I was reading something on a leather care products website and what I gathered from them is that KR leather is the same type of leather (different color obviously) as what is used in Bentley and Rolls Royce. The only difference being that they get their leather from a country that doesn't have barbed wire and therefore doesn't have any scars on it. So if they don't specify a conditioner or cleaner for KR leather find something approved for Rolls or Bentley. Now if we could only talk Ford into slapping real wood inside of them we could all drive around with our noses in the air too.

 

The leather is totally different in RR and Bentley from that which is used in the KR.
the KR leather is treated in a different way entirely.

RR always used Connolly Brothers Leather and Connolly treatment.
Unfortunately Connolly went out of business a couple of years ago but it is still possible to get the hide food.

I have used Connolly on the KR but prefer to use the saddle shop product which has been specifically tested for the Castano.

Incidentally should you happen to think I'm talking out of where the sun don't shine, I have had several KR's and more RR's, Bentleys and Aston Martins than I should admit !
These include cars from the present back to the 30's, and I am proud to say I have won concours with them at national level, the latest being first place in the DB and Vanquish class at the AM Nationals.
(I do know how to look after leather !)




Vantage Volante in Islay Blue



Selecting our leather for a Bentley Flying Spur in the factory at Crewe, England. (Ex home of RR !!)

PS You were right about barbed wire. RR always sourced their hides from Scandinavia where there is no barbed wire.

As for wood many of the veneers sourced by RR came from the US so no excuse for NOT using real wood.
The wood in my Bentley Eight was American Straight grained walnut, though I have now replaced it with Birds Eye maple with stringing, and cross veneers.

Also shows Beige leather piped brown.

 

John -

You *REALLY* need to share more pictures of that flavor with us. I'm fascinated by your knowledge of autos and blown away by what, on occasion, leaks out of your photo gallery onto the forums.

Unbelievably impressive... dare I say, awesome?

RP

 

Aw !!...Shucks !!!!

I guess I'll let you get away with awesome.......just this once.

 

Especially since after two hours of eye strain I can't seem to punch in the right combination of keywords to find the website again that I was spouting off about. What I did manage to discover is that RR and KR are both aniline leathers. But I also found that there are several ways to make aniline leather, and semi-aniline leather would use the same care products too. So perhaps the claim I was refering to was something more along the lines of their product being the correct conditioner for aniline leather such as RR, Bentley and KR, or maybe I'm full of sh&$ and in a semi-drunken state while surfing at 2 am combined one website saying that KR leather was aniline and another saying RR was aniline and another saying that their product was perfect for aniline leather and then whiping it all together into a goolash of bull$%&.

Now......you need to be the one telling me what to buy to protect my KR seats.

I'll make sure I read your response at a reasonable hour. Thanks

 

Don't worry...there is a lot of confusion about leather and the way it can be treated once in the vehicle, and certainly about the actual tanning process that produces it.

I should have been more specific with the way I phrased the first sentence in my reply.....
I should have said...the leather....as it ends up in the vehicle......

If you get the chance compare the leather in a KR product with the leather in a RR, Bentley, Aston and certainly a Ferrari, where the later will really show you the difference.
The KR has a solid, thick, somewhat inflexible feel to it, whereas the others would appear to be thinner and more delicate.
That is actually not the case because if you look in RR's for instance that are much older (I had a 25/30 that was 1936), even if the leather has never been treated it still holds up. It begins to crack of course but that is what we like to call 'patination'.
Ferrari leather is not nearly so tolerant.
Look at a car even just a year or so old and where the leather gets a lot of use, on the bolsters or squabs for instance, it really wears very quickly.
Castano leather is very strange in some ways.It is tough and I think would take a lot of abuse to tear or badly scar.
However it does stain and mark very easily and after a couple of years if not looked after can really look terrible.
I have seen a KR that was actually owned by the King Ranch as a working vehicle...the seats were almost black !

However there is still something about the way that the Castano looks when new that beats even the RR etc.
Can't explain it but I still remember looking in the first KR some years ago and thinking "Wow !", even though I have had a lifetime owning and looking after leather in more cars than I can remember.

So to sum up....the leather in the KR is unique (An overworked word often used in the wrong context.....ie Almost unique......which can't be, because something is either unique or it isn't !!) (Sorry Brad !)

BUT it will give you so much pleasure if you look after it.
That brings us to which product to use.
Do a search on this forum and you will be innundated with owners preferences.
I still stand by the KR saddleshop conditioner.
They researched the product and its formula when the Castano leather was introduced. Working with Ford they produced a formula which works for them
and it has worked for me too.
Nothing to stop you trying your own brands though, but be aware of the difference between cleaners and conditioners.
What you need most is to condition clean leather to keep it supple and moist, and that way it will help resist dirt and stains.
If you do mark the seats then cleaning is another matter altogether !

Don't get the impression it is hard work either.....I condition my KR leather perhaps 2 or 3 times a year and it only takes 20 minutes.
Having said that of course I live in the UK half the year so perhaps you could double those figures !

 

Well, I tried to add the following to my last post.....but it was too long , so had to make a separate post !



The 1936 Hooper Limousine referred to above. (In wedding mode).

The model is a 25/30, referring to the base 25 HP chassis, but with the uprated 30 HP engine.

