Looks like this J was a victim of the same thing many others were - it's had the upholstery replaced from another year/model. The panel shown is from a 1952 Henry J, with '53 Henry J handle eschucions (rubber, the '51/'52s were plastic) I don't recall the trim code but that pattern is shown in one of the '52 HJ brochures. The '51 Js always had all-alligator/vinyl panels, some pleated, some had chrome strips but the ones that were combination such as this, were not used until the 1952 Corsairs were introduced. The '52 door panels had the vinyl on top, sloping down toward the front as shown, and the '53s had the vinyl on the bottom sloping up at the rear as in this photo -
Because the Henry J was so sparsely optioned, and used the same body / panels all years, you often find them restored/rebuilt using a mix-match of parts from other models. The fact that many are made into hotrods also makes lots of options/parts available to restorers and they add things the car didn't originally have.
I currently have a '52 Henry J Vagabond that was originally a four cylinder model. The fellow who restored it before I got it added the all vinyl door panels and rear seat side panels from a deluxe. I left them on it as they look much better and do look correct but they don't match the trim code. These things don't make them bad cars but I do not like to mis-represent them either.
