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Use our Build A Quote service to submit your interest in the parts required for your restoration & tell us more about your car.

We will be back in touch with you within 72 hours of receiving your enquiry.

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Sample Service

It’s really important to have physical samples in hand to consider before placing your order. Whilst we do our best to display our materials and their colour options as accurately as possible, different screens and light levels can impact on how a colour is interpreted. Always try out our samples in your own car before committing to your final decision.

Request your samples

The best way to request samples is to do so using our Build A Quote system.

From here, you can submit an enquiry to us and tell us in detail about your car and restoration plans. This helps us put together the most suitable and informative sample pack for your consideration, tailored specifically to your marque and model of car.

We work with our customers on a one-to-one basis for all sample requests to ensure we present the most accurate selection of materials and colours based on a car’s era of production and heritage.

Please note that we kindly request our customers not to send sample requests via email, but instead to use our Build A Quote system. This allows us to process and respond to sample requests most informatively.

Useful Information about our Sample Service

Our Colours & Materials

It has become commonplace for many suppliers in the industry to standardise colours options across their products, but this simplification of colour rarely accounts for the nuances and variances in shades that would have been more accurate in this era of production.

At John Skinner’s, we offer the widest range of colours and materials on the market. Our library has been curated to offer a variety of shades throughout the main colour groups to satisfy all interpretations of original specification trim. Comprehensive and concise, it very much reflects our extensive and in-depth knowledge of classic interior trim.

Worldwide Sample Service

We are pleased to offer a free worldwide sample service for all of our materials and colours.

These are sent on a non-tracked service via Royal Mail. Delivery is usually expected within a few days for UK addresses, but can take up to a few weeks for international addresses.

Cost: Free

We can also send our samples via a paid service. This is a tracked and signed delivery, and samples will be delivered within a matter of days wherever your location.

Cost: approximately £15 – £40 (depending on delivery location)

Sample Cards

Our sample cards are assembled to your requirements, specifically with the colours and materials you have requested. Based on our knowledge and experience, we may also send some additional samples for your consideration that we feel relevant to your model and restoration.

These will be small swatch cuttings to give you a good idea of colour, texture and quality.

Cost: Free

If you require larger swatches, you can always opt for our paid-for sample service.

Bespoke Sample Service

For a small charge, we are able to offer a more tailored sample service where we can assemble small mock-ups to demonstrate piping and binding colours against Vinyls/Leathers and Carpets accordingly.

Whether you’re considering Full Leather or LeatherFaced Seats, or trying to decide between a Grained or Smooth Leather, we can discuss the most suitable sewn samples you require at the point of your enquiry with us.

Cost: approximately £15 – £60 (depending on number of samples and delivery location)

Some useful-to-know tips for when you’re choosing materials & colours:

  • Never try to match a colour from a photograph. Depending on how you are viewing the photograph (whether on screen or in print), there are too many variable factors that can influence how the colour is seen – from the conditions in which the photograph was taken to printer ink calibration. Use images as a guideline only.

 

  • Consider your global location. Sun-soaked or largely overcast? Light levels vary all over the globe and significantly impact our perception of colour.

 

  • Give some thought to ‘batches’ (the quantity of material produced at one time). Although minimal in most cases, it can’t be guaranteed that colour remains consistent between one batch and the next, and some materials – particularly carpet – are more prone to variation than others. To avoid any issues this may cause, it is always recommended to purchase similar interior trim items at the same time so that they are made from the same batch in our workshop. With this in mind, be aware that there may be a slight difference in colour between the materials you receive on your swatch card, compared to those used to make your kit.

 

More tips and useful information is included in our Handbook post – Colour Focus: Colour Matching.

Swatch Card Downloads

All our swatch cards are available for download via the below links.

Please note that colours viewed on screen may be misleading and we would always recommend you request samples from us for final colour confirmation. These swatch cards are intended as a colour guideline only.

Request your samples via our Build a Quote system
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