I have seen a Series 1 advertised on Hemmings that has a black cloth upholstery, instead of leather. I asked the seller, who replied that the car had been owned for quite a while by their family, and that it had always had that cloth interior for as long as they had owned it.

I was under the impression that all Series 1 sedans used leather interiors here in the US. Is that correct, or were some units ordered and delivered with cloth? Is there any sort of trim or body tag that would show how the car was equipped when it left the factory?

Many thanks for the advice.

Bruce

 

The normal spec for USA market was leather. In other markets cloth (varying types over the years) was standard on the base models and optional on the upper models.

A USA car with cloth seems unlikely but I suppose, technically speaking, it could indeed be original

Cheers
DD

 

When Sir William Lyons ruled the roost, Jaguar were quite flexible in meeting special requests from customers, especially if those were regular customers. However there wasn't really an options list. Cloth was not normally on US market cars, but I think in this case, a buyer may have asked for cloth for some reason via the dealer and Jaguar obliged as it was supplied to other markets.

In those days there were no lengthy options lists like there are now, it kept costs down to just churn out standard trim cars. I also suspect the production line could not have handled options in those days. Jaguar production techniques and facilities were some of the worst in the business, as Ford later found out !!

 

Or perhaps brought back by a service person. Or imported as a grey market car.

Carl