If You Had the Power, What Would You Make Automakers Bring Back?

andre1969

@Mr_Shiftright said:
Wasn't the Lincoln Town Car pretty much a bench seat (faux bench seat?)

I think the Town Car is one of those 40/20/40 things, similar to my 2012 Ram. Basically, two bucket seats with a small, stationary piece in the center, with an armrest that can flip up to be a backrest.

Mr_Shiftright

and no console as I recall---at least on some of them. I mean, you might want to have your honey snuggled up next to you, but your father in law?

kyfdx

In the '70s, Lincoln had a 50/50 seat.. they met in the middle, and it wasn't really uncomfortable (by the standards of the day) to sit in the middle. I don't remember the seat being out of line with the steering wheel, either (it's been a long time ago...lol)

andre1969

My grandmother's '85 LeSabre had a 50/50 split, and each side had its own little armrest. The driver/passenger positions were very comfortable, although the passenger side sat kind of low. The center position though, was horrible, mainly because of the contouring. The back seat was pretty bad too in the center spot, because of the way it was contoured.

My '79 New Yorkers have a 60/40 split, with a big armrest on the driver's portion. Its center spot seems more comfortable than that LeSabre was, because of the contouring, but also the driveshaft/transmission hump isn't quite as large. However, I think the outboard driver/passenger positions were more comfy on the LeSabre.

I hate that driving position, where the steering wheel feels out of line with the seat. Two vehicles I remember really noticing that in were the Toyota Tacoma and BMW 6-series, although I'm sure other cars have done it. Now, whenever I've had three people across, I'd have to sit off-center with the steering wheel, in just about any car, but that's a different story.