Help needed color matching my leather interior

A couple of things. Connelly went out of business about 5 years ago so you do not have Connelly leather seats in you Jag. Sorry!! It is a common misconception. The remaining hides that Connelly had were purchased by a single company and are VERY expensive to say the least. They are sold primarily to restoration enthusiasts wanting to have exactly the proper interior for their cars. Also keep in mind that very little in your car is actually leather. Most of it is vinyl and it has been that way for the past 45-50 years. Even on my 1967 saloon, the only leather was the seat faces -- all the rest was matching vinyl. So if you take a section from the door -- you are matching vinyl -- not leather.

There should be a tag on the Driver's door that lists the date of manufacture as well as the VIN, exterior color code and interior color code. With this in hand, the Jag people can tell you exactly what you have for a interior color. Don't be surprised if the color sample they give you does not come close to what you actually have in your car. Years take their toll on leather and your S-Type is 6+ years old now so it has done some color shifting.

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Thank you for your info, but you might be incorrect regarding the Connolly seats. They are Connolly, according to an enthusiast who visited the factory in Coventry a few years ago. He said "Connolly supplied all the Jaguars until they went out of business at the end of 2001, and Jaguar had stockpiled a large amount of hides; the leather now used by Jaguar is Italian, and Jaguar claims that the quality, if anything is better." So that's the information I was going on. My car was manufactured in April,

1999, so perhaps you are mistaken. I also know the difference between vinyl and leather, and understand where the leather ends and the vinyl begins. But color is color, whether it is applied to vinyl or leather, and I wound up taking the Jaguar sample of 2000 S Type Ivory leather, which didn't quite match my interior, along with one of the headrests to Home Depot, and using their color matching computer, came up with a Behr Shade called Pebble Stone that is a perfect, spot on match to the seating surface I am going to restore. Ironically, it was the shade recommended from the scan of the factory Ivory that wound up being the match to my seats, so what you are saying about the slight variation that the years place on the color seems absolutely true and correct. Thank you again for your reply.

If you do a Google search for Connelly leather, you will shortly discover that even today, manufacturers (including Jaguar dealers) are touting the fact that their vehicles have Connelly leather interiors. I just saw an ad for a brand new 2005 X-Type that was promoting this!!

It was my understanding that when Connelly went out of business, Jaguar/Ford immediately switched to another supplier.

Contrary to what you are saying in terms of "color is color" that is certainly not proper. I have a piece of the original leather from my 1967 that was not exposed to the sun and elements of daily life and it matches perfectly with the vinyl that was also hidden. After 35 years of exposure, the tan leather looked like dark brown mud color and the vinyl looked like butterscotch. The same goes for the matching colors in my Black 1988 Jaguar. They do not quite match the colors hidden from the sun. That is why dye companies do so well!! And it does not take long. My buddies 2001 XJR is showing fade already.

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Jaguar did in fact switch to another supplier when Connolly went out of business. They had no choice! But when my Jag was built, Connolly was still in business, and that's what was used. Depending on the amount of leather that Jaguar stockpiled, it wouldn't surprise me if all cars up to at least the end of 2002 were Connolly. Remember, Connolly went out in late

2001, meaning many of the cars manufacured for the 2002 model year (in 2001) would still be sporting Connolly hides.

Point taken on coloration on vinyl versus leather, but I am only interested in color matching the seat cushion, so that's what I was holding the color swatches to. Provided that the colorant matches the sample I provided to them, I think I will be very pleased with the outcome. I'm going to try and get away with applying colorant to only the affected panels, but we'll see how it goes.

You might try

. These guys are the premier leather interior people.

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Thank you very much for the recommendation. I recently bought and used Leatherique for my conditioning and cleaning. Great stuff. I'm told that Color-Plus has a better colorant product, so that's what I'm going to try this time around. If it doesn't meet or exceed my expectations, I'll be sure to try the leatherique colorant next time.

Cheers,

JMc