Seats – Figaro Upholstery & Interior Services

Club Member and Figaro Owner Steve Newbold runs Figaro Upholstery & Interior Services from his workshop based in the pretty village of Old Warden in Bedford UK.

The car was manufactured back in 1991 the one thing about Figaro seats is that they were extremely well made and put together so this makes many of them perfect for refurbishment rather than having to be completely recovered as is often the case with other classic cars. As most owners know, it is typically the seat cushions that get the hammering and most wear, particularly the driver’s seat where the leather can get badly worn, torn and damaged. Also, the foam tends to get compressed after years of use making them saggy and uncomfortable. The seat backrests however are often in very good condition showing less wear and damage, retaining their original shape and comfort.

We restore the seats as much as possible to their original condition and so will use a combination of both restoration of the original good leather and replacement of badly worn leather panels with new ones. This will typically mean that the seat base cushions will have new leather while the backrests and headrests will be refurbished. Of course, each set of seats will be different so the amount of new leather needed will be tailored accordingly. We have managed to source a smooth grain leather like the original so it will all blend in seamlessly to look as original as possible.

Seats will be re-coloured in Figaro Ivory Grey and finished using only the excellent products from the Leather Repair Company who as you know have strong ties with the Figaro Owners Club. Piping will be coloured in one of the 4 original colours or matched as closely as I can to a specific colour of choice.

As well as recovering badly worn and damaged seat cushions, new foam will also be used in the pleats for added comfort and the entire seat base foam will be given an extra layer of thin high-density foam to remove any sageness and retain the original shape and firmness to the seats. No more saggy bottoms!

Finally, the plastic side trims will be renovated and resprayed in the same Figaro Grey colour as the seats to finish the whole front seat package off.

Example of some of Steve’s work

Leather Repair Company Approved Repairer

I attended a 4-day ‘Expert Leather Repair Course’ with the Leather Repair Company based in Hull on Sept 21-24 2021.

The 4-day course covered all types of repairs, techniques and methods to carry out repairs to perfection and is by far the industry’s most in-depth course for all types of leather repairs. We went through all types of smart repairs, colour repairs, colour restoration, change of colour and full classic car seat restoration, as well as sofa repairs and restoration including two-tone colouring, antique colouring and much more.

It also included full-colour mixing skills on leather samples, something I definitely benefitted from, gaining an eye for detail and an understanding how colours work and counteract each other. We covered all aspects of repairs possible, scuffs, scrapes, colour loss, stains, indentations in leather, restoration of colour and protection systems. Also covered was how to make grain repairs, repair burn holes with grain matts and how to put grain back into holes.

All in all, a very useful course for me to further my skills and knowledge in all aspects of leather restoration, refurbishment and repair. It was also very reassuring to learn that what I had been doing up to now was completely correct!

What we offer
A full front seat pair refurbishment will be:

Strip down, prep, recolour and finishing of good existing leather
Badly worn, ripped, cracked and damaged leather panels will be renewed with new leather then recoloured to match original (typically seat base cushions)
Piping coloured as requested
Extra foam to seat bases to remove sageness
Plastic side panels recoloured to match seats

Prices start around £450 per pair and will be on an exchange for old basis.

Future Plans
We hope to offer leather covered steering wheel and handbrake levers in Figaro Grey or any colour of choice to match the piping, refurbish the rear seats in the same Figaro Grey but also planning to recover them in leather. Plus door cards, door handles, centre consoles, dash and facias are also being planned for refurbishment or covering in leather but not available just yet.

As passionate Figaro owners and club members, our ultimate aim is to be in a position to carry out any interior refurbishment that is required and will be offering discounted rates to Club Members to keep these wonderful cars in as good a condition as possible.

Contact us
If you are interested in any of the services we offer then get in touch