IML: Fun With Ether, or, Is That Coconut Oil Or Whale Oil That I Detect?

["Eric" <gearhead@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ah, I remember it as if it weren't 25+ years ago. Once the doors were 
opened, wafts of leather dye ethers tickled the nose from the near perfect 
black leather interior in that car. I think I recall Paul saying the car had 
been immobile for years prior so the release of ethers in the leather dye 
would have saturated the interior, minimizing the drying out of the dye. The 
dye surface was still very supple.

The aromas in older cars are the mix of the components in the car, of 
course. The carpeting material, fiber seat, headliner, and carpet padding, 
the foam in the seats, the vinyls, fiberboards, paints, the mold and mildew 
and formaldehyde. I had two family members that had 1960 Oldsmobiles that 
smelled alike, though being on opposite ends of the model range w/different 
interior materials. To my thinking, the aroma was a product of the basic 
shared components. This was a different aroma than in a leather interior 
car.

I recall a new BMW 840 at the new car show a few years ago. When I first sat 
in the car, I couldn't quite picture where I had just experienced this same 
rich aroma, then I remembered the fine furniture store I had visited very 
recently, full of leather upholstery and highly lacquered furniture. The 
ethers evaporating off the dye in the leather, and the wood veneer lacquers, 
mostly add to this aroma, to my thinking. Being an ether, maybe there is a 
intoxicating quotient to some of our car's interiors?

:-)

Eric
Portland, Oregon
___________________________________________________________________
Each of my Imperials have their own unique smell. Probably mixtures of old
upholstery, tobacco, and whatever scent the longest running owner's 
preferred.
They have each retained their distinctive smells by keeping them in garages.
It  really is interesting how different they all are. Our very own Eric R.
will remember the special smell of my '62 LeBaron, which I bought in 1979. 
It
still has the same smell today and is immediately apparent upon entering the
car. It is mainly the old leather.

Paul W. 



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