Roadster Carpets Revealed

One of my first questions when I bought my roadster was how to install the carpets. Before I could do that I need to know what they looked like! I searched far and wide to get information, but alas, nothing definitive. I had drawn up some possible solutions, but nothing that could be nailed down, so to speak. The parts list indicates the number of clips, but so far I have yet to see an original carpet from a Roadster. The closest thing that I could find was neatly packed in the boot of Wallis, my “new” Super Ten.

What I found was the original Ten carpeting. With the Ten being manufactured in 1947, I figured that the style, material and construction methods should be similar to that of the Roadster of that time. I also figured that installation time and material expense would also have a part to play in how they were done. The end result is a simple design and easy to install.

The end result is a strip of carpet is tailored to fit the contours of the floor with cut-outs for the seat runners. A slit is cut between the runners, from the far side of the carpet, to allow it to be installed under the seat without having to remove the runners. Snaps are installed to secure it to the floor.

On the driver’s side, a rectangular rubber mat is installed. On my example, this is secured directly to the carpet by butterfly rivets and washers. On the Ten this may be due to the metal flooring, on I have heard of the mat being directly screwed to the plywood floor of the Roadster.

The toe board carpet has slits for the pedals, steering column, dipper switch, wiring and oil line. As for the prop shaft tunnel and the vertical face at the rear of the floor, the carpet was simply glued on.

The only edging done on the Ten’s carpets was around the slits for the pedals. In photos from Roadster brochures, there was edging on the outside edges, especially for the doors. The Ten has rubber edges where the carpet slips underneath, so no edging here.

Again, this is how the Ten’s carpet was done and I am not convinced that this is how every model of Roadster carpet was made. However this does give a good idea of how it was done and given that there are few if any examples of original carpeting left. One such example ids the toe board carpet from Ed Ballam’s A Series Roadster. Ed happened to have this bit for his family’s picnic display at Stowe in 2005. Here we can see some minor differences from the Ten toe board, but the basics are there.

Good luck and enjoy the ride!

(Photo courtesy of Paul Bouchard Collection)
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