Hundreds Of Products Ready Today. Dispatch/Collection The Cobra Classic Tartan Range: Every Seat, Eight Tartans, And How To Measure Your Classic For Them
Classic car builds, Cobra Tartan editions
A customer building a classic asked us a lovely question this week: what are the Cobra Classic Tartan options? The answer deserves more than a list of links, because the tartan range now covers twelve shells, every one of them is trimmed to order in a choice of eight real Scottish tartans, and picking between them in a classic comes down to three measurements taken in your own cockpit.
So here is the whole range, the measuring method, and the one runner that fits everything on this page.
- Twelve classic-family shells, all in the same eight tartan designs, all in stock
- Every seat is base mounted on Cobra’s 291mm x 330mm pattern
- One runner covers the lot: Cobra Premium Sliding Runners, 291mm handle, £84.00 a seat
- Three cockpit measurements decide the shell, and this page shows where to take them
- Prices run from £599.00 to £999.00 including VAT, built to order in your tartan
The eight tartans, on any shell here
Every seat on this page is trimmed with black vinyl bolsters around a woven tartan centre panel, black stitching, and the same eight tartan designs to choose from on the listing: Blair Ancient, Boyd Modern, Earl Of St Andrews, MacFarlane Clan Ancient, MacKenzie Dress Modern, MacMillan Old Modern, Stewart Dress Modern and Weir Ancient. They range from muted greens and blues through to proper red-check drama, so there is a pattern for a subtle resto and one for a car that wants to be photographed. Garreth’s own vote is Blair Ancient against black vinyl, which sits quietly right in almost any classic, and he would save Stewart Dress Modern for a car with the confidence to carry it.
These are built to order in your chosen tartan, which is also why the trim swatches matter more in person: if you can get to Nottingham, the showroom has tartan seats on display to see in real light. If not, ring us and Cameron will talk you through which designs sit best against your paint and carpet.
Measure your classic before you fall for a seat
Classic cockpits are small in ways modern cars never are, and the single most common expensive mistake in this corner of the catalogue is a beautiful shell that will not drop between the tunnel and the door card. Three measurements protect you, and they take five minutes with a tape.
Measurement A decides which shells are even in the running, and it has to be taken at cushion height: classic doors and tunnels both lean inwards, so the gap at the floor is wider than the gap where the seat actually sits. C tells us how much fore and aft room the runners have to work with.
Measurement B is the one open cars catch people with. Measure to the hood frame with the roof up, not to the sky, and remember a headrest lives in the tallest part of that space. It is why the low back Roadster shells exist.
The low back Roadsters: for open cars and low hood lines
If measurement B came back tight, start here. The Roadster family keeps the backrest low and the cushion thin, which is what a low screen line and a hood frame want, and it is the most period-correct silhouette of the whole range. The SR and SS at £609.00 are the narrow-cockpit picks; the XL and XL Plus at £599.00 give a broader driver more room where measurement A allows it.
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From £507.50 Excl. VATKlarna ReadySelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
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From £507.50 Excl. VATKlarna ReadySelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
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From £499.17 Excl. VATKlarna ReadySelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
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From £499.17 Excl. VATKlarna ReadySelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
The Classic buckets: more support, still the right look
The middle of the range, and where most road builds land. The Classic and the Cub carry removable headrests, which is the best of both: headrest in for touring, out for a cleaner line or a tight measurement B. The CS adds deeper side support for spirited driving, the RS and RSR push further that way, and the Alpine sits between them. All between £648.00 and £739.00, all in the same eight tartans.
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From £565.83 Excl. VATKlarna ReadySelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
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From £540.00 Excl. VATKlarna ReadySelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
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From £565.83 Excl. VATKlarna ReadySelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
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From £590.83 Excl. VATKlarna ReadySelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
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From £615.83 Excl. VATKlarna ReadySelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
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From £590.83 Excl. VATKlarna ReadySelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
The two outliers: full race look, or full touring comfort
At the ends of the range sit two very different characters. The GT3 Historic Tartan at £869.00 is the motorsport silhouette, the shell we covered on the Alfa GTV fitting guide, now in a tartan centre, and it is the pick for a historic rally or race build that still wants warmth inside. The Le Mans Tartan at £999.00 is the opposite answer: a proper vintage-style reclining seat for the grand touring build, long journeys and a passenger who would like to lean back a little.
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From £724.17 Excl. VATKlarna ReadySelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
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From £832.50 Excl. VATKlarna ReadySelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
One runner for every setup on this page
Cobra drill every base mount classic shell to the same 291mm x 330mm pattern, so one runner choice covers the whole page: the Cobra Premium Sliding Runners in the 291mm wide handle option, £84.00 a seat.
Because every shell here shares Cobra’s base pattern, the sliding runner question has exactly one answer: the Cobra Premium Sliding Runners at £84.00 a seat, ordered in the 291mm wide handle option. That is the width Cobra drill into these bases, the 405mm option is for other seats, and runners are the part we would not skip on a classic: a fixed seat in a small cockpit makes every other driver of the car miserable.
Below the runners, a classic mounts the way classics always have: adapt the original slides or fabricate to the floor points. Our Alfa GTV fitting answer walks both routes step by step, and our Daimler Dart guide covers the same thinking on an even smaller sixties cockpit.
One set carries one seat, and they are handed to neither side, so a pair of seats simply takes two sets. Pick the 291mm wide handle type in the options and it bolts to any shell on this page.
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Common questions
Which tartan looks best in a green or red car?
The honest answer is that it depends on your paint in real light, which is why we point people at the showroom display or a phone call. As a starting point, the muted greens and blues of Blair Ancient and MacFarlane sit quietly in most classics, and Stewart Dress Modern is the one you pick when the interior is the show.
Are these seats sold singly or in pairs?
Singly, with driver and passenger side options on each listing, so you can do one seat, a matching pair, or a driver bucket with the original passenger seat kept. Plenty of classic builds do exactly that.
How do I know a shell will fit me, not just the car?
Measure across your hips and compare it against the shell when you ring, and tell us your height. The Roadster XL and XL Plus exist for broader drivers, and the showroom has shells to sit in if you can get to Nottingham.
Do these need special mounting for my particular classic?
The seats and runners are the universal half. The last layer, runner to floor, is specific to your car: original slides adapted, or plates fabricated to the floor points. Send us photos of your floor mounts and Cameron will tell you which route your car wants.
How long does a tartan seat take to arrive?
They are trimmed to order in your chosen tartan, so lead time depends on Cobra’s build queue when you order. Ring us with a date in mind and we will get a realistic answer from Cobra before you commit, not after.
Those three cockpit numbers and a pattern preference are everything we need. Cameron will confirm which shells fit the space, check the seat against you as well as the car, and put the seat, tartan choice and 291mm runners through as one order.
Where to go next
Ring 0115 9893488 with your three measurements and the car, and this goes from browsing to a build spec in one call. If you are still weighing shells, the retro classic seat guide compares the classic families more broadly, and the showroom in Nottingham has tartan on display to see against real daylight.