End of the Bench Seat

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Robj

Robj

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Read this in the news today. Funny you have to pay extra as an option these days.

When the 2013 Chevrolet Impala makes room for its all-new replacement next year, it will mark the end of the front bench seat in passenger cars -- they'll still be available in some pickups and SUVs. According to Chevy, less than 1 in 10 buyers shelled out for the $195 option last year, and the Impala is the last car to offer it.
 
I don't know why, I feel trap with the shifter right next to me. I love bench seats, so roomy and you can sit right next to the driver - like if your GF is driving your car and you can enter and exit the car from either door but no more, how sad
 
^ in all the years ('back in the day') that I would see guys driving their vehicles with their girl sitting right beside them, I don't think I have ever seen a girl driving with a guy sitting right in the middle- he'd be sitting next to the pass. side window like any true guy would.
You know, so we could stick our head out the window whenever we wanted:D
 
I got a manual auto, so I shift at 6,300 while she has both hands on the wheel plus I can take the wheel if needed.

I don't think I could sit on the passenger side anymore. I used to - until this one chick did 115 right through downtown Lansing on I-96 back in the 80's, I couldn't believe no cops were around. I told her to slow down but then she started talking like me....well if you do 80, they still come after you, so you might as well go all out and the less time on the road, the less chance they have to catch you...yeah gee but not all the way through the city of Lansing, lol

The days before cell phones were so great, sure we had 55 mph limits but in some way it was better back then
 
This made me remember a song by the band Cake, gotta listen to it, fits this thread perfect!! Also reminds me of a girl I used to date, my 74 Satellite had a bench seat, then I yanked it and put buckets in, she said that it must have been because I didn't want her right next to me LOL

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3i7EFYk-_c"]Stickshifts and Safetybelts - YouTube[/ame]
 
When I was going away to school in '81, I sold my '72 Plymouth and bought a '79 Toyota for gas savings (Please don't judge me today for my youthful mistake). My GF at the time was PISSED because it had bucket seats and she couldn't sit in the middle next to me. I remember it really blindsided me. Had no idea it was so important to her.

Oh well, it didn't last after that and then I met the girl of my dreams. Funny how it comes around though- The new girl I met in school has been my wife since '84 and this morning she popped open the garage so I'd take the Swinger and she sat in the middle beside me. I guess chicks just dig bench seats!
 
That song is great! I need to put that on my ipod now. Funny I was writing my post while you were posting that song and didn't see it until after I posted. That's fantastic!
 
As a mailman I have to wonder what I am going to use for work when the last of the Bench seat impalas are rusted and headed for the bone yard, I sit on the passenger side of the car and stretch my leg across, a shifter in the middle doesn't allow for that. Currently I have 2 Ford Tauruses one has 189,000 miles on it and I hope it last me another year, the other has 100,000 miles and is just a back up to the other one till it dies. With any luck these two will last me 4 more years, then what? Right hand drive? That's a lit to spend for a car that will only last 3 or 4 years on the job
 
I hate the narrow butted buckets and knee knockin' consoles in new cars. I like to sprawl out and relax when I drive. Miss my '74 Newport sometimes. That was a comfy road car, but my '97 LHS ain't bad.
 
redlined said:
I hate the narrow butted buckets and knee knockin' consoles in new cars. I like to sprawl out and relax when I drive. Miss my '74 Newport sometimes. That was a comfy road car, but my '97 LHS ain't bad.
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I used to do 3 hour drives with them couple times a month, it was more relaxing, after you got there you seem less tried ? Mine was a 77 Gran Fury, with you and a passenger was like sitting on the couch watch TV. The extra space on your left, allowed you more freedom to stretch and move around - change positions

My little Saturn keeps me stiff and straight and cramp. It feels fine at first but then the longer you are driving, the more ridged you feel after you get out

My body is older but the roomy 78 Magnum feels more like my old Fury expect I only drive it for under an hour cause it gets half the 24 miles the other smaller car gets

I don't feel comfortable letting people drive my old Dodge, I let my old trans guy, he was cool and knew how to drive, lol but hes not around anymore. I just stay at the shop from now on.

Riding easy around town no sweet or in a newer car..I'm talking flat out in a hot rod is were I trust nobody 100%, too many people get caught up and don't know when to back off, its always better to be too safe and let up too early
 
Heard this on the radio this morning. Brings back memories of shifting with your date in the middle.

Grant
 
Bench seats suck. Driving for me has never been the same since the autobahn. The drivers seat is like a fighter jets **** pit, all business :twisted: It's also a lot like way Germans have a hard time understanding the cup holder, your there to drive not down a drink.
 
If I'm driving I actually prefer bench seats. If someone else is driving I prefer buckets or a splint bench. I'm a little taller than most folks so I usually sit a little further from the wheel than most people.

I also like the room to move that a bench seat offers on long trips.
 
mailman2004 said:
As a mailman I have to wonder what I am going to use for work when the last of the Bench seat impalas are rusted and headed for the bone yard, I sit on the passenger side of the car and stretch my leg across, a shifter in the middle doesn't allow for that. Currently I have 2 Ford Tauruses one has 189,000 miles on it and I hope it last me another year, the other has 100,000 miles and is just a back up to the other one till it dies. With any luck these two will last me 4 more years, then what? Right hand drive? That's a lit to spend for a car that will only last 3 or 4 years on the job
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thats what I was wondering when I was reading this; our mail lady still drives here old dodge sprit she has had it for nearly 10 years and probably has a million KM's on it but she is always on the passengers side driving the car
 
1970Duster said:
Bench seats suck. .
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Yeah for aggressive driving it can but then all the bench seat needs is a racing style sea tbeat that straps you in better. Seat belts from the factory are one thing that l could be much improve on - least have an option upgrade for the car. Seat belts that go over both shoulders protect the body better and your less likely to break your collar bone in a crash since the force is spread out on both shoulders and your hip bone is also hold down better.

But since most people never crash and nobody ever thinks they might crash someday, lol. Most of us are happy to use the 1980 style seat belts
 
Another reason we got "left" and "right" seat belts is it leaves marks on the body in a crash and the police can positively identify who was sitting in the drivers seat and who wasn't.

Bench seats made it easier to switch drivers while moving....the bf who is drunk and suspended from driving could be going 95 in a 70 zone at 3 am with his sober 20 year old gf right next to him. When they noticed the police way back there coming after them, its switch time at 80 mph, lol

Bet that happen more then once in a while back in the 70's when most cars had bench seats. Today its almost impossible to quickly and smoothly switch..you likely crash the car trying to.

Maybe thats why the bench seat is no more.
 
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