[Fot] TR250/TR6 assistance please

[Paul Ricco]

Terry and Larry,

Both of your cars could be correct.  I was an officer of a company that among other things is one of the largest Independent Toyota distributers in the world.  Yes, even Toyota still has a few independent distributers left.  They all make a lot of their profit from what they add to the cars after they get them in port and before invoicing the dealers for them.  In fact, in the US there are two Regions that the cars are delivered to the dealers slightly differently than the rest of the country.

This type of distribution was much more popular in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s.  

So where I am going with this, is that Larry’s car may have been delivered to a dealer with rubber floors and Terry’s car may have originally been delivered with carpet.  Or the dealers could have done things to them prior to final delivery.  There was a Chicago dealer that was a direct importer and distributor of several import car lines.  None of them ever made it to the retail lot without going through a department that added to them and increased the MSRP for the options that they added.   

So again, In addition to distributers and importers adding to the cars, it was very popular for dealers to have packages of things that they added to cars to increase profit.  A lot of this pre-dates the current US system for New Car Monroney labels from the factory, that the dealer cannot remove or change.  It was very easy for the dealers to modify the cars and set the price.

I am sharing this, because it could help understand why to two cars that are very original could be different and both be correct.

Even in the 80’s and early 90’s there was mass confusion over what model year some Alfa’s and Maserati’s actually were.  They left Italy in one year and did not get recognized in the US until one or two model years later.  We sold them new and it was amazing that this was still happening in the late 80’s and 90’s.  Due to the US VIN numbers system, with the 10th digit being the model year, this never should have happened.  However, It was.

Have a good Sunday,

Paul Ricco


> On Mar 6, 2022, at 3:08 PM, Larry Young via Fot <fot at autox.team.net> wrote:
> 
> Terry,
> I've had my TR250 from new and still have most of the original interior parts. It had rubber mats with snaps like some of the earlier cars. It never had carpet until I restored it. 
>  - Larry Young
> 
> On 3/6/2022 2:32 PM, Enquiries Road & Track via Fot wrote:
>> this is a long shot as ive not had much help from other sources
>> 
>> i'm chasing someone with a TR5 , TR250 or early TR6 that still has original front carpet in the front floor
>> 
>> i'm trying to accurately recreate a set and id like a couple of close up pics of the ribbing on the "rubber" heel pad and how it was stitched on
>> 
>> ive worked out the overall shape and how it was fixed, this is the last remaining query
>> 
>> any hints or leads would be much appreciated
>> 
>> thanks
>> 
>> Terry
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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