Anyone know who makes the leather in the X-Type? I know Jaguar used Connolly Leather, but according to Wiki, Connolly ceased production in June 2002.

 

that is a random question.... is there any certain reason you want to know?

 

Unconfirmed but I heard that Jaguar leather comes from an Italian company since Connolly went under.

<shrug>

Cheers
DD

 

A friend with an x type asked this question to Jag (or dealer??) and he reckons he was told its not even leather.

 

Possible, I reckon. I don't know much about X-types but in years gone by some of Jaguars cheaper models had vinyl or cloth seats. A bit unusual, but they're out there.

Cheers
DD

 

ive heard there s just enough leather in there to say the car has leather.. lol

 

While I can not speak directly for jaguar vehicles, but in the Eddie Bauer Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators, the only things that are truely leather are the two pads in the seats at the fold. So, the back most pad on the butt pad and the lowest pad on the seat back. The rest is a vinyl. I would venture to guess that in the 2003+ X-types, this is the case too. Now, you get into the XJ's and the higher end, I would suspect that they are true full leather interiors.

 

The X type and up have real Leather seats..but it is NOT Connolly like the earlier versons had years and years ago...


Connolly Leather was for over 125 years, a British company supplying highly finished leather primarily to car manufacturers. The term is also used to describe the particular brand of leather itself, when fitted in a car interior.
Typical applications included the top-of-the-range models of Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin, Jaguar and also non-British makes including Lexus and Ferrari. This leather was also used for the seats in the Supermarine Spitfires used in World War II.
In addition to car upholstery, Connolly Leather has been used in the manufacture of high-end audio loudspeakers such as the B&W Signature 800 series as an expression of the quality and luxury status of the item. Connolly Leather was also used in other products: even "retro" transistor radios from British manufacturer Roberts. The company also sold leather-care products; restoring leather is sometimes known as "Connollising", thanks to the reputation of the company.
Having been in the leather tanning and curing business since 1878, Connolly Leather ceased trading in June 2002

Leatherique is a great product for our leather seats.

 

Comes from china, look under seat and pull tag. Says made in China. Sorry.

 

The lower-level models generally have leather just on the seat facings. The upper-level models have more leather...how much more depends on year, model, market, etc. Its something that has changed a lot over the years.

My XJS had full leather-the entire seats, console, door trim panels, rear trim panels, etc.

And there were many different grades of Connolly leather with Jaguar being pretty selective about which cars got which grade. The highest grade was Auto-Lux used on some V12 VDP cars...probably about the same as what Rolls and Aston Martin used. Some of the lower level cars got heavily embossed leather ...which hid some of the defects

Cheers
DD

 

But, my 02 X-Type Sport (build 10/01) supposedly has Connolly leather as part of the Sport package...or so I was lead to believe.

 

Well, maybe it does. It was made before Connolly went out of business.

Cheers
DD

 

Thanks for the info everyone. Who knew leather could be sointeresting?

Which brings up another question.

I have the Sport seats with the "Alacantara" (suede) inserts. Supposedly for styling, but perhaps to reduce cost. I'm not sure if "Alacantara" is real suede or some synthetic product.

According to the Jaguar marketing materials - Alacantara was not available on Canadian models. Does anyone know why? Do the Canadians have a thing against suede?

 

I think it had to do with the Canadian Mad Cow disease breakout.