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[tennlaw]

My 3A, when built, came with the rear bench seat. By the time I got the car, it was long gone.

My question is this: is the wood seat bottom built up so it is over the hump on the horizontal body part that the transmission tunnel goes into, or is the wood notched out so it goes around the hump and rests on the metal "shelf"?

Thanks in advance,

Rob

[charley fitch]

First I will say that I am not an authority on TR's, I am just a long time owner and have done a lot of research to try to get my cars to concours levels.  You state that your car came with a rear seat. Did this information come from a Heritage Certificate or is it your understanding that they all came that way?  I believe that I am 99% correct that the rear seat was an option and did not come on most cars.  They were offered as an option but most all cars simply had carpet on the back bench/seat. 

I have an upholstered seat that came with a TR4, it is cut out where the raised portion of the bench is at to accomodate the rear axle hump.  I do not know if this is an original seat as it has been recovered at least once.  It has a single piece of plywood as a base.
Good luck,
Charley 

[TomMull]

Charlie's right about the rarity of that occasional seat. Few have survived. If one were to spend any time in it, the reason would be obvious. The mounting of the seat of the seat is also a mystery to me. On the post 60000 cars, there were two (lift dot?) fasteners, one at each forward corner. I don't know what held the back.
To address your original question, it seems that the bottom cushion had no cutout. I have a complete occasional seat for a pre 60000 car and it does not have a cutout and I'm quite certain the post cars were the same. The seat back has extra padding which puts the seat bottom just forward of the hump for the differential.
If you have the mounting arrangement still on your car, I'd be very interested in a photo.
Tom

[charley fitch]

Tom,
 What is the material construction of the bottom of the seat that you have?     The seat that I have for the TR4 has a plywood base.  To get that to sit flat upon the car bench they had to cut out the area for the differential hump.  Does the seat that you have have any solid construction (like a plywood or wood backing) or is it just a piece of upholstery like a mat?
Charley   

[TomMull]

Hi Charlie,
Sound like it's just like yours, plywood base, padding, and cover, minus the cutout. The extra padding on the seat back seems to place the seat bottom just forward of the diff bump. I'll see if I can't post a picture later today. Tom

[mgedit]

My 56 came with what appears to be an original seat. It definitely has the cutout in the seat bottom (first pic), but it also is attached with two metal brackets (second pic) as the back deck is sloped. Cheers, Mike

[TomMull]

Here's mine??? Perhaps the plywood is cut and covered by the padding?
Tom

[tennlaw]

Yes, the Heritage certificate says it has the rear seat. I totally agree that it is more for looks than use, unless you're carrying groceries 

I'll pull back the carpet and see what I can find in terms of mounting points.

I would like to thank all the folks for responding to my original post.

Rob

First I will say that I am not an authority on TR's, I am just a long time owner and have done a lot of research to try to get my cars to concours levels.  You state that your car came with a rear seat. Did this information come from a Heritage Certificate or is it your understanding that they all came that way?  I believe that I am 99% correct that the rear seat was an option and did not come on most cars.  They were offered as an option but most all cars simply had carpet on the back bench/seat. 

I have an upholstered seat that came with a TR4, it is cut out where the raised portion of the bench is at to accomodate the rear axle hump.  I do not know if this is an original seat as it has been recovered at least once.  It has a single piece of plywood as a base.
Good luck,
Charley