My old truck had bench seats, which allowed three people to sit up front – and two people to sit close, which can be nice. My current truck has bucket seats and so only two people can sit up front and not close together.
Interestingly, both are the same trucks – Nissan Frontiers – with the major difference being my old truck was a 1998 model and my current one is a 2002 model. A lot had changed in between ’98 and ’02, even though the two trucks were still largely the same.
Well, one thing had changed.
By 2002, bucket seats had become standard in my Frontier and they are now standard in pretty much everything. Why? Bench seats are much more functional as well as more comfortable. They not only allow a given people to transport more people, they allow people to stretch out. You can sleep on a bench seat just the same as you can on a couch. That is to say, not sitting up. Bench seats are nice to have for reasons like that. And most trucks used to come standard with them. So did most luxury cars. Because luxury cars did not used to pretend to be “sporty.” That being at odds with luxuriousness, which once-upon-a-time meant soft and plush.
So, what happened? Besides the bizarre-when-you-think-about-it transitioning of luxury into sportiness?
Well, the government happened. Again.
Bench seats, you see, are . . . “unsafe.” More finely, they make it harder for car companies to comply with “safety” regs. In order for airbags to work ideally, the person sitting in front of one must be sitting tightly. Bench seats allow for too much movement – and positioning. Especially as regards the occupant in between the driver and passenger, who is not positioned directly facing one of those built-into-the-dasboard Claymore mines that are blandly styled “air bags.” As if they were pillows – and that styling is deliberate, to soft-peddle the truth about the violence of air bags, which can and have killed as well injured thousands.
But they save lives! Well, that’s fine – unless of course your life is one of the ones snuffed by an “air bag.” We’re not allowed to decide for ourselves whether the risk outweighs the reward (or the reverse). It is decided for us – and imposed on us – by the government. This entity that was once regarded by most people as a perhaps necessary evil that kept people from harming one another that has assumed the parental prerogative of keeping us from harming ourselves.
Even if we’re harmed as a result of such safe-keeping.
So, no more bench seats – which has also harmed us in that our vehicles are less useful and less comfortable. I would need to buy (or rent or borrow) another vehicle to pick up two people because my ’02 Frontier can only realistically carry two people, me and one passenger. My ’02 extended cab truck does have a pair of vestigial, child-sized sideways-mounted rear jumpseats, but these are not realistically usable by adults. My ’98 regular cab did not have the jump seats but did have the bench seat, so I could transport two people in addition to myself.
By 2002, the Frontier was no longer available with a regular cab – or a bench seat. If you wanted to be able to realistically carry more than just one adult passenger, you had to buy the more expensive four-door version with a pair of forward-facing rear seats. It was an upsell, in other words.
The practical truck now cost more rather than less.
Just as it is now necessary to buy a larger car – or crossover, given that there are very few cars left on the market – if you have a family of more than four. In the past, five or even six people could fit in a small car with a bench up front and in the rear. Now you need to buy a three-row crossover to get the same seating capacity as you used to have in most compact-sized four-door sedans.
The subtler harm done, though, is the elimination of alternatives and so the diminishing of choice. And this goes much deeper than just bench seats, which haven’t been formally outlawed but effectively out-regulated.
See that bit about compliance.
Which is also why you’re denied the opportunity to buy a new truck that cost about $13,000 – like the just-launched 2024 Toyota HiLux Champ the government doesn’t allow Toyota to sell here. Not because it isn’t “safe” but because it is not compliant with the latest “safety” regs, a distinction that’s important to make because it reveals the underlying lie regarding the government’s claims about “safety.”
It is also why you’re denied the opportunity to buy a sub-$10k electric vehicle, which could dramatically reduce the costs of vehicle ownership, especially for young people looking to get their first new vehicle – as well as (if you accept the truth of the argument) “save the planet,” since more people could afford one of these as opposed to the $40,000 EVs they’re told are the only alternative.
Would bench seats make a comeback if vehicle manufacturers were not forced to make compliant vehicles?
Wouldn’t it be nice to find out?
. . .
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Meatloaf could not have belted out “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights” with any confidence had only bucket seats been available in 1977.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C11MzbEcHlw
I have a problem with both.
In a pickup, bucket seats usually mean an extended cab, which means a shorter bed.
I have a bad back syndrome, and for many years was in constant pain, until I bought a car with bucket seats, and the pain went away. I needed the bolster support that they offer.
I do NOT need the nanny state telling me what I need.
Zerohedge has a article about a heroic woman helping an AGW. The AGW was cleared of any wrong doing,,, of course and the stupid woman that retrieved the taser is now a hero.
One can see the cop walked up to the car,,, immediately opened the door and started trying to drag the driver out. The driver which could have been any of us happened to be a illegal. The cop started using the taser right away. Must have taserd him 10 times in the car. Guess he got tired of it and fought back finally managing to get the taser throwing it in the road. Some other stupid woman (the hero) stopped retrieved the taser and gave it back to the cop. and ZH is claiming he kicked the cop in the head several times but the video doesn’t back that up.
