KEEPING
DELTAS
DRIVING
Lancia Delta Integrale specialists and enthusiasts
I'm rebuilding an ex Japan Evo2, putting the car back to original spec.
This Evo came fitted with two black Recaro front seats, these are Honda
Civic R or Mitsubishi Evo seats, these two kinds of seat are very similar
to each other.
They are also similar to the Evo2 hi-backs, but the back is a bit fatter and wider than the Evo's, and they have a tip up handle. The Honda Recaros are often fitted in Japanese Evo2s as an 'improvement' by the car's Far Eastern owners, they will be easy to obtain as a replacement for a worn out Lancia seat.
Seats, Seats, and more Seats!
This is part of a container load of JDM Honda Civic R Recaro seats shipped to the UK. Recaro used a similar pattern for their seats for some years, these winged seats are similar to an Evo's, but they don't have the slim build of the Italian installation.
So, as the Evo2 I'm working on must be original, I've been looking for months to find some beige Alcantara hi-backs. As you know, these are very rare items, so I considered re-covering this car's existing black seats. Actually locating, then perforating the correct Alcantara material seems almost impossible, and even if that was all done correctly, the seats would still be the wrong shape. And, of course, they wouldn't be embossed at the top.
I had an email from a gentleman in Germany telling me he knew where there were some Evo2 seats, which might be for sale. I followed this up, and the seats were for sale at JMR in Goldbach, near Frankfurt.
JMR is famous world wide for its Lancia Delta reconditioning and sales. JMR is well known for the quality of their work, and for the quality of the Deltas they sell. So I was pleased to have a good reason to visit this famous location.
JMR's Lancia Deltas are often for sale on Autoscout, their cars are always photographed near a small, ancient, stone tower in Goldbach. I have now seen that tower! To actually see and touch this famous obelisk was very special.
Our Hilux was proud to be pictured by the tower, resting after its pounding down the autobahns!
Here's one of JMR's lovely Evos, for sale on Autoscout.
Pictured by the tower, as always!
What a place JMR is, the Deltas inside are sensational, and Ralph's spare parts rooms are like Alladin's caves!
Ralph kindly agreed to sell us two pairs of the Alcantara front seats, and some other items too, like Evo2 wing liners and an Alcantara roof lining, unobtainable anywhere else.
We arrived 9 in the morning at Goldbach, Ralph and his staff made us very welcome. We had a great meeting with Ralph, who was kind and tolerant with us pair of English lads. We left Goldbach with much lighter pockets, but we'd found the
Holy Grail!
A great rally replica, built by JMR
to a very high standard
Nothing gets thrown away!
We packed up the Hilux, said goodbye to Ralph and headed back to the Channel Tunnel, the truck was well loaded up, with the valuable items securely wrapped up against the heavy rain. Back in the UK the weather cheered up, so next day I unloaded and took the seats down to the garage.
The two seats were soon fitted into the Evo, on advice a light hoovering cleaned
them up. The car interior looks great now, it's taking shape for completion.
The two remaining front seats will need some bolster repair work.
The seats looked better with a hoovering, getting the pile smooth was an improvement
Proper front seats at last.