by Nathan Chadwick
So often, the Festival of the Unexceptional reminds us of the elements that we no longer see on modern cars. In some cases, technology has rendered them obsolete, or ever-growing regulation has seen them outlawed – alternatively, tastes change.
One such area that’s seen a stark change is interior fixture and fittings – aside from the vodka bar extremism of supercars or new BMW M cars, the interiors of most vehicles today are as bleakly monochrome as a goth rock club circa 1979.
There are many reasons for this – marketing had us believe that leather (or an approximation of it) was the height of luxury, even though it’s cold in winter and clammy, if not posterior-singingly hot in summer. We yearn for the days when even the most basic models in a carmaker’s range had a kaleidoscope of not only fabrics, but patterns too. Not all of them were tasteful, but all of them brightened up your day as you ambled your way to work and back.
FOTU can be a chance to relish this long-since-gone interior excitement – whether it’s multi-coloured leather, intricate design or sharply styled patterns. Until then, we’ve picked out a few of our favourites below; let us know your own favourite fabrics in the comments below.
- Porsche 928
Few seat fabrics quite sum up the wild flavour of the Art Decade quite like Pasha (or Pascha), and indeed the 928 itself. Rumour has it that the car’s designer, Tony Lapine, came into the design office wearing a chequerboard scarf, which inspired the interior styling team. Designer Vlaska Rujbr conjured a psychedelic trip that helped to define the 928 in the public consciousness, though the fabric would later be seen in the 911, 924 and 944.
The Porsche 928 would also benefit from lurid colours into the 1980s, with a vast selection of leather colours – you really could order a purple over purple 928 S4 – as well as multicoloured check. That all went for the 1990s 928 GTS. It may have had 350bhp for ultimate excitement, but the drab grey or black leather interiors were anything but.
- Ford Sierra XR4i
The Ford Sierra XR4i would prove influential for the Blue Oval’s swoopy saloon. Though Patrick Le Quement’s aerodynamically optimised shape was influenced more readily on its exterior, the interior was light years ahead of previous Fords. There was a wraparound dashboard, for starters, but in the XR4i the sports seats featured Oxford fabric that seemed straight from a modernist architecture brochure.
While the RS Cosworth’s red-dotted Recaros might sit in a vastly more storied and revered Sierra, the XR4i’s elegant, refined fabric wonderfully encapsulated the XR4i’s grunty long-distance cruiser dynamism.
- VW Golf GTI Mk3
The story of the original Golf GTI’s original plaid/tartan seats is well known – Gunhild Liljequist, a trained porcelain painter and the first woman to work for VW design, was inspired by a trip through Britain and the many fabrics she came across. By the 1990s, however, the Golf GTI was more tepid than hot – at least, to drive. However, the Mk3 Golf GTI interiors were something to savour. A wide choice of interior motifs were made available, all taking influence from different artistic styles – even cubism served as inspiration for one style. However, we’re rather fond of the Anniversary version pictured.
- Vauxhall Astra GTE 16v
The 1980s really embraced grey and blacks, but it didn’t forget to include highlight colours. We particularly love the striped Astra GTE interior, which at the time was up there with all things futuristic – who remembers the LCD instruments? The seats should also be remembered – these comfortable Recaros did their best to keep you planted while the GTE 16v’s rampant 150bhp engine turned even the mildest mannered driver into a hot hatch hero.
- Mercedes-Benz E-Class W210
Mercedes-Benz enthusiasts tend to go gooey-eyed over the Sportline interior for the W124. However, during the 1990s, Mercedes-Benz went a bit bonkers with their interiors. The kind of sparkly/colourful interiors we could perhaps understand for the SLs, A-Classes and maybe even the C-Classes, but the E-Class is the picture of solemnity. Or it was supposed to be – in the mid-1990s, the E-Class was available with this funky fabric. We rather like it – it’s a bit like the quiet, mild mannered chap in accounts turning out to be a hardcore raver at the weekend.
- Maserati Biturbo
The internet likes to criticise much about the Biturbo; once the copy-and-paste opinions have gone through the usual gripes the sneering centres on the early cars’ Missoni interiors. Missoni, for the uninitiated, is a luxury fashion house dating back to 1953, so having Maserati’s luxury small executive coupé clad in its fabric was supposed to be a boon. However, ’80s aesthetes turned their noses up at it, which is somewhat harsh. Paired with soft brown leather and the infamous LaSalle clock, wouldn’t you rather waft around in something this colourful, rather than a dull monochrome interior?
Share your favourite fabrics in the comments below, or email them to hdc@hagerty.co.uk. Your submissions might be featured in upcoming newsletters or magazine articles.