1959 Dodge Custom Royal Convertible... who said GM invented swivel buckets in the 70's?

I am not aware anyone has made such a claim- this feature is fairly well known.

Some of the whippersnappers may have needed to see this. Looks pretty cool, imo.

The safety nazis would have a heart attack if the manufacturers used these today.

The safety nazis would have a heart attack if the manufacturers used these today.

Why? I bet they could be made to lock.

Is it just that illustration, or were most car seats that close to the floor in that era?

^ That's the illustration. Commonly, seat tops were about 9-10" off the floor- above it looks like 6-7".

Sure the seats could be made to lock. At issue is, the next year IIRC, they were hooked via cables to the doors, so when you opened the door the seat swiveled 'automatically'. THAT would not go over (sure; just delete that feature).

IMO, the ever-growing tallness of narrow cars today well precludes this as being a benefit- today you open the door and your hip is 3-ft above the road & 6" from the outer door skin - you just tumble out onto the road. Back when cars were 80" wide your hip was 12" from the outer skin & 15" off the road.

I agree with Balthazar, with the craze of CUV's, most people can just slid in and out of their cars and no need for swivel seats.

It just dawned on me that their are many custom companies that take vans and trucks and customize them and add swivel seats. I wonder if this is a loop hole that is over looked by the Nazi csars of the gov to regulate what you can and cannot have in an auto.