Of course in those days you only ordered the chassis from the factory, then chose your own coachbuilder…in this case Hooper. The most desirable and styish in my opinion was Gurney Nutting….a strange name I know but wonderfully stylish cars.




Here’s the drivers section of the 25/30.
Note the Hooper name plaque and the large tool box under the full width of the front seats !
The chauffeur had leather and somewhat cramped quarters in the front while in the back the owner could stretch out almost full length, but with West of England cloth of the highest quality.




Probably the most famous leather in the world.

The original Silver Ghost known as AX 201, after its licence plate.
Also probably the most valuable car in the world currently insured for £25 million.
($40 million US)
I will be seeing and hopefully sitting in this car again in a few weeks time.
The last week in September sees us on the Isle of Man (Irish Sea for non geographers….ie all Americans…oops, who said that !)
The Isle of Man is of course world famous to motor cyclists the world over, for the week long TT (Tourist Trophy) races.
The islands’ roads are closed to regular traffic and motor cyclists roar at terrifying speeds around the course with virtually no protection…ie stone walls at the roadside instead of straw bales!
In 1906 Charles Rolls famously drove his RR around the TT course ((Very hilly for a car in those days) and this year is the 100th anniversary……..so we’re all going over to get sozzled for a week !



Referring back to earlier in the thread this was the Rolls Royce factory at Crewe, England, just before its takeover by Bentley and its owners Volk…….no I can’t bring myself to say it !
Him and her standing proudly outside.

BRING BACK THE BRITISH EMPIRE !!!

Well Brad…you did mention pictures !!!

 

Lenticular, What cars have you owned, Or own now? (talking about the really nice ones). I'm just curious.

 

EErrrrr....!

The list would be a long one !!
Let's just say there are very few desirable cars I haven't either owned or driven !
Excluding the real exotics like the McLaren F1, Pagani Zonda, and Koenissegg, the only one I haven't "had a go at" is Lamborghini.
Now I'm afraid I'm getting to the age where I might get into it, but getting out might be a different story !!

The other marque I've missed out on is Maserati, but at the moment I am awaiting sales details of the Quattroporte to see if I might be tempted.

Everyone starts somewhere though and my first was the humble Morris Minor 1000.
(I've got a picture of that too somewhere but this thread stands a risk of going too far off track !!)

 

Wow, that all I can say.

 

Geez Lenny, I thought I knew my geography quite well but I had NO idea that Ireland was big enough to even have a sea! :o

 

Well "bugger me", as the actress said to the Bishop...(While locking the door of the potting shed at the end of the garden)....as if I didn't know the one well travelled member of our community would pop out of the woodwork and take umbridge at my jibe at the lack of geography taught in the US......!!!!

If you REALLY haven't heard of the Irish Sea (Which I don't believe by the way) then please be my guest and stop off the next time you are passing through the UK (If any of us are ever allowed to fly again wearing clothes), and we'll pop over to the Emerald Isle.

The Irish Sea can be just a little rough at times !!

 

So this Irish Sea isn't actually ON Ireland then? I see. I wondered how they'd hold all of that water on such a small patch of land.

Actually, I couldn't agree with you more. When I was in school, the approach taken to geography was your garden-variety rote memorization. Nowadays, my kids are learning by actually immersing in a region or country. But then, you can only do so much of that, so it's a balancing act between quality and quantity. At the end of the day, the best way to learn about geography is to go experience it. You never forget where a place is on a map once you've had your feet on terra firma. My son has been studying Spanish since a very young age, so his mother and I sent him off to live in Spain for a month this summer. I think this is the first time in his life he can now point out Europe on a globe with greater than 50% accuracy!

As for flying...

I actually was tentatively planning a business trip to Spain at the end of the month. That typically involves passing through that great and wonderful world capitol city London. However, since I wouldn't be able to bring my laptop (and I'll be derned if I'm packing $3k in my luggage!), I'll likely be connecting through Frankfurt instead. That's really got me bummed too, because I just figured out on my most recent trip that there is now a lovely Hilton right atop Paddington Station (I'm sure it was a hotel beforehand, I had just never noticed it until they hung those big red letters out front). I was planning to spend the night there on my way home. Lately I've been staying out by the airport and commuting into the city for R&R because I hate traveling out to Heathrow from the city center early enough in the morning to catch my flight home. But with a Hilton just 15 minutes away via Heathrow Express, how can you not set up camp on the edge of Hyde Park!?

Dang, I hope they get this straightened out. Somehow Frankfurt just doesn't get my pulse up quite like London...

Edited to add the words "leather" and "KR," so as to remain squarely on topic!

 

It's a little known fact...but true...that I started out life as a geography teacher......started to fly to take landscape pictures from the air.....travelled to the US to build up hours....met people in the flying club with nice cars....etc etc.

Anyway, couldn't agree with you more...it IS a balancing act.

I always ended every lesson going round the class making pupils point on wall maps.....mountains, seas, countries etc.

But then along came the clever ****s (ie teachers who couldn't teach and went into 'lecturing') and insisted we all started teaching central place theory and the like.....That meant plotting the routes taken to market by villagers in some remote African Village.
The fact kids couldn't find their own country on a globe didn't seem to matter !!!

Limited slip differential, and beat frequency oscillators (Keeping things on track)

 

Those KRs got BFOs? Dang, they got everything in them there trucks...