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John Skinner Manufacturing Ltd was the interior trim choice for Richard Hammond’s sympathetic and meticulous restoration of his Jaguar XK150 FHC.
Known for our attention to detail and passionate approach to our work, it seemed only fitting to be the interior trim supplier to such a complete and comprehensive project by a leading name in the automotive world.
It was Lockdown 1.0 of summer 2020 and Jonathon Skinner was working from home when he answered his phone to Richard Hammond wanting to talk all things interior trim. After being shown an example of our trim by Neil & Anthony Greenhouse of Tram Inn Garage in Herefordshire who were undertaking the extensive restoration of the XK150 FHC, Richard was so impressed by the quality of our work that he needed to see more. As always, Jonathon was happy to help offering extensive advice on originality, colours and specification, inspiring ideas and material options.
And so began one of the most exciting projects we have taken on in our workshop – manufacturing the interior trim for Richard Hammond’s XK150 FHC.
To complement the Dove Grey paintwork, Richard opted for a Cherry Red interior. We manufactured all parts to original OEM specification in a combination of Cherry Red smooth leather and vinyl, and Red wool, moquette and hardura.
As part of the project, we also custom made a bespoke fire extinguisher cover in Cherry Red leather for the footwell.
Richard said himself – ‘The interior… is in its original colour, it’s beautiful.’
The John Skinner team were thrilled to be a part of such a notable restoration and to see the finished interior featured on DriveTribe was an incredible moment for everyone involved.
We wish Richard many years of happy motoring and much enjoyment of his magnificent car!
Further information about the restoration, and what we manufactured and supplied is detailed below.
The Trim Kit
We made and supplied a full XK150 FHC Trim Kit as per the below material & colour specification:
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Interior Trim Panels: Vinyl: Cherry Red, Hardura: Red, Moquette: Red.
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Front & Rear Seats & Centre Cushion Armrest: LeatherFaced: Cherry Red Smooth Leather & Cherry Red Vinyl, Moquette: Red.
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Carpets: Wool: Red, Binding: Cherry Red Leathercloth
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Headlining: Wool Cloth: Grey
As the interior trim specialists, Neil & Anthony were happy to leave as much of the interior restoration to us as possible. Although we don’t take cars into our workshop for trimming, we do offer a trimming service whereby we trim up any parts of the car that can be removed and delivered to us. Keen to retain as much originality as possible, Richard chose to strip out all original seat frames, metalwork and woodwork and had them delivered to us for re-trimming on site in our Cheltenham workshop.
We supplied the following items fully trimmed:
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Front & Rear Seats, including new moulded seat paddings
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Centre Cushion Armrest
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Dash Facia, Dash Top, Crash Roll & Glove Box (not pictured)
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Door Surround Metalwork (not pictured)
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Rear Access Hatch, including replacement leather straps
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Petrol Filler Neck Cover
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Fire Extinguisher Cover (bespoke)
All other parts were supplied as standard. These included:
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Door Panels, Pockets & Armrests
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A Post Footwell Panels
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UnderDash Panels
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Wheel Arch Panels – Main, Upper & Lower
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Rear Light Area Panel
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Rear Bulkhead & Diff Hump
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Rear Parcel Shelf
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Furflex Draught Excluder Kit
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Boot Trunk Lid Panel & Boot Trunk Hardura Set
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Carpet Set & Underfelt Soundproofing Kit
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Headliner Roof Lining Kit
The Trimming & Fitting
Once the parts were finished at our factory, they were delivered to Neil & Anthony Greenhouse at Tram Inn Garage, Herefordshire for trimming and fitting to the car. Jonathon was able to offer plenty of fitting advice to Neil and Anthony during the process and they shared a number of photos with us as the interior took shape.
After months of mechanical and bodywork restoration, the interior dressing and fitting really was the magic moment when the restoration started to come together and the dream of driving became a reality. Richard made a good choice – the Cherry Red trim looks rather stunning!
DRIVETRIBE on YouTube
Richard Hammond documented the entire XK150 FHC restoration project on his DRIVETRIBE YouTube channel. Jonathon and the John Skinner workshop featured in Episode 5, where we demonstrated our CNC machine in action cutting the Cherry Red leather for we used for Richard’s interior. All episodes are available to watch via the links below.
Ep 1 – Richard Hammond unveils his new project car!
Ep 2 – Richard Hammond gives us an update on his lockdown projects
Ep 3 – Richard Hammond’s latest update on his lockdown projects ft. Jaguar XK150
Ep 4 – Richard Hammond’s project car is nearly finished
Ep 5 – The interior of Richard Hammond’s project car is coming together (featuring Jonathon and a look round the John Skinner workshop).
Ep 6 – Richard Hammond’s Jaguar restoration hasn’t gone to plan
Ep 7 – I’m getting my hands dirty
Ep 8 – Richard Hammond drives his finished project car for the first time
A Visit from Richard
We were delighted to welcome Richard into our factory when he was in the local area. He was really interested to see for himself where his trim had been manufactured, meet Jonathon and the team and to see our leather cutting machine in action.
The interior was fitted beautifully by Neil and Anthony Greenhouse, the father & son team behind Tram Inn Garage based in Herefordshire. They are the workforce behind Richard’s restoration business, The Smallest Cog. You can follow their restoration projects on the Discovery Channel+ UK – Richard Hammond’s Workshop.
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