The SE500 Cabriolet was a limited edition and came in a stunning shade of blue. The interior was grey leather with red and blue horizontal pleats. With some forethought, Ford would have used Recaro seats and created a truly sumptuous cabin... but they didn't. Instead they used the standard XR3i seats and treated them to a fancy outfit.

When this interior came to me, the front seats had seen far better days. Both seat bases were deteriorated to the point of no return so, before anything meaningful could happen, a superior pair of foams needed to be sourced. That took a good few months but, once a suitable pair had been found, work commenced.

The owner was adamant that this interior had to look as if it had just rolled out of a Ford dealership. Matching the original shade of leather proved to be a challenge but a shade was found that was seriously close. The pleats also had to be done in the exact style as Ford originally used and it's these that help to give this car such a distinctive look.

Even though it was the subject of a nut and bolt rebuild (the headrest posts have been stripped and zinc-plated again, for example!), the owner was taken with the idea of having a new tonneau cover made to match the brand new paintwork. Naugahyde was used for this and it compliments the colour very well. The same grey topstitching was used on the cover and the seats.

It was quite the labour of love to complete, but a very happy customer means that it was all worthwhile!