Fitting child seat to centre front seat in a Defender (90)?

[Mike_C]

Evening all, I'm wondering if the LR experts that lurk within these walls could confirm something for me, please.

I am looking at a pre-2007 Defender 90 with two front seats and a centre armrest/cubby box. I need to be able to carry my other half and our 2.5 year old son, but don't want seats in the back as need the space back there.

So, couple of questions:

1. Is it easy to retrofit a middle seat in the front row, in lieu of the armrest/cubby box? Are all the mountings there to bolt one in (same mounting as the cubby box perhaps?), or is some drilling/welding required? I am looking at pre-2007 (i.e. pre-Puma) cars which were designed to have a front centre seat option.

2. If 'yes' to the above, can a 3-point seatbelt be fitted to the centre seat? I will need to strap our kids' seat into the centre position (don't really want him near the outside of the vehicle, they don't exactly have much side impact protection should the worse happen!). LR parts says "We recommend either a static lap belt or a 3 point inertia floor mounted belt." which suggests it can be, but I cant find any more info: https://www.lrparts.net/ext325-defender-front-cent...

3. And if 'yes' to 1 and 2, is it still possible for two adults to fit either side and to change gear with a child seat in place? I know they're not exactly capacious inside!

Finally, if anyone has any photos of a child seat fitted in the centre front seat of their Defender then please share!

Thanks in advance.

[Mike_C]

I was afraid that might be the case! In which case would forward facing seats in the back be the solution? Again, not sure a 3-point seat belt can be fitted to a soft top?

[Mike_C]

NotBenny said:

DIY arrangement

Not at all, quite the opposite in fact - where have I suggested a DIY seat arrangement? I've asked for genuine (OEM) options for mounting a child seat in a D90, and raised the options I see as being available. None of which seem to be viable, sadly.