Reply To: Cost of top and interior

[David Coco]

In my opinion, 25K should get you a top of the line job, maybe not Pebble Beach but excellent. That’s a lot of money. I know of a 1910 Stanley Steamer that had paint, upholstery, and top done by an Amish craftsman, total bill was a little over $30K and it’s beautiful.

I’d ask a lot of questions before your guy does it, maybe you already know the answers.

Does your upholstery guy have experience with early open cars? Is he going to use period materials (cotton, horsehair etc.) or foam? I strongly recommend NOT using foam, it’s not a long term material these days. Does he know how to correctly pad and form top so that it doesn’t look like a starved horse?

Hope all goes well, as you say, the upholstery guy is usually the last in line on a project, and by then the money is tight!