Again,,, this could have been any of us. They said he was doing 114 but I don’t think his car could go that fast. Here is a good video of it.
IMO the cop should have asked the person out of the car. If he refused or there was a language problem the cop should have called for backup.
https://www.officer.com/vehicles-fleet/vehicles-equipment/in-car-video/video/55141051/video-accused-drunk-driver-throws-ark-troopers-taser-into-traffic-during-stop
ZH Article
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/i-thank-god-heroic-woman-saves-arkansas-trooper-attack-drunk-illegal-alien
I’m definitely no fan of AGW’s, but maybe if enough of them have such encounters with the invading third worlders it might pressure corpgov to slow down the invasion.
Nah, not a chance. As the ZH article continues the AGW’s in San Diego were told to ignore Special Interest Aliens, i.e. terrorists, coming across the border. We are well and truly screwed.
Hmmmm, ya know, trucks have these things called “beds” in the back.
I’ll be the contrarian: I don’t miss bench seats. As a child I remember our 1970 Chevrolet Impala coupe and later our 1978 Buick Le Sabre had manually adjusted bench seats. As I recall we had to brace our feet against the floorboards and use our hips and butts to shift the entire seat forward or backwards.
But there’s also a practical reason: People come in different shapes and sizes. I have most of my height in my legs. Every car or truck that I drive, the first thing I do upon sitting in the driver’s or passenger’s seat is move the seat ALL the way back. Otherwise my legs start to cramp up, especially around the knees. Conversely my wife has short legs and needs to move the seat much further forward to drive (and prefers to sit further forward in the passenger’s seat than I do). Having separate seats makes for a more comfortable ride for each of us.
Perhaps the best compromise is like my first Cadillac: A 40/60 or 1/3rd – 2/3rds split bench seat that allows the driver to adjust their seat separate of the passengers.
One other thing I thought of: I find the bucket seats on modern cars are much more comfortable and give better butt and back support than old bench seats. It’s much more fun to drive long distances.
Sorry Eric, not shedding a tear for bench seats going the way of tail fins. Now losing tail fins, that I may agree was a loss. 😉
I don’t think the issue is going with bench seats or bucket seats but rather having the choice to do so.
Hi Mack,
My intention was mainly to highlight the choice that’s been taken away – and not only as regards bench seats.
Here in Texas, the trucks are driven like sports cars so I doubt bench seats would be popular.
Since the V8s were effectively regulated off the roads, even in the “secretary” Mustang, the White Truck has replaced the BMW as the vehicle to give a wide berth if you see one coming on the freeway.
It’s not just the buckets but also the massive intruding center console in the footwell and knee area.
Thankfully I have both the column shifter and the 40/20/40 bench in my ’01 Silverado.
I used to go with my friends to antique car shows. There were many around, and some really interesting ones too thanks to Bethlehem Steel. The old guys kept their 60s era vehicles in the garage after ’73 and the first “peak oil” scare. By the 1980s they all had antique plates and only came out for sunny days.
Anyway, I remember someone had a 67-70 Pontiac Bonneville convertible. This was during the “wide track” design days and it certainly lived up to the description. There were 4 sets of seatbelts across the front and rear bench seats. Probably marketing hype, but still if it didn’t have power windows there’s no reaching over to roll down the passenger side on a hot afternoon!
Wide, low and long. How did we ever come to the tall and narrow SUV? Especially in the post-HFCS body time.
Do you know how many babies were made on a bench seat? This is just another Dystopian plan to keep people from having sex, making babies, and populating the world. Maybe if bench seats were reintroduced American birth rates would not be decreasing and young adults would leave their gaming chairs to actually drive somewhere.
evil bastards ruin everything…..
LOL, so true, Nasir. So true.
Good to see you posting. Hope you are doing well. 😊
Hi RG, Yes all good here thanks, hope life is also treating you well. Was quite busy with work for quite some time, now no longer working so after a bit of travel, taking it easy trying to figure out what to do next with life. Always good to come here, read Erics articles and the comments to remind myself there are sane and sensible people in the world, and there just might be hope !
Has any one else noticed that those bucket seats are a lot more confining than the bucket seats of decades ago? Also that the new buckets seats are a lot taller than they were in the past?
On an off topic note; did anyone notice that Elon Musk allegedly and remotely shut down at least one of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov Cybertrucks? I guess heavy machine guns are not an approved upgrade, bastard’s won’t let you enjoy what you pay for. Were next.
I love my 1958 Dodge D100 with it’s 318
Interestingly in the UK the new defender is offered with a front bench seat…. though its not exactly a cheap and cheerful car everyone can afford anymore !!
In 1969 a buyer, with some vehicles, had a choice – that somewhat
strange word today – of bucket or bench seat.
I ordered a 1969 SS396 Chevelle with a bench seat.
It was most useful for my carpool and for dates.
Early GTOs could also be ordered with a bench.