Upholstery in Vista Cruiser

[Leif]

I have a 1965 Vista Cruiser Custom Wagon.
I have read in an original sales-brochure that the interior came in five colors / shades.
Unfortunately the brochure does not tell WHAT five colors were used.
Maybe somebody in here knows and will share this knowledge?

[Oldsfan]

I'll have to check my color and upholstery album when I get home. I'm guessing black, white, red, light blue and light green, but tan and turquoise are two other possibilities.

Paul

[Oldsfan]

Hmmm...

The brochure is wrong. Or the Colors and Fabrics book is wrong.

Anyway, the Custom Vista Cruiser was available with 6 interiors:

Black cloth and vinyl
Dark blue cloth with light blue vinyl
Dark green cloth with light green vinyl
Parchment White vinyl
Red vinyl
Fawn vinyl

The standard Vista Cruiser only had four interiors available, all in vinyl in Blue, Fawn, Red and Parchment white.

Paul

[Oldsguy]

FYI, Kanter sell interior kits. My son just made an order for some engine parts from them and had them send some fabric samples for the kits they sell. When you get to that point might be a good place to start looking.

[Leif]

Thanks so far. I have double checked the brochures I have handy (22 page Olds full line and 8 page Station Wagon brochures) and in the first I can read "Morocceen (vinyl) or Morocceen-and-cloth interiors in five colors..." and the Station-wagon brochure reads "...in a wide choice...colors"...

My car is all white to the exterior and the interior (all vinyl) is light green with a golden touch to it. It is difficult to describe a color - especially if english is not your first language (as in my case). Carpets are brown (dark tan or dark buckskin). Please see attached picture.

I can not decide what color is correct from the list you gave, Paul, and I did send a sample to Kanter but the sample they´ve returned was not even close. Thanx Dan for letting me know anyway.

I would not have anything agaist changing the interior color and do the whole thing - I would just still like it to be correct. I believe Olds might have shared some interior colors with other GM siblings (A-body) and thus it would be possible to find the material. I remember having seen some Chevelles and Tempests in a light silverish blue that I know I can get - I just do not know if this was available in the Custom Vista Cruiser.

Leif

[Oldsfan]

Leif,

I believe what you have is Fawn, given that you've got brownish carpeting. Green wasn't available as all vinyl - it had cloth inserts. Fawn was all vinyl. I believe the color has probably changed over the years from exposure to the sun. If you want to know for sure, post the trim code from the data plate on the firewall. That'll tell us. Also, if you send that trim code to:

http://www.smsautofabrics.com/

they will send you samples that match your trim code.

Paul

[Leif]

Paul, you are saying something...

Stupid of me not to think about the trim code. How foolish can one be??

The trim-code is 964- and the paint is C-C which must be solid white. Below line reads EG - 2X - 3D and lower line reads 5T.

I am pretty sure, the trim is not fawn. I have looked it up and it translates into "color of a deer" which must be light or medium brown. Of course the color is faded due to sun exposure. The car has been imported to Denmark from California and is dry and sun-burned all over. Thankfully the dash is not cracked...

Leif

[Oldsfan]

The 4 in the trim code denotes the color. In '65 and '66 4 was Fawn. In '67 4 was Gold or Champagne. In '68 it was Willow Gold (which was a greenish Gold).

So it looks to me like you've got Fawn.

I'll have to try and remember to scan the pages from the upholstery album.

This 98 has a Fawn interior:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1965-...QQcmdZViewItem

Look at the carpeting, dash pad, dash paint and steering wheel. This is what you should have.

Paul

[Leif]

Thanks for your help Paul. I have tried to compare my car to the Olds on ebay and they are partly identical. The paint and the steering wheel looks similar but my dash pad and carpets are darker brown - almost chocolate. And my interior (or what´s left of it) is all vinyl.

I have send the trim code to SMSAutofabrics and they have replied they will send some samples.

I think I will just sit back and wait for them to arrive.

If this will not work I will have to have some vinyl dyed or do the whole thing in another (original) color.

In the meantime I can fix the body around the skylights which is in bad shape from water leaking thru the glass-caulking over the many years.

Thanks again for your great help. It is greatly appreciated. I will keep ypu posted.

Leif

[Oldsfan]

Leif,

What brochure were you reading that mentioned the 5 colors? I've looked in my '65 station wagon brochure and my '65 full-line brochure and neither one mentions 5 color selections for the interiors of Vista Cruisers. I did see a reference to 5 colors for the interiors of Jetstar 88s, but that doesn't apply to Vista Cruisers.

Anyway, I scanned the pages from the color and upholstery album that pertain to the Vista Cruiser.

Paul

[Leif]

Paul - actually I have two brochures.

One is a very common (I have seen a lot of these on e-bay) 22 page brochure with a blue Delta 88 on a blue background on the cover. On page 14, under the left picture (a lady on the third seat looking backwards) the text reads: "Morocceen or Morocceen-and-cloth interiors, in five smart colors, are pretty and practical."

The other is an eight-page brochure for 1965 Station-Wagons only, and in this I read (page 4 - middle picture) "...practical, easily cleaned...comes in a wide choice of attractive color combinations." Here they do NOT refer to five colors - just "a wide choice".

All pictures of the Custom Vista-Cruiser interiors in these two brochures, are shown in "Fawn" and all-Morocceen, which must be vinyl. Same as my car.

Thanks for the scanned pages. They look the same as I have received from SMS Auto-Fabrics, who has the correct color and can make door-panels. Unfortunately they do not make pre-sewn seat-covers, so I´ll have to turn to my upholsterer.

Thanks again for your help and interest.
Leif

[Oldsfan]

Leif,

Some of the problem is that there were 4 different full line brochures offered in '65. There was the "saver" brochure, usually given away at auto shows, and there was a prestige brochure reserved for serious showroom prospects. The saver brochure measured 8.5 x 10.5 inches while the prestige brochure was 10.5 x 12.5. The smaller brochure has 22 pages and the larger one has 26. There were two printings of the smaller one and two printings of the larger one (9-64 and a revision dated 10-64). I have the early prestige brochure. My Vista Cruiser spread covers pages 16 and 17. It shows the woman in the third seat, and the text reads:

"Vista Cruiser's third seat faces forward, folds down easily to accommodate cargo. All-Moroceen or Moroceen-and-cloth interiors are as neat and pretty as they are practical!"

It is possible that they dropped one of the color combinations after announcement and that is why your brochure mentions 5 colors.

I wonder which one they dropped?

Paul