ORIGINAL DETAILS / THE CABIN
Black, right
up to the roof.
Bob identified the black headliner in this 911 S as original, pointing to the pattern of its material. Another surviving 1973 S has the same unusual detail. How this car’s black lining was specified when new remains an open question.
CHASSIS 9113300826
Look up.
The paint catches the eye from across a car park. The headliner asks for a closer inspection. In the pre-purchase cabin film, Bob turns his attention to the material overhead and explains how he recognizes it.
“Even the factory headliner is an original headliner,” he says, before pointing to the pattern. A matching reproduction, he recalls, had become available only about a year earlier. Until then, the pattern had been difficult to duplicate.
The seats below pair smooth leatherette bolsters with ribbed black Kordsamt inserts. Porsche’s 1973 trim table lists that seat combination as order 12, available without extra cost. The seats have a straightforward entry in the chart. The headliner requires a different search.
GRAIN / PERFORATIONS / SEAMS
A pattern
at close quarters.
At this distance, “black headliner” tells only part of the story. The close-up reveals the spacing of the perforations, the surface grain and the stitched seam. These are the details lost in a photograph taken from the doorway.
Restorers pay attention to those small differences, too. Stoddard offers an Original Daisy Pattern range; an October 2025 Early 911S Registry discussion compares its perforation spacing with other reproduction material.
The film gives us something useful to keep alongside the eventual paperwork: a view of the material in place before the car’s preparation was complete.
OTHER CARS / OTHER RECORDS
Other cars.
The same question.
Another original black headliner.
Sloan Motor Cars described an Aubergine 1973 911 S with its original black headliner, carpets, door cards and dashboard. It offers another example of the black lining surviving alongside an original interior.
The listing helps establish that this detail appears on other period cars. It leaves open how the black headliner was specified when new.
The RS enters the discussion.
In a 2006 Pelican Parts discussion, owners compared black-headliner fitment in the Carrera RS with the T, E and S, referring to restoration literature and parts books.
The useful comparisons are cars of the same model and year whose interiors retain their original material.
The paint trail reaches indoors.
There is another connection in Peter Morgan’s account. On the same page as the 1973 special-order paint list, he notes that custom exterior colors and interiors were available by special order. The factory’s flexibility extended beyond the body color.
A special-order interior was therefore possible. Whether that explains this car’s black headliner is a question for its original order records.
DOCUMENTS AND NOTES
What each
source adds.
Bob identified the headliner as original during his inspection. Its special-order origin remains unconfirmed. The research has not established a headliner option code, a production count or a Swiss-market rule.
- The pre-purchase cabin film, 25 June 2026.
Bob’s headliner discussion runs from 0:48 to 1:12. His recollection about reproduction availability is approximate and does not name a supplier. The image above comes from 1:04.
Watch the passage and read its transcript - Sloan Motor Cars: Aubergine 1973 911 S.
The listing describes an original black headliner alongside original interior trim. It also mentions US equipment, which alone does not establish the car’s original delivery market. No factory order entry for the roof lining is included.
Open the car’s description - Pelican Parts: black headliners in 1969–73 cars.
The March 2006 discussion records owners’ distinctions between RS and ordinary-model fitment. Its literature references are useful leads for further comparison.
Read the discussion - Replacement-material references.
Stoddard’s range and the Registry’s discussion document interest in the reproduction pattern. Identifying the exact product Bob had in mind would require a separate material comparison.
Stoddard’s material range · The Registry’s pattern discussion - Peter Morgan: Original Porsche 911, printed page 60.
The 1973 notes describe the availability of custom exterior colors and interiors. This establishes a general ordering possibility, not the specification of this car’s headliner.
Morgan’s reference and the color research - Porsche’s 1973 trim chart.
Order 12 is black leatherette with corduroy inserts, optional without extra cost. Order 11, perforated leatherette, is marked standard.
The seat material and its factory chart