pcar964

Has anyone wondered why Porsche doesn't offer cloth interior/seats in their cars? Some might scoff at the idea, however I remember some extremely nice cloth interiors in some 80s Benzes and other cars, that were both very comfortable and extremely durable. Not to mention better for both hot and cold climates.

Is cloth interior even something you can special order anymore?

Mike in CA

If you have enough money you can probably order anything, but cloth is not a normal option and I can't recall ever seeing a Porsche, even back to the days of the 356, with a cloth interior.

fbroen

997 Sport Classic had cloth inserts in the seat and door cards. Small run, to be sure, but...

No HTwo O

I like cloth, too. Leather looks and smells great. But, with heated; and now cooled leather seats, they are better than ever.

skinzy

My only complaint is their standard leather colors. Beyond black and grey I think they are horrible! Soooo many better standard colors out there IMO!

Mike in CA

Didn't know that. I was thinking back on the thousands of 356's and 911's I've seen at historic events over the years and couldn't remember a single one w/cloth. OTOH, I vividly remember a black 300SL gullwing at the Monterey Historics one year with a red plaid cloth interior that looked great! I'm sure someone could do a Special Wish order with Porsche and they'd reproduce the cloth Sport Classic inserts, for a price.......

fbroen

I have seen some great Houndstooth cloth in 911s. And some less great square patterns in 928s. I did grow up in Europe though, perhaps more common there than U.S. spec through the years?

My apologies to OP if this is all kinda irrelevant to the question at hand.

yemenmocha

e46 M3's had an ///M cloth option. It was actually the default order, and leather was extra.

Z356

Like Fbroen said, there is a long history of Porsche using cloth in parts of the seating for the 356 and early 911's. In the 356 era, corduroy was a common seat bottom and back 'inlay', but surrounded by either vinyl or leather. And who can forget the houndstooth interiors in the factory (Recaro-made) sport seats in the early seventies? Late seventies 911's and 928's had some 'groovy' cloth inlays too. Again, most of the cloth & corduroy offered by Porsche has been 'inlays', not entire seats like those nicely upholstered 'sofa chairs' found on other European sedans of the period.

Europeans, by a large percentage, always considered cloth/corduroy inlay seats superior to full vinyl or leather units. They found them to breath better in the summer months and thus more comfortable in the heat. Remember that most Europeans back then would never order air-conditioning even when it became available in early Porsches. It sapped power and it was additional weight in the wrong place. My 1970 911E Targa has factory air and that was a rare option back then and mostly done for the US market. Air-conditioning became common place in European Porsches only in very recent times! The air flow dynamics point out that close windows is more fuel efficient - so now most European autos have A/C as standard, including most Porsches. This could explain why Porsche paid so little time worrying about turbulence and noise buffeting inside the 991 with its windows down. Nobody was expected to drive with windows down anymore! PAG ignored the safety requirement of having windows down during track events in most parts of the world.

Saludos,
Eduardo
Vail Valley, Colorado

SSST

I've been thinking about denim slip covers for my 996.

timothymoffat

Cloth seat facings were standard on ROW model 911s right up until the 993 era. Not to mention 944s and 928s.

The "Porsche" text cloth was actually very attractive and grippy not to mention durable. Less successful, IMO at least, was the "pinstripe" cloth and who can forget the "tartan" cloth first seen in the 928 of the 70's?

IIRC, the seat inserts and door cards on the limited edition (250 + the "000" cars kept by Porsche) 997 Sport Classic were in fact a woven leather that could give a "cloth" like appearance in photos. Quite interesting and unique, as it should have been given the price.

Guest89

RS America had corduroy seats if I'm not mistaken.

Mike in CA

I stand corrected; I still can't recall seeing one but obviously they are out there. Now as to the OP's original question, cloth is no longer a normal option, even in Europe I suspect. But I'm sure it could still be had, again for a price. Houndstooth, anyone?

speed21

You can get custom sheepskin seatcovers over here for a good price.....matching steering wheel cover too. That would look terrific in a new 991

Alan Smithee

Alcantara is the new cloth.