Incredible luxury in an Oldsmobile in 1965. Even an illuminated vanity mirror in the back seat! The Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight.

Thing that sucks is that specific configuration is only possible with an unsplit front bench seat.

In those days, "Ninety Eight" could have easily been the trunk capacity. Sweet!

It would be an interesting twist to put a front bench in a modern luxury car for the express purpose of equipping the rear seat with a host of amenities (such as above, and much more) and marketing it as such. How about a sizable flat-screen TV?

As opposed to have nothing on the bench seat back and having the whiners complain openly of an 'old man's car' just cause it has a bench.

Frankly, I am growing weary of the intrusive, space-robbing center console in every car sold today...

Balthazar, I so agree with you regarding the centre console.....I can't wait for it to go away. It's so predictable. I love linear, horizontal dashes and bench seats....gives such a feeling of spaciousness...

Agreed balthy..

I once lusted after a olive green 1968 Firebird Ragtop with a 400, white interior and 3-on the tree... the best part? BENCH SEAT! What a weird custom job and yet somehow it worked for me. The car was for sale in Shewsbirry Mass. Some old Hermit was dying at a ripe old age and decided to sell off his collection of 50s and 60s cars. Among them were several forgetable Jaguars (no E-types) a 1963 Split Window in gold, 1964? Avanti, (the REAL Studebaker not the subsequent re-releases) and a couple late 50s. ThunderTurds.

BTW: nice post Harley, as usual. B)

Edited January 23, 200620 yr by Sixty8panther

Balthazar, I so agree with you regarding the centre console.....I can't wait for it to go away.  It's so predictable.  I love linear, horizontal dashes and bench seats....gives such a feeling of spaciousness...

Plus at the local drive-in Theatre it was easier to cop-a-feel from the poodle wearing girl sitting next to you. I'm too young to know this from experience but I can only imagine.

Ew Sixty, are you saying you dated a small, French, curly haired dog in a human suit?

I drove the car in your current sig last summer. The room was so refreshing and relaxing.

I've been in modern cars far too long now!

Good lord, look at the size of that glovebox!

Plus at the local drive-in Theatre it was easier to cop-a-feel from the poodle wearing girl sitting next to you. I'm too young to know this from experience but I can only imagine.

That's the other thing, there is so much more room for sexual stuff in console-free cars....

Its not the bench, IMO, its the fact that these old benches aren't split. That would be a pain in the ass nowadays.

Yeah, my father's girlfriend's '73 Pontiac Parisienne had the solid bench - she is 5'2" and I am 6'2" - not fun when riding with her in the front! I preferred her '71 Duster before that: white, full vinyl bucket seats. No console, though. My father's '69 Chrysler 300 had really cool vinyl bucket seats of the (then) new thin-style buckets. It had a wide, low brushed aluminum and chrome locking console, with couresy lights along the floor. Too low to act as an arm rest, though.

Nostalgia is great, but in the pre-cupholder days and in the days when the cars were damned near 6 feet wide inside, it made sense to have bench seats. Nowadays, even trying to squeeze 3 adults into the front of a new Impala isn't fun because they aren't wide enough (and the center seat belt clips are stuffed up your arse, too!)

"Progress" isn't always good.

Oh, just try telling that to the masses!

Earlier cars may not have had cupholders (although there were aftermarket gadgets) but they often had little round indentations in the glove box lid, when opened, to set your drink on. The cups did not stay upright in the corners though.

Neither did the cars. But hey, those old boats are splendid highway travelers. Perfect for our big country.

Of course; the glove box indentations were only for when parked.

And I must say- I've driven full-size (no: real full-size cars (stock) at white-knuckled speeds thru all sort of terrain. If you have experience with big RWD cars they handle quite well. Differently but quite well. Power oversteer helps in many corners. '60s cars are notably better than '70s & '50s cars.

I've been in much worse handling, smaller, '80s and '90s cars.

If you can combine the safety, fuel economy, and convenience of today's cars with the design intricacies, attention to detail, and innovations of classics like this, you'd have a real winner and something no foreign manufacturer can counter.

How the hell did i manage to leave off the "skirt" in "Poodle Skirt"? It's not pavilonean I sear... I mean freudian.