Front bench seats

[LuS1fer]

Zod said:

ZesPak said:

BigS said:

That'll be one of them Matra things

Was quite surprised when I sat in one and it had 3 seats!

The only car named after a Jungle Book character - the Bagheera.

Omitted wink? As I'm sure you know, Bagheera is the latin name for panther from which the Bagheera name was filched for the Jungle Book. A bit like the Lion King names, none of which I can remember.

[ZesPak]

LuS1fer said:

Zod said:

ZesPak said:

BigS said:

That'll be one of them Matra things

Was quite surprised when I sat in one and it had 3 seats!

The only car named after a Jungle Book character - the Bagheera.

Omitted wink? As I'm sure you know, Bagheera is the latin name for panther from which the Bagheera name was filched for the Jungle Book. A bit like the Lion King names, none of which I can remember.

And, like i said, the Ka?

[BigS]

I think America may be the last bastion of the front bench seat, but even then I think it may be just pickups and suvs.
I haven't long come back from a 2 week roadtrip around California and had a Chevy Suburban which had a folding 3rd centre seat which doubled as a storage box, cup holder, arm rest and as pictured here a laptop table when folded.


Back over this side of the pond the only things I can think of are things like Land Rovers (I think 3 front seats was an option up to at least the early Defenders if not still available, although from what I remember of being in a Series 3 with one fitted, they were tiny), the Fiat Multipla, that Matra, the Maclaren F1, which have already been mentioned and vans, although I've got a feeling there may have been another mpv with 3 up front but can't think which one.

[LuS1fer]

ZesPak said:

LuS1fer said:

Zod said:

ZesPak said:

BigS said:

That'll be one of them Matra things

Was quite surprised when I sat in one and it had 3 seats!

The only car named after a Jungle Book character - the Bagheera.

Omitted wink? As I'm sure you know, Bagheera is the latin name for panther from which the Bagheera name was filched for the Jungle Book. A bit like the Lion King names, none of which I can remember.

And, like i said, the Ka?

That was Kaa though....

As close as the Holden Baloo...er, Maloo.

And Charles Linbergh's plane, the Spirit Of King Louis......

And the Jaguar Colonel Hathi-Type....

[ZesPak]

LuS1fer said:

ZesPak said:

...

And, like i said, the Ka?

That was Kaa though....

As close as the Holden Baloo...er, Maloo.

And Charles Linbergh's plane, the Spirit Of King Louis......

And the Jaguar Colonel Hathi-Type....

You're right, apparently it's written Kaa

[DavidHM]

Had a rental Chevy Impala a couple of years back.



Column change, too. In 2008. The car's not even an SUV: it looks like this (basically a bit like an oversized Vectra).



Very good for getting cute American girls to snuggle up... until my short, fat, hairy mate called shotgun.

Edited by DavidHM on Tuesday 22 June 18:14

[entwisi]

1963 Zephyr 4, bench seat, column change, loved that car and as mentioned, extremely cool for taking the young lady you met at the night club home in snuggled up all the way.......

allegedly makes a rather comfy bed for a bit of the old horizontal jogging as well. Vinyl seats clean up quickly too!!!

[300bhp/ton]

Rotary Madness said:

I was just thinking, besides a few pickups, i cant think of any cars, especially in the last 20 odd years, that have had front bench seats. I mean theyre not as supportive in corners i know, but if its not a sporty car, id rather have the option of being able to carry an extra person.
Are their any cars/4x4's etc with front bench seats, or am i stuck in the 50's?

[TheRoadWarrior]

mrmr96 said:

I believe this is quite 'snug' for two people:

Not great for canoodles though.

There are few things you could have posted that would have been further away from 'bench seat' than the Caparo T1

[Morningside]

TheRoadWarrior said:

mrmr96 said:

I believe this is quite 'snug' for two people:

Not great for canoodles though.

There are few things you could have posted that would have been further away from 'bench seat' than the Caparo T1

Bit too close for comfort. Is that Abby and Brittany driving it by any chance?

[jbi]

the ford transit has a front bench seat right?

[Johnny Drama]

The Honda FRV also has seats for 3 up front

[mrmr96]

Morningside said:

TheRoadWarrior said:

mrmr96 said:

I believe this is quite 'snug' for two people:

Not great for canoodles though.

There are few things you could have posted that would have been further away from 'bench seat' than the Caparo T1

Bit too close for comfort. Is that Abby and Brittany driving it by any chance?

@RoadWarrior: I know the first post was about benches, but then the OP went on to say this:

Rotary Madness said:

It was actually less to do with sitting lots of people in the car, and more to do with having the good lady sat next to me on long drives

So I found him a car where his lady can sit very snugly beside him!

[Rotary Madness]

Thanks for all the replys. To answer a few things, she is american, so wont be turned off by their cars Ive got an old mini, however, being 6'5" and it being a big pile of st, thats a no go im affraid.

The matra looks amazing, however, i cant find one for sale, which has me thinking theyre super expensive Same reason for a caparo, cant really afford on

[Zod]

300bhp/ton said:

Rotary Madness said:

I was just thinking, besides a few pickups, i cant think of any cars, especially in the last 20 odd years, that have had front bench seats. I mean theyre not as supportive in corners i know, but if its not a sporty car, id rather have the option of being able to carry an extra person.
Are their any cars/4x4's etc with front bench seats, or am i stuck in the 50's?

Well, that one's clearly stuck in the 80s.

[busta]

Some small vans have them too- citroen berlingo IIRC. Perhaps you could steel the hardware from one of them and fit it into whatever citroen car the van is derived from?

[thunderbelmont]

mrmr96 said:

I believe this is quite 'snug' for two people:

Not great for canoodles though.

Pah! That's a single seater being driven by Zaphod Beeblebrox.

Who said MkIII Cortina with bench seat? Cods! Handbrake is still in the normal position, and the Borg Warner auto has a T-Handle shifter for PND21.

Gotta love those Matra Bagheera's though.

[Ozzie Osmond]

thunderbelmont said:

mrmr96 said:

I believe this is quite 'snug' for two people:

Pah! That's a single seater being driven by Zaphod Beeblebrox.

My thoughts exactly!

[hidetheelephants]

Rotary Madness said:

Thanks for all the replys. To answer a few things, she is american, so wont be turned off by their cars Ive got an old mini, however, being 6'5" and it being a big pile of st, thats a no go im affraid.

The matra looks amazing, however, i cant find one for sale, which has me thinking theyre super expensive Same reason for a caparo, cant really afford on

Not really, if you can find a decent rust-free or restored one, either Matra will be no more than 6K or so.

ETA the owners club would be the place to start.

Edited by hidetheelephants on Wednesday 23 June 03:43

[XJSJohn]

Johnny Drama said:

The Honda FRV also has seats for 3 up front

[url][thumb]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/tdRK0u4a.jpg[/img]|http://thumbsnap.com/tdRK0u4a[/thumb]
[url][thumb]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/mf1fI47s.jpg[/img]|http://thumbsnap.com/mf1fI47s[/thumb]

Called the Honda EDIX out here, it actually works quite well, can get 3 fully grown adults in front and back without any "unwanted contact"

Only problem is with a 1.5l engine and an auto box it is slower than a slow thing going slow.

Stand on the gas and you get a lot of noise and not much else!!!

My mate that had one swaped it for a CRV