I Miss Recaro Seats!
 

Why?!? Why are there no reproductions of the 80/81 Recaro seats available for purchase? I had those in my '78 Trans Am in the far distant past, and they were the most comfortable, supportive, awesome seats ever. I took 14-hour road trips in those and arrived refreshed. I can buy reproductions of literally any esoteric original combination of seats, even 10th anniversary silver stuff, but not the Recaros? If I'd known at the time that they're so difficult to acquire, I never would've sold them with the car...

81 pace cars had the recaros, they are very nice seats. recaro does offer something similar today but not in original colors or fabric, this model & the "expert" model look like the same basic design, but they are pricey! i think corbeu? has some close to the same style. & for the used market, there are a few other years & cars that used the same seat only with different covers.

https://www.recaro-automotive.com/us...recaro-ergomed

Yeah those are close, but not as sexy :D And you're right, they're pricey! I guess that's why there's no reproductions, the design is owned by Recaro. But after all these years, you'd think someone would be able to reproduce them legally... I'd be mighty interested in buying a used set if any ever popped up

if youre not stuck on the 81 red/black recaros, keep your eyes out for the other ones that are a little more common... early to mid 80's trans am had them for the special edition models like pace car & 15th anniv & the 79 mustang pace car used them too. ive owned a few pairs of the 81 t/a & 79 mustang p/c seats & currently have a set of 81 red/black recaros ive been hanging on to for some reason.

another seat that isnt exactly like the old recaros but still a very good seat for better price than recaros is the procar rallys, they have the high bolsters for support & are very comfortable. & they recline. i have them in a 2nd gen firebird & they are just as comfortable as recaros & hold you in better on hard corners.

I'm specifically hoping for a bolt-in swap. Seems like the Mustang and 3rd green f-body ones would require adapting

And you're not inclined to sell them now? :D

im pretty sure no adapting or mods are required, these series of recaros have a set location for the seat tracks to bolt to, so you can remove the 3rd gen tracks & the 2nd gen tracks will bolt to the same holes. as far as i can remember the mustang seats were the same way, but its been probably 8-10 years since i had the mustang seats. worst case scenario new holes can be drilled & tapped or a nut welded on in the recaro frame if needed. thats what i did for the procars since their supplied tracks sit up too high i was able to use the original tracks.

no inclination to sell the recaros at this point, ive had quite a few offers but none that enticed me enough to really consider it. would be nice for a future project maybe.

I always thought those were just a version of the Recaro LX, which Recaro now sells under their retro-classics line...think they're very similar to the Specialist, which I purchased for my '70--having them recovered to mimic factory appearance. I agree with you, they are awesome seats.

Like Gator67 said, these seem close if the budget allows it. https://www.recaro-automotive.com/us...aro-classic-lx

I'm seriously considering it. The Lombardi cloth seats in my '77 SE T/A are fine, but they're not nearly as comfortable as my Recaros were. And it would be nice to keep these original seats in pristine condition by taking them out.

Or maybe search for something recycled out of a BMW or whatever. I've been thinking something with seatbelts built in to the seatback would be nice. But that is a ways down the road for my '74 project.

As suggested, third-gen Recaros are an easy swap and they look pretty similar to the '81 Pace car's. Way easier to find and way cheaper, too. But do it quick, third-gens are scooting into the limelight little by little, and that means parts will follow.

I love the old Recaros, too. Especially with the fishnet headrests. I plan on installing a pair in my '79 and custom upholster them with the black hobnail cloth and duplicate the same stitching pattern as the '79 deluxe seats so that they look like they came stock.

Yeah I was hoping to get them upholstered so the sides match the existing black Lombardi cloth and the centers in tan or gold to match the gold SE graphics... I've got an eye on a couple sets on ebay. It's not urgent, though. My Roadmaster wagon is getting all the love right now

That would be a good look. You can source fabrics at SMS auto fabrics, and they're usually concourse quality.

Just make sure to have your upholsterer match the stitching pattern. That means piping outlining the bolsters, and the centers having the horizontal ribbed sections to duplicate the look of the '78-81 deluxe seats. Interior customization is always done best when front and rear seats match in appearance. Even the Daytona Pacecar did it that way.

The optional sport seats used in -3, -5 and -6 series BMWs back in the 1980s were similar to the classic Recaros, although not identical. They are very comfortable, I have them in both my old BMWs. However, they're harder and harder to find (understandably they're in high demand by classic BMW owners), and usually by now will require new upholstery anyway. BMW did use genuine Recaros in the 1980 320iS, but those are rare as hen's teeth today.

1979 pace car Mustangs also had Recaro seats, but good luck finding any of those...

I was beat to the punch on suggesting hte third gen Recaro seats!
Both the third gen Recaros, and the 'Sport Buckets' that the GTA's came standard with both sit very nicely;
I am pretty sure that the only "adapting" needed is to remove the third gen seat tracks, and install appropriate second gen seat tracks.

I mounted a set of GTA bucket in a 73 Formula about 20 years ago....and as I recall....it wasn't as simple as it looked......Plus the air pump for the seat bladders had to be remote mounted...as it wouldn't clear the floor...under the seat.....But they did...look good in the early 2nd gen bird.

Back in the mid-80's, my had put REAL Recaros in his '79 400/4spd. T/A. Even back then, the 2 seats and brackets cost him over 3-grand. The driver seat had SO many different adjustments, way more than the basic versions used in production cars! Amazingly comfortable.

I posted that because I have ran a set of them in my '73 Formula;
I could be wrong, but I do not recall any issues mounting once the seat tracks were swapped.
I didn't worry about connecting power for the electric air pump - but I also did not remove the stuff from my seats.

Oh, I know all about the virtues of Recaros and may have owned and used them longer than probably anyone. Going on 39 years and 100s of thousands of miles.!
Bought me a used pair of the high sided "LS" models used and in good condition for $500 on new years eve 1983. Since then, I have had them in one lemans GT type car ( pro touring today ) and several GTOs. I just LOVE them. They have been reupholstered 3 times since. I even made a 7 week road trip in one of my GTOs totally 10,800 miles from Sept-Nov 2007 in them. I sleep in them just fine and could never go back to stock seats.
Am currently driving my 78 Y88 WS6 TA and the stock seats, while nice to look at, are nothing compared to my Recaros.
So, I can relate to how nice and supportive they area and have gotten my $500 I paid for them in 1983 back many times over and plan to use them for decades to come. The LS model I have have much higher sides, more support than the ones used in the 81 TA but, they are all comfortable. Yup, I love my recaros too.

There’s 3 guys in the D that part cars, tell them to keep an eye out for you. Best way to get them. If you don’t go to the Dayton show, you need to, you meet the real f body people.