VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 1951 Styleline Deluxe 4dr Interior?

I still have the original front floor mat and the rear carpet in the 51' Styline Deluxe Fodor. BUT, the front mat is getting really brittle each time I roll it back to check brake fluid.

Q1- Was the front rubber mat originally a "grey" or is mine just a faded-out "black"?
Q2- I want to keep the front rubber mat in place , but thought that maybe I could get an "stock looking" aftermarket carpet to cover over original floor mat that matches the original rear carpet color. Who currently sells the closest color match and pattern size to the original carpet color (from back seat area) to use in the front?

{It looks like repro rubber front floor mats are hard to find on this 51'...so a carpet overlay would be OK for me to keep the original 1951 mat underneath)

Thanx in advance!

The original rubber front mat was dark gray. The fake carpet insert was a little lighter.
I woulder if brake fluid would soften the rubber?

The original rubber front floor mat in my 1951 was black. When it got to the point that it was getting brittle back in the early 1960's, I replaced it with a new old stock, in the box, 1951 front floor mat and it too was black.

My dad bought a 1952 Chevrolet brand new and the front floor mat in that car was also black.

Color of Deluxe sedans front rubber floor mat.

1950 engineering says "front compartent floor mats are new in color to harmanize with the gray color theme"...1949 was brown... My very good original 1950 is dark gray.

1951 engineering says "floors coverings are continued with no changes except exceot a slight change modification in the color of the simulated carpet insert in the front floor mat.

1952 (first year with "colored" interiors of gray, green or blue) "the front floor mat is rubber with a new wide rib design and a mottled finish, replacing the ribbed rubber mat haveing simlated carpet inserts. The rear floor covering again is moresque carpet. Both floors mats are tinted gray, green, or blue to match the rest of the interior."

All of the lower priceed Special models had a black floor mat.

That is great information. Since the Engineering Features came out early in the year it is possible that changes were made later in the year which would not be reflected in the earlier Engineering Features. I did have a 1951 Chevrolet parts car that was all original (including all of the rust) and it did have a dark gray front floor mat.

Just checked my parts inventory and I have another 1951 new old stock front floor mat and it is also black. However it could be one of the 1949-52 replacement mats since they were black according to the Chevrolet parts book.

No dealer ever stocked a NOS original floor mat as they were too expensive. The universal mats were always black and cheap.
Look underneath the mat to see what color it is. My mat could be called a faded black.
In the winter of 1950-1951 my job was cleaning up new cars for delivery which included installing the front floor mats. Probably did 200 of them as we sold over 1000 new cars a year.

Both of my new old stock mats are black underneath.

According to the 1951 GM Heritage Information, the 1500 series had a BLACK mat, while the 2100 series, except convert., had a dark grey mat, with carpet type inserts.

https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/do...mation-kits/Chevrolet/1951-Chevrolet.pdf