Many thanks to those who enjoyed the photos, and especially to the individuals who offered suggestions and encouragement. I have been leaning towards either leaving the interior "as is" (original), or holding out for the correct material before getting it done over. It would be nice to give the old check book a rest for a while! It appears that most here are in agreement with this, although Kerry has raised a point worth considering.
Bill, I have been dealing with SMS for quite a while now. At best, they are difficult to work with. I had read this on other message boards unrelated to professional cars, and experienced it myself. Many requests go unanswered, and promises of samples take weeks or months, or having to remind them a second or third time.
I am attaching a photo of the casket compartment of the car, as it appears at present. If I stick with a two-tone interior, I would need about 14 yards of the ivory, and 4 yards of whatever the contrasting color might be (I am pretty flexible on that.)
Photo #2 shows the correct material that I have 1 1/3 yards of presently. The blue material in the same photo is of the correct pattern, and a source in MI has an adequate quantity of it, but I would have to do the whole car in that shade of blue, including the headliner. I have seen funeral coaches with single color interiors, including blue, burgundy and black, and while it would be a radical change from my current color combination, it would technically have been available from Comet Coach in '59, as the pattern matches.
Photo #3 shows what SMS has available at present in the quantities I require. I'm not crazy about it.
All suggestions or thoughts are welcome!