Classics.
Photography by Tim Suddard
Cocomats have defined the classic sports car scene for decades. We find them to be a stylish, comfortable addition to any car. They also tend to knock down heat and sound a bit from the floor and engine compartment.
CocoMats.com has become the go-to supplier for these mats, all due to a chance encounter. A package that should have contained a sample shirt instead contained a sample of woven coconut fibers.
[Cocomats: An Enduring Motoring Accessory Revived Thanks to a Chance Encounter]
The CocoMats.com company has since expanded its options, from traditional offerings so prevalent in the ’60s to more modern materials like sisal.
To better demonstrate the alternatives, we ordered both the classic mats in black and red as well as the sisal mats in all black. The sisal mats were delivered with red stitching that matched our console and red door jambs quite nicely.
[Project BMW M3: Sisal Floor Mats Capture a Retro Cool and, Yes, Talking About Floor Mats Again]
A set of either option sells for $199.95 per pair–we figured that we didn’t need rear mats for our 997–and the company can make mats for any car out there. Custom patterns can also be handled.
So, which option do you prefer?
Classics.
In the early '80s, my wife had a 1982 Mazda GLC Sport (revised suspension, alloys, steering wheel out of the RX7), and I had an '83 VW GTI. She got the classic Coco Mats (your top picture), in black and silver to go with her car's interior. I got blue sisal to go with the GTI.
The sisal wore a lot better over the next few years. The Coco Mats fibers started breaking down, leaving little bits on the floor and going flatter. HOWEVER... she was always much harder on cars than I was.
So in 2007, when I got an NA Miata in Brilliant Black, I went with the classic Coco Mat look, in black with a gold/tan accent dot. (A previous owner had put a tan top on my car; I went with gold Kosei rims and a thick-and-thin pin stripe just below the fender line, à la John Player Special, because of course I did. I never got to the point of painting the hardtop metallic gold like the JPS +2S. Regrets...)
Those mats lasted nearly seven years in almost as-original shape, which is when I sold that Miata because I'd bought a '96 M Edition. That one had the factory mats in good shape, including the blue M script.
I'm assuming that the modern Coco Mats are built to a better standard than those in the early 1980s.
I'm currently toying with the exact mats you've got in the upper photo (classic Coco Mats, black with red accent) to go in my Real Red 2006 MX-5. I admit to having lust in my heart for the diamond-quilted floor mats from Carbon Miata, with red stitching, but they've been on backorder since forever and have to ship from the other side of the Pacific.
Sounds like I've just talked myself into a set of Coco Mats. If I order right away, I should get them before the drive to Monterey.
Classics. I've been eyeing these for my ND and this visual was very helpful for me too.
Weathertech, the best mats. Oh you wanted to look cool, classic coco then.
I had sisals in my SE-R and really dug them. I have cocos in the 911 and love them the same. (Ignore the fact I need to shake them out.)
Oh wow, I haven't seen these in ages. I was just eyeballing the worn out carpet on my NB Miata yesterday. Might be about time for a set of these mats...
In reply to therieldeal :
I'm a big fan of putting quality on the things that you touch when driving the car. For the Miata, it's a Momo wheel, Miata Club of America shift knob and the checkered mats from Cocomats. I also recently installed some vintage Razo pedal covers from my old SE-R.
In reply to sfisher71 :
I sold cocomats a million years ago, and black with red was rather popular.
Found an old ad while looking for something else.
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