DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Hi all, I'm curious to find out more about GT seats. My standard 356 B T5 seats are a bit saggy and unsupportive at speed, and, as our son is now about 18" too tall to get in the back......I'm wondering about seats.....can anyone point me to pictures of the correct seats for a 60-61 T5 Carrera GT? And does anyone do accurate replicas of the correct seats? Do they have sliding runners, or are they fixed? And once I know what I should install, what are the not-perfect-but-not-too-bad alternatives? Wise words, experiences etc please? All the best, Winston

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OK Winston - I'll make a start ...

T5 Carrera GT seats:



I wanted to mimic several of the GT features for my (albeit 356C) build & opted to utilise steel Speedster seats to give a similar look to the GT seats:



Mine were supplied by Karmann Konnection & I got them to trim them to my design (I supplied the Elephant Grain-style material for the centres)

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I think they look great but you can't adjust the tilt?

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Hi & Thanks Andy, is the top pic a pukka GT? looks lovely, and RHD...

The seats from KK look good, why did you choose steel over aluminium (price being the obvious reason)? I've read a few Registry threads etc and some seem to suggest that the speedster seats were steel and the Carrera GTs had Ali, not that it matters much once its trimmed, there's probably little difference in weight either....W

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The top car shows the seats in a 1961 Carrera GT that Sports Purpose had for sale some time ago:

https://www.sports-purpose.com/cars-for ... rrera-gt-2

I had an original GT seat ~15 years ago & seem to remember that there were some differences compared to a Speedster seat - I think the GT version was slightly wider ?

I had steel Speedster seat shells in my car - & to answer your original question, they had sliders & were (front) hinged so that you could still access the rear (although I dispensed with the rear seats).

I found the seats perfectly comfortable & had no problems travelling long distances in them (went to Spa & did the Wild Atlantic Way in Ireland).


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I always found the Porsche Bucket seats in my GT very comfortable and had no problems with many continental trips
Even `The Wife` did not complain, and her first trip in them was to the 356 International in Switzerland

As for Steel v Alli. - I prefer steel from the safety point of view

Originally Porsche mounted them on Hinged (at the front) Ash Frames with the standard nickel plated `A` Adjusters
This was later changed to Alli. Frames; probably a safety issue
The back rake on the seats is simply adjusted with a Bolt and Lock Nut on the under-side rear of each seat

I used runners with a pair of lock/adjusters on both sides of each seat when we raced the car. This stopped any slight sideways movement under heavy corner`ing

The seats are made by Simonson in Germany
Blatant Plug - - PRS are the agent for Simonson panels

I have always fancied a set of GT / speedster seats in my A !!

One thing I have worried about is how low you sit in the car ?

In comparison to the standard seats are you sitting any lower ?

Regards Jeremy

I have never measured it but drove the Notch to the Air cooled Meet a few weeks ago and it never registered with me that was sitting any lower than in my old `C` with Std seats (be-it that they are a bit soft now)

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I like to think that I'm still fairly agile so never really give getting in & out of any car a second thought (don't have any problems with my Seven which is probably as low/awkward as any car - particularly for the driver) so not much help really.

Here's a comparison of the original vs modified on my old car which may give some insight:

Thanks a lot - those last comparison photos look very close

At 5'8'' (give or take an inch or two!!), I don't want to be sitting any lower than I am for visibility out and over the steering wheel !!! yes short arse problem there - although I think I am average height!

Also I suspect the firmness of the GT seats would make up for the squashiness of the standard seats anyway.

I built a Chesil Speedster about 25 years ago now and the seats were great, plus I had a Dutton Phaeton for a summer which was interesting to get in and out of, so it was more to do with maintaining the similar line of sight that I have now.

Thanks a lot for the input - best comment was that no one else seems to have had to think about it, so maybe it is me overthinking it !

All the best and thanks again

Regards Jeremy
356A T1 1956

I am a 5`-6" and do not like sitting low in the car
If that helps a bit more

Cheers Mike That helps !

I think since my son (14) overtook me, it has become an issue !!!!! Before I was just fine !!

Thanks all for the input so far, much food for thought. I think the next thing is a trip out to sit in a car with these seats installed.......Anyone in the midlands already done this?
I'm not too worried about getting the seat height correct, the mount frames are well photographed on PRS site and I feel are simple enough to adjust with spacers and/or modification. I hadn't really considered safety in relation to the choice of Ali vs. steel, but thanks for the nudge on that one Mike, and I now have PRS as likely supplier!
Keep the info coming, W

Just go to Export 56 at Milton Keynes and take one of their GTs for test drive

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https://gb-fibersteel.glopalstore.com/p ... utm_term=c

This company make replica's, not sure if they are any good. But a bit more info and pics. I like the GT seat, 2 inches wider than the speedster version.