The Red Rocket gets Karlsson'ed: Car Interiors upgraded to Scandinavian Leather (1.5mm) upholstery
This revamp was something I had waited for since long. This past week I got the Punto's interiors upgraded to full leather seats, customized by the cool folks at Karlsson luxury leather (Indiranagar, Bangalore) for the Red Rocket black+red theme.
I didn't want something too subtle, and I didn't want something too loud with red patches on the seats et. al. Sajith, the proprietor at Karlsson was a jovial and knowledgeable person to interact with. I was insistent on black with red stitching, open to Sajith's suggestions on how to elegantly do it up further. He showed me tons of designs along with his assistant Suresh, and we finally zeroed in on an existing Alfa-Romeo design - a red + black combination of Scandinavian 1.5mm full leather for the Punto.
I got something else done in red (the part inspired by the Alfa Romeo design he showed) - a borderline piping work done on all the seat outlines to throw in some wickedness into the design, something which this car has been trying to scream hoarse about all along. This was when I paid the advance amount last month, and finally froze the design choice and installation date with Karlsson.
The Red Rocket gets sporty Scandinavian leather seats in Black and Red!! When you choose an Alfa Romeo inspired design, you know you cannot go wrong anywhere!
On D-day, I headed out to Karlsson at roughly 10 AM on a weekday morning. There was just another car that day if I recollect correctly, a Vista owned by a fellow BHPian.
Arriving at Karlsson for the full leather upholstery makeover
I left the keys there and headed back home; Suresh promised to call me when the job was done in the evening. I went back there by 6 PM, when they were still doing their final checks after putting back everything together. I really have to admire their professionalism and attention to detail, no wonder their work is outstanding and is highly recommended by other customers. They really are perfectionists at their job, matching up to OEM standards of workmanship and quality. Thank you Karlsson, Sajith and Suresh for helping transform my interiors to another level altogether! The interiors are another object of envy now with whoever happens to peep into my car or sit in it.
Here are the results of what transpired at Karlsson. I have nothing more to say, the pictures will do all the talking of their work. The dull interiors of the Punto 'Sport' have now been somewhat transformed to a better, sportier interior look. Extra elements added were the red pipe outlining in leather, and red single pattern stitching on horizontal seams to break the monotony of black.
Revamped sporty leather interiors: front row - black Scandinavian leather with red leather piping outlines
A closer look at the front seats
Moving over to the back row -
From the other side
A closer look
Moving back to the front row...
The headrests get red leather piping outlines to throw in some wickedness
The rear portion of all headrests get elegant red stitching
The same treatment goes on the rear seat headrests too!
The gear lever housing gets the leather job with red stitching
So does the handbrake lever!
And all 4 door trims:
The red stitching used everywhere is the single-line pattern
The driver's seat gets the coveted brand logo stitched in
A sportier angle
The seat shape itself is nicely designed, customizing it with leather makes it look even better!
A closer look at the Scandinavian leather texture and red leather piping outlines.
Random shots of the leather and the dashboard view of this customized 'Abarth'
A shot of the back seat looking from the front seat
Any ownership update on this thread is incomplete without a picture of the Punto outside that broken-down wall
. GlossMania is back! Paint sealant treatment is done for this car again to keep up gloss levels
A freebie thrown in by Karlsson for being a customer of their European leather
I'll try to throw in a few pictures tomorrow on the Before / After effect of getting the car Karlsson'ed. Else my next update would be on the Paint sealant treatment done and another small add-on for the car. Thanks for reading!