Interior Design (Post # 40)

Old Business

Ever wonder who besides you is visiting this blog?  Where they are from?  Why they visit this site?  How much pageview traffic The Alfatross gets?  I do too.  Fortunately Blogger makes some statistics available. One of them is traffic by country.  Not surprisingly, the vast majority of the people who visit this site are in the US.  Then comes Germany, also not too surprising.  But what country do you think is third?  Italy?  France? The UK?  No, its Russia!  Another big surprise is who's in 10th place: South Korea! 

Which posts appear to be the most popular?  According to Blogger,  In the Beginning (January 1st) has been viewed the most.  I guess that's not too surprising since it tells the back story.  But the next most popular post is the one that talks about The Alfatross' family, The 39 or . . . . (March 26th). That suggests to me that readers are intensely interested in the 1900 SSZs that are left and where they are.  The third most-viewed post is The Rotisserie (January 29th), which is surprising to me because it isn't really all that informative.  About the only conclusion that makes any sense is viewers are going there to see the two images of Dave's resto-mod, The Helcamino!

There haven't been all that many comments.  Most posts don't get any at all.  The one that elicited the most was Buried Treasure (June 5th).  Blogger statistics say that The Alfatross has had just under 3,000 pageviews over the last 7 months, and that the largest number of pageviews in a single day is 80.

Brian Williams at AutoRight Collision, Dave's shop, found a video that you have GOT to see: http://jalopnik.com/this-57-alfa-romeo-1900-ss-zagato-is-a-cocktail-for-al-1109712894.  It is a 7-minute, professionally produced video in which Andrea Zagato, grandson of Ugo Zagato drives and discourses on the red 1957 1900C SSZ that has remained with the family.  His observations about automotive design, the unique blend of form and function that characterizes the Zagato brand, and "essential beauty" are worth considering.  Thanks, Brian and Dave--this video made my day!

New Business

In the last post I mentioned critical decisions that need to be made ranging from in-your-face obvious ones like exactly what shade of red (its original color) to paint The Alfatross, to invisible ones like what kind of seam sealer to use between the body panels--something that will never be seen unless the car is disassembled. 

One of the biggest decisions is what to do about the interior.  The factors to consider here are originality, functionality, attractiveness, and appearance in keeping with the rest of the car.  The first two factors are pretty objective.  The last two are totally subjective, and that's the rub . . . .

The Alfatross' interior just before dismantling for restoration.

Let's start with originality.  The Alfatross was originally equipped with some desirable interior features such as the domed dashboard studded with Veglia instruments, Nardi wood-rimmed wheel, lightweight Zagato seats with vented backrests, and floor shifter for the 5-speed gearbox.   The Bueg accelerometer and Jaeger chronometer may have been original equipment or added later.  Those features define The Alfatross' original interior character: no-nonsense, Spartan, everything that you need to race and nothing that you don't!  

The Alfatross' lightweight Zagato seats with ventilated
backs.

On to functionality: A race car doesn't need a fine leather interior, so The Alfatross got blue Naugahyde in different types and different textures.  Was that because plastic fabrics were less expensive than leather, or because plastic is more durable?  The front and rear seat cushions are covered in a smooth-finish textured Naugahyde, while the seat backs and door panels wear a kind of suede finish in a slightly darker shade of blue. 

The driver's door panel: simple, light, functional.

The headliner is yet another different kind of Naugahyde, very similar to the seat cushions but consisting of three layers of material: a visible layer of the same Naugahyde used to cover the seat cushions, a backing of white Naugahyde, and a thin layer of some kind of fibrous material sandwiched between and held in place by heat-fused lines bonding the front and back layers.

The front and back sides of the headliner.  The white backing material is partially
obscured by the adhesive that held it to the underside of the roof.  This adhesive
formula was later used by NASA to bond the ceramic tiles to the Space Shuttle
(just kidding, but that's what I was thinking when I was trying to get it off!).

The headliner uses two layers of Naugahyde with a fibrous material sandwiched
 in between to give it a more substantial look and perhaps even add
a little more insulation.

The rear deck cover was similar to the headliner in that it also
had the same striped pattern as the headliner, but without the
two other layers behind it.

The embossed pattern.

The panel that fills the enormous space between the back of the back seat and the lower edge of the rear window is covered with yet another variation of the Naugahyde theme. 

So that's a lot of different textures and shades of probably hard-to-find materials!  No wonder so many restorations choose to re-upholster in leather.  But then you have the paradoxical situation of, in the words of Peter Marshall, "leather imitating plastic imitating leather." 










I don't know what the original floor covering was, but most restored 1900 SSZs are nicely carpeted.  Car 01915 is thought to be very original and the covering is an understated low pile brown carpet with contrasting piping.



Car 01915 sports a more sumptuous interior with larger front seats and
carpeting throughout.

On the other hand car 01845, also very original, seems to have ribbed rubber floor mats although it is difficult to tell from the available photographs.  With respect to originality and functionality, I think we would be safe to give The Alfatross carpeting similar to what car 01915 has, but in a shade of blue or possibly gray that will compliment the rest of the interior.  I notice that although cars with both restored and original interiors seem to use contrasting piping on both upholstery and carpeting, The Alfatross' upholstery is uniformly trimmed in matching piping, so that should carry through to the carpeting as well.



The floor covering in Car 01845 appears to be rubber mats, but these may hide carpet underneath.  It also has the spacious front seats appropriate for grand touring.  The door panels and transmission tunnel look like they bear original leather upholstery.

Now we are down to the last two factors, both subjective: attractiveness and compatibility with the other elements of the restoration.  The Alfatross' original interior could be cleaned up and re-installed (think of all the money I'd save!), but it would not be in keeping with the rest of the car.  So that is not a good option.   The alternatives are to reupholster in Naugahyde or in leather, keeping the original color and texture scheme.  I get the impression that at least some original interiors were partially upholstered in leather and most restorers of 1900 SSZs have opted for re-upholstery in leather, taking the leather-imitating-plastic-imitating-leather path.  Is that because original fabrics are impossible to duplicate or because if you are going to the trouble and expense of re-upholstering everything you may as well cash in on the cachet of leather? 

What am I failing to take into account?  What about safety restraints, seat belts?  They weren't original equipment, but if The Alfatross is to be driven we will have to make provision for them, probably an arrangement that can be easily disconnected and removed without leaving visible traces.

I hope these questions generate comments from whoever is going to the trouble to look at this blog from time to time.  How about you Germans and Russians?  What do you think is the right choice?  What would you do if The Alfatross' restoration were in your hands?