For the seats for my wagon been dithering for a looong time and considering all things (studying CL ebay deals on a wide range of vehicles) recovered to period bench/bench bucket back yada yada yada.
After weighing all the pros/cons for me it comes down to this
1. Safety (Read NHTSA article below). For classic cars the consensus would say "helmet/seat beat laws suck" and should be up to the owner.
2. Driving style, distance driving and most of all comfort
3. Appearance/period correct
So I narrowed my choices to a front bucket or bench seat (one that has gone though a crash test ideally) with a center console/arm rest jump seat. My short list is e30, flo fit 80's mustang ranger seats something with a the head least in the ball park of the factory bench so rear passengers line of sight isn't too obstructed.
FYI: Third Row seat...this will cause some squirming
USA Today – Third Row Car Seats May Kill Your Kids
Picture a hefty friend at the fast-food drive-through window‚ feet shoving hard on the floor of the car to stabilize himself as he squirms in the driver’s seat to reach the wallet in his pocket. Bang. The driver’s seat collapses backward. That’s what would happen if the seat were built to the federal government’s minimum standards. Now imagine a seat that flimsy in the third row‚ inches from the rear glass‚ as in today’s sport-utility vehicles and car-SUV crossover models. The kids are buckled up back there‚ you’re stopped at a light—and a drunk doesn’t notice and rear-ends you at 30 or 40 or 50 miles an hour.
Distance isn’t the only criterion for judging the safety of third seats; seat strength and design are key. But every one of those seats is governed by a 32-year-old federal strength and safety standard that won’t be changed for at least a year.
"The third row is pretty vulnerable to rear-enders—like about twice as dangerous" as other rows‚ says safety consultant Mike Brownlee‚ formerly in charge of defect investigations and rules compliance for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (
NHTSA). As more third-row seats hit the market‚ injuries and deaths will increase‚ he predicts. Seat safety has been under fire for more than a decade. The proliferation of third-row seats‚ mainly meant for kids‚ gives the complaints new vigor. "A lawn chair could pass" the NHTSA minimums‚ says
Kevin Calcagnie‚ a Newport Beach‚ Calif.‚ lawyer who has sued car companies over seat-related injuries.
There were 2.3 million rear collisions in 2000‚ according to the latest-available federal statistics. That was 21.7% of all crashes. There were 2‚980 fatal rear-end wrecks in 2000‚ 6.2% of all fatal collisions.
When a minivan with a third-row occupant is hit from behind‚ the occupant is killed half the time‚ according to a Ford Motor analysis. It’s lucky‚ then‚ that third rows are infrequently occupied—just 1% to 2% of the time‚ according to accident statistics.
Ford’s Prasad says most models in the U.S. market have settled on about triple the NHTSA standard. NHTSA requires a seat back to withstand 3‚300 inch-pounds of force‚ a measure of pressure equivalent to what 3‚300 pounds could exert at the end of a one-inch lever‚ or 1 pound could exert at the end a 3‚300-inch lever‚ or any combination of those that multiplies to 3‚300.
In Prasad’s earlier example‚ a hefty driver pushing backward exerts more force than that. A safety consultant’s proposal to NHTSA 13 years ago suggested 56‚000 inch-pounds.
"Everybody has migrated to about 10‚000 inch-pounds. The seat should not break if you are leaning against it entering the car‚ or if you go into your hip pocket for your wallet‚" Prasad says.
http://robinsonfirm.com/news/third-row-car-seats/
