saloon.

Can anyone supply me with a photograph of:
1 the interior of the boot as originally furnished or as perfectly restored to original specification as is possible today?
2 And a photo of the top of the lid over the spare wheel space?
3 Sources of the materials they used.

My P2 body is almost perfectly restored and the cabin too. But the boot interioor is a mess. I have the drawings in the RSR manual but photos are needed to see the materials used on the floor of the boot and the covering on the lid above the space where the spare wheel is stowed. Currently this lid is just black painted plywood with nothing covering it. The foor has some black material covering.

I shall be most grateful.
Bruce Nixon

[dhbuchanan]

Boots in our cars were subjected to a hard life and most of those that had not been stripped completely before coming in for trimming were graced with various offcuts of lounge and bedroom carpet. I'm fairly sure that the boot floor, and possibly the side areas as well, was originally covered in smooth black linoleum. The inside of the boot lid, I seem to recall, was sometimes finished in a ribbed version of the same material. This was usually in shreds, or very tatty round the edges, when it came to us in the trim shop.I know for a fact that a light brown lino was used extensively in the 12 Tourers produced in 1947.

"Lino", as it was popularly known, was found in virtually every home up until the advent of vinyl floor covering, and eventually became a bit of a joke with dull, boring people being identified with those whose business it was to sell it to housewives in old-fashioned furnishing stores.Invented in the 1850s (isn't Wikipedia great?), it's stiff, heavy stuff made of solidified linseed oil, resin and sawdust with a hessian backing to hold it together. It has a very distinctive smell, one very familiar to the older generation, and can last for ages if looked after. It's still made in Kirkcaldy by the Forbo Flooring Co., but was marketed in its heyday under the Nairn brandname. I believe it has enjoyed a recent resurgence in popularity on account of the endless quest for "green" alternatives to crude oil-based materials. Any good independent carpet store should be able to order some for you, though I understand it's now a good deal more expensive than vinyl. Surprise, surprise....

Most of my customers wanted their boots trimmed in the excellent black rubber-backed carpeting now widely available, and far more practical and quieter in use than lino. For a luxury finish- and let's face it, nearly all classic car refurbishments these days are customised to some extent- the velvet pile 80/20 mix wool carpeting, with thick rubber backing and produced in many colours for the Jaguar market was preferred. Lots of car owners want the boot carpet to match exactly the stuff inside the passenger compartment. A spartan alternative, correct for the period, is the widely-available water-resistant Hardura, again produced for the Jag market, and favoured by William Lyons as the most cost-effective way of covering large areas of the interiors of his beautifully styled and engineered products. That, together with cheap carpeting and lightweight seating, was one of his methods of keeping down the cost of what could otherwise have been too expensive for his target market.

[47p2]

I spoke to Mike Couldry a number of years ago on this subject and was told it was indeed a type of linoleum that would have originally adorned the boot area of the P2, most likely in a dark brown colour. My boot had been re-trimmed long before I bought the car, but the hinged spare wheel cover was painted black and looked scruffy so after a lengthy discussion with Mike I decided to cover the it with a lightly ribbed rubber sheeting. This has now been on for over 10 years and transformed the look of the boot lid. The interior of the boot is coverer in a leatherette type material which is bound at the edges with piping and the shelf which holds the starting handle is covered in a plain black material of some sort or other

This is the only pictures I have to hand

[Hungry_Horse_1955]

I was just looking in the boot of the Rover yesterday and can confirm that the spare wheel cover is ribbed, although not as finely ribbed as 47p2s pictures. I can take some pictures at the week end if you want. And measure the distance between the ribs if you really want to be pedantic!

Clive

[Phil - Nottingham]

Ours has the original lid ribbed rubber but the sides had been done in pale blue lino painted in satin black paint obviously used in buses as from a number of other clues the then owner worked in a bus company in 1980's

[bruceclaudette]

Dear Friends - Phil, Hungry Horse, 47 P2 and DHBuchanan,
I'd like to thank you for your replies. All four most helpful especially with the photographs.
Excellent!
Apologies for not thanking you sooner.
I got overwhelmed wit things and then it was winter
A job for next summer.
Thanks again and Merry Xmas and New Year,
Bruce Nixon - Claudette