History Old automobila is cool but safety took a back seat.

When my Dad got drafted in 1969, the army made him install seat belts in his daily driver '40 Mercury in order to drive it on the base. I guess they didn't want him getting hurt in a fender bender before shipping him off to the DMZ?

 

My sister and I used to ride in the back of my dad's old 56' GMC pickup every chance we got....my father had tied a thick hemp rope from one side of the bed to the other, attached behind the fender wells with an eye-hooks....we held onto that 'at speed'....my dad would drive over a bump on our dirt roads, and we'd literally lift off the plywood bed 6'' inches, and grab that rope for dear life....I look back on it now, and of course it's dangerous, but back then, nobody I remember as 'adults' didn't complain, ...because there simply wasn't room in the cab! It just sort of 'worked' out for extra room, and the ''burn thru' your soul'' scowls of my father looking out that back window at any given time, were enough to keep us from hanging over the tailgate. It was just a different time of doing things

 

Covered a lot of miles on package tray in the early 50's. Had 3 sisters who took up a lot of space when we were on one of the long driving trips mom and dad liked to take. Spent nights in the car, no motels ever. When Eisenhower decided to build interstates in1954 we moved all across Ohio in a 33 foot trailer pulled by a new 54 chev 1/2 ton. Made a few trips back to southern Illinois in home made tool box in bed of truck with mom and dad up front and me and sisters in the box with lid propped up a little and looking backwards. Did it once in middle of Midwest winter.

 

I remember riding on the running boards while my dad was driving his roadster. All three of my sisters were in the rumble seat and my cousin was on the other side. That must have been cool for people to see. I'm 35 and never see anything like that now. I just mostly see people sitting in traffic..

 

I remember sitting in one of those although my horn didn't work.

 

One thing to remember is that back then we didn't stick the kids in the back because we didn't have to protect them from the air bags. We also didn't forget that the baby was in the car on a hot day.

When my little one was born the hospital gave us one of those fancy baby carriers. It wouldn't fit on the bench of the '56 Effie, so we tossed it in the bed with the 3 boxes of motor cycle and the missus held the baby on her lap.

Funny we flew to the hospital in a very fast '68 Mustang which I traded for the Effie while the missus was in the hospital. She walked right up to the truck smiled. Then said, "Nice truck Mister, gonna give me a ride?."

Good times, I absolutely wouldn't trade them for anything.

 

I can remember riding with a couple of my cousins in the back seat of my parents '59 Thunderbird. My mom was driving and had to hit the brakes pretty hard. None of us were wearing seat belts and all three of us slid forward and ran into the backs of the front seats pretty hard. My cousin that was sitting in the middle hit the top of the front seat back with his throat and got a good scare.

Back then - in the late '60's seat belts were optional. Nobody even thought about it. It wasn't until the mid-eighties when I was having my own kids that I even thought about car seats and seat belts.

 

Over here the VW bug was very popular, and many a kid a cradle was put behind the rear seat. That was as made for it.

There was even a joke about VW bugs;
Heard at the delivery room,
Young stressed woman asks; how should I be positioned when giving birth?
Nurse reply; as the child was conceived , would be a good easy to delivered it!
and the girl says with red cheeks; hope I don't need to get in to that damn bug again.

 

Most of the time I rode in the "well" of our '65 bug. God, that horse hair was scratchy. But, we did have one of those seats. Here is a Pic of a friend and I riding in similar seats.

Safety is a cage. The "need" for it is a crutch and responsible for not only saving lives but leaving many brain dead who depend on it daily for survival. If it is your time it is your time. Deal with it.

 

i was riding with my grandmother in the front seat of their Buick Riviera one day and she went around a left hand turn and the passenger door flew open and i went sliding across the leather seat and skidded down the road! Obviously i survived but looked funny for a while going to school with road rash all over my face! ah the good ol days!

 

Safety is still an alien concept where I live.......

 

That's fantastic! Aren't there a lot of two stroke bikes still there, (rd350's)?

 

if more safety/"protection" had been used in the back seat early on there would have been fewer little ones needing safety seats

 

I'm glad that I was born in the 50's and got to experience the growing up before the political correctness and "safety" whiners took over. We were even allowed to chew bubble gum and eat hot dogs in the little league dugouts then. Oh, and we didn't worry about getting a participation trophy....

Safety back then was no more than behaving your self in the car. Sitting in the back seat of the station wagon by the gate facing the cars behind you was awesome. Sitting on the rear deck of the car was awesome. Sitting in the middle of your parents in the front seat was awesome. Climbing over the back seat while the car was on the freeway was awesome. Sitting on the floor was awesome. Telling your sibling's that they "better stop touching you or else", was really awesome.

Sent from my SM-G930T using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

That's rich man. ^^^^^

Once I killed a V-Dub Big when I was living in Mexico. Literally killed it, I hit it hard enough to break the crank case. 8 Mexicans crawled out of it, they were packed in there so tight that no one got hurt. The man said, "Señor te presento mi familia, somos the familia sardinas."

 

Not really, mainly small scooters and 150cc four stroke bikes, very few bigger than that. Not sure I've ever seen a RD350 here.

 

And the whole time dad kept saying, "Don't make me stop this car!" HRP

 

I'm not to good with Spanish but I think it refers to a family of sardines? HRP

 

I can remember being amazed at both how lighting quick, and flexible my dad was with his right arm while driving. I can still see him reaching over the back of the front seat of the aforementioned '59 Thunderbird to try and give me a smack after I had "cracked wise" to him. My dad always drove and I always sat behind him in the back seat. My sister sat on the other side of the back seat behind my mom. I don't ever remember my sister getting cuffed while sitting back there...

 

Your sister was smart and kept quiet

 

This song sums up some of the sentiments of this thread nicely.

 

Somethings was better, somethings was not, but the older I get the better I was! Lol

 

Loosely translated "Sir I introduce to my family, we are the sardine family"