Bond interior colour

[Finlandese]

On ‎24‎.‎3‎.‎2014 at 20:19, LOTUSMAN33 said:

Tartan is available in Black/red!

 

 

So much easier on the eye, does make you wonder??

 

Dave

Where can you get this tartan. My Esprit S2 is getting a full retrim in black leather, but now I am considering spicing it up with red tartan bits..

[LOTUSMAN33]

You can get it from Scotweb ???

[stephenwhyte]

@LOTUSMAN33 are you selling your Esprit after all or has someone stolen your old ad  to swindle some unknowing innocent?

[LOTUSMAN33]

No she is up for sale Stephen, I have a good reason and know I will regret it as a good car ?

[stephenwhyte]

That’s horrible news Dave.....

[nello]

They should definately have kept that Tartan gear gaiter 

[Paul Coleman]

I was watching TSWLM the other day and in the shots of the interior it has a marcasite interior. The binnacle is definitely covered in marcasite where it would be grey Nextel paint. The window switch surround is also marcasite and would have been grey.

[phoenix]

OK Bond esprit fans. It's time to bring this particular thread which started some time ago with a query about the unusual 'dark grey' dash, seen on the close up scenes of the Wet Nelly interior to a conclusion.  Lotus supplied at least 5 shells plus parts to the production company (and submersible company) and one shell was used to make a studio mock up for the road chase and underwater scenes. Here is a picture of that mock up. One should clearly see that the upper section of the dash has been trimmed in what looks like a soft slightly padded 'dark grey' material. This must have been done for camera techniques as a light grey might not have worked effectively with the background addition. I hope that answers the mystery. 

[Fridge]

14 hours ago, phoenix said:

OK Bond esprit fans. It's time to bring this particular thread which started some time ago with a query about the unusual 'dark grey' dash, seen on the close up scenes of the Wet Nelly interior to a conclusion.  Lotus supplied at least 5 shells plus parts to the production company (and submersible company) and one shell was used to make a studio mock up for the road chase and underwater scenes. Here is a picture of that mock up. One should clearly see that the upper section of the dash has been trimmed in what looks like a soft slightly padded 'dark grey' material. This must have been done for camera techniques as a light grey might not have worked effectively with the background addition. I hope that answers the mystery. 

Where was that photo taken @phoenix? It looks like a model/miniature to me. Some interesting other details in that photo, such as the foot rest and device to the left of Bond's knee. I've never seen any production photos in the studio from this scene unfortunately.

@Tony K and someone on the Facey B Esprit Owners Group have been discussing this at length as the owner has an original tartan interior, with what looks like a Marcashite covering also. Certainly the current Nextel grey paint being used by restorers of these cars appears far too light to me, but I'm no expert. @Paul Coleman knows more about the origins of its more recent use. Certainly light great does not make a lot of sense to me, due to its reflective properties, particularly when used with such a low windscreen.

[Tony K]

From day one, I always believed the Nextel was too light, even for an early S1.  It was explained to me how and why it was chosen, but it's even lighter than the grey in the photos of the prototype interior.   

Last year I had the opportunity to buy a white/tartan late '77 S1 project (I hesitated and I missed it).  It was trashed from the Florida sun, but clearly had green fuzzy cloth on those areas.  I had expected it to be covered in some sort of flocking.    Recently, three original mid-to-late production S1s surfaced in great detail -- the ones owned by Aaron at ATS Exotics (351H), Michael W.'s (348H), and the one on Bring a Trailer (532H).  The areas of these cars that have been exposed to sun are the familiar grey-ish green.  The unfaded areas tell the tale:   This really looks like black maracasite, which many have said is more like a charcoal and not a full black.

Michael W's photo, from 348H, Lagoon Blue over Tartan, original steering column:

[Fridge]

Andy Graham at the Lotus Archive describes the dark Marcasite as "gunmetal", rather than black (which most folk use).

[Tony K]

As for the early cars (approximately those with a gelcoat finish), my understanding at this point is that they were covered in a flocking, similar to a dashboard on a Merak, Uracco, Dino, etc. form that era.  My first experience with this was with the owner of 200H, an original white on tartan car, back in the mid-1990s.  The stuff was a dark gray with a hint of green, and apparently it didn't last long or rubbed off easily, leaving a smooth but matty and mottled dark gray surface.   In addition to 200H, I have seen remnants of it up close on two other cars -- the unrestored yellow car that Scott Walker had about ten years ago, and Lyn Weschler's car (original owner in New York).   When I visited the UK about 8 or 9 years ago, Scott and I had a discussion about this, clearly looking at dark grey-green fuzzy remnants in the corners of his dashboard and binnacle, and remarking that the Nextel was way too light, and too stiff.  

I might be wrong on this.  I have not seen enough original examples to be confident.  But I have recently reconnected with the owner of 200H, and could revisit the conversation and take a closer look at his car.    
Restorers of other exotic cars of the mid-'70s have reapplied that type of flocking to dashboards;  I haven't looked into it, but I know that stuff is out there.

One thing that I am pretty confident about at this point is that on a late spring 1977 S1 onward (perhaps cars with lacquer finish), it's just black marcasite.  

1 minute ago, Fridge said:

Andy Graham at the Lotus Archive describes the dark Marcasite as "gunmetal", rather than black (which most folk use).

And I think that's a fair description of it.   

 . . . and in the land of Crypton Suede, our only choice appears to be "Caviar".   Is it full-on black, or a dark grey?   I don't know.  What I do know is that most people think  "gunmetal" marcasite is just "black" and call it black, so in the grand scheme of things I don't think it's a big deal. 

https://www.joann.com/home-decor-upholstery-fabric-crypton-suede-caviar/11478021.html#q=crypton%2Bsuede&prefn1=prod_type&sz=36&start=1&prefv1=Product

[fj7427]

Hello,

I have been a fan of this forum for many years. I was reading this post and found something that might be useful for all(even if it is an old post). I came across the video below on youtube when I was doing research on my Lotus Esprit project. It is an interview with Lewis Gilbert, the director of The Spy Who Loved Me. It shows the actual car used in the film inside and out, including all the gadgets used for the interior shots. Hope this helps answer the questions above and you guys like it as much as I have. Cheers

 

Frank

[Nelly]

This is a great video, seen it a year or so ago - like the Thames archives.

Having just re-read this thread, my feeling was the image posted by Pheonix which was commented that it looks like a model had come from this video.

[phoenix]

And so a witness finally comes forward 😂