Leather repair and restoration specialist Paul Ford

Car Leather Restoration - 1972 Ferrari

1972 Ferrari

Here's a photo of the car. For those technical folks ... 1972 Ferrari 365GT4 V12

I got a call from Stuart of Stu's Trim & Sound, Auckland. He explained that he had a client with a Ferrari which needed some refinishing work done on the interior.

Now, to put you in the picture, Stu is a long-standing client and when I was based in Auckland, I did leather restoration work for him. I love working wih Stu - his standards are extremely high ... a man after my own heart!

Anyway, Stu had the interior stripped, carefully packed into boxes and shipped down to me here in Timaru.

After unpacking the boxes, I laid everthing out on benches so I could get a good look at what had to be done. As you can see, after 40 odd years of use, the leather still looks in remarkably good condition ... just looking worn, faded and tired.

The Leather Before I Started

Here's the rear seat bases ...

rear seat bases

The front seat bases ...

front seat bases

One of the door trims. You can see how much it has faded looking at where the arm rest was removed ...

door trims

Here's a shot of some of the other trim pieces ...

other trim pieces

The passenger seat base ...

passenger seat base

Here's the drivers seat base. See the cracking? Check out the after photos below to see how it came up ...

drivers seat base

The rear wheel arches ...

rear wheel arches

And the inside back of one of the front seats ...

inside back

One of the challenges I'm faced with is finding a clean example of the original colour, for a match. This is a crucial step because there's no point in doing an amazing refinish ... the wrong colour!

I found a good colour sample from unexposed wind-lace. The colour was made and this trim piece was refinished. I sent this pic to Stu for approval ... just to make sure we're all on the same page!

colour match

Once the leather had been completely refinished, I carefully repacked everything back into the same boxes and they were shipped back to Auckland.

Everything went quiet for a few weeks. Stu and his team were busily refitting new carpet and other interior work ... then the leather trim was refitted.

Once complete, I received the following photos ...

After Restoration Work Was Finished

Passenger door (It's a left hand drive car) ...

Passenger door

The completed interior ...

completed interior

A close-up of the rear seat...

close-up of the rear seat

Finished drivers door...

finished drivers door

Finished rear seats...

Finished rear seats

Here's a couple of photos of the finished front seats...

finished front seats

front seats different angle

And a close up of the finised front seat base. Remember the cracks? What do you think? ...

front seat close up

A close up of the drivers inside back ...

finished drivers seat back

And finally ... a shot of the car interior from above ...

finished car interior

Well, everyone involved was absolutely delighted with the results. In fact, the car was entered in the "Big Boys Toys" show in Auckland!