Porsche Brings Back Its Best Interior Patterns As Fabric You Can Buy For Accurate Restorations (Or Any Other Projects)

For the last decade or so, but especially the past few years, Porsche has been greatly expanding its in-house customization branches. The Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur team does everything from paint-to-sample exteriors to leather-covered interior components, plus totally bespoke Sonderwunsch creations. There have also been a lot of special editions, of course, some of which have brought back vintage Porsche interior schemes like corduroy upholstery and houndstooth-like pepita. Most recently, Porsche reintroduced its psychedelic Pasha fabric, originally used on cars like the 924 and 928 in the 1970s and '80s and beloved by nerdy enthusiasts. It debuted on the 911 Spirit 70 special edition, but any new 911 can be had with Pasha. 

These classic upholstery styles have been relegated to expensive brand-new Porsches — until now. Porsche is reissuing a number of textiles from its archives, going all the way back to the 356, available to order from Porsche dealerships or its online website. The automaker says this is in the name of assisting in accurate restorations, but I can see these also put to good use in restomods and furniture. 

Here are all the different fabrics that are now on offer again, plus the models and years they were offered on:

• Pepita fabric black/white — 356 (1963-1965), only 356 C
• Pepita fabric red/black/white — 911 F-Model (1965-1973)
• Tartan fabric red/blue (McLaughlan) — 911 G-Model (1975-1980), 924 (1980-1982)
• Tartan fabric green/blue (Black Watch) — 928 (1980)
• Pasha fabric white/black — 928 (1978-1979)
• Pinstripe velour black/white — 911 G-Model (1977-1989), 964 (1989-1990), 924 (1977-1988), 928 (1978-1990), 944 (1982-1990)
• Porsche lettering Midnight Blue — 911 G-Model (1987-1989),993 (1994-1998), 924 (1986-1988), 928 (1987-1995), 944 (1985-1991)
• Porsche lettering black — 911 G-Model (1987-1989), 993 (1994-1998), 924 (1986-1988), 928 (1987-1995), 944 (1985-1991)
• Porsche lettering fabric Olive Green — 911 G-Model (1985-1987), 928 (1985-1987)
• 964 Multicolour Cobalt Blue fabric — 928 (1991-1993), 944 (1991), 964 (1991-1994), 968 (1992-1993)

Porsche says that more color variants including the "legendary orange 'lobster' color" are being planned. While all of these options are great, I'm most excited about that Multicolour Cobalt Blue, and the awesome Porsche script fabrics — I've been wanting Porsche to do a new version of those for a long time now. Hopefully Porsche will also bring back some vintage leather, too, like what companies such as Bentley have recently offered.

Each textile is sold in 1.5 meter by 2 meter sections, and as they're considered Porsche Genuine Parts, they have to meet Porsche's new quality standards for accuracy, durability and feel. They're tested for flame resistance and light and color fastness, they're artificially aged, and the fabrics are even subjected to 90,000 abrasion cycles for tear resistance. Each one has been reconstructed using precise patterns created from the original fabrics, aided by the color and trim catalogs, prototypes and design studio materials that Porsche still has in its archives. The team found rolls of untouched material that had been shielded from UV light, and it even sourced parts from around the world like a new-old-stock 1975 green Tartan seat that was found in a cupboard in the U.S., having never been installed in a car — "it was like gold dust for us," said product manager Lukas Werginz. For some of the fabrics, Porsche had to engineer new types of threads, dyes and manufacturing processes.

It doesn't seem like the reissued fabrics are in Porsche's U.S. online store yet, but most of them are on the UK site. Each section of fabric costs £290 (around $387), with the price being the same across each design. I can't wait to see what Porsche enthusiasts do with them.