All three of our children grew up in hot rods, car chairs in the back of our 68 Shelby 500 KR 500, hiding in the back of Corvettes,and to this day, they all love the memories. We now drive our grarndchildren around in a Carerra, and a Corvette amound others. I am looking foward to being able to to take my grand child to thier driving test in a hot rod.
I have driven my 39 Ford pickup every day for 17 years. My kids grew up in it and many other ol cars I have. My newest car is a 1966 so I dont often drive it. Too new to be interesting.
Ryan as you mention or imply probably not as safe as a new car but as others have mentioned, not near as memodable either. I have a 6 year old son and 8 year daughter and if it were up to some they would not be riding quads, roller blading, skate boarding or doing any of the fun things that kids should do. They do wear protective gear, unlike me when I was a kid and find myself requiring it, although I never did. When it comes to memories and old cars, it definitely works. Until sold about a year ago, I would pick them up almost daily in my 53 wagon. To this day they still ask when am I going to get another. Memories, that is what we grow old with. It is a vital part of what makes us who we are. Looking forward to getting them into the Olds again this Spring and helping me on theTBD project in the Fall. Never mind the stares from others. Their kids best memories may be playing video games. DOES NOT EVEN COMPARE.
Did you read the part where I said I was going LESS than 30mph? I'm pretty sure no-one would have been injured no matter what they were driving. While I agree it's called "engineering"....that's about where it ends. If you do some research, you'll find the car companies win both ways - lighter materials are less costly to produce, more written-off vehicles mean more vehicles sold. Do you think they are spending money on ANYTHING and not getting it back? Every penny they put into "engineering" comes back 10-fold. And as far as them doing it to save your ass, tell that to the hundreds of people killed by many new-car deficiencies (remember uncontrolled accelerations?) that are denied until some congressional committee or class-action lawsuit makes them recall them. OMG - have you NEVER noticed that the driver of the semi WALKS AWAY in every incident where the other driver is killed or maimed?! OK.....now you're just laughing in the face of Darwin's theory..... Finally! Something we can agree upon. Cheers!
Well, I brought both of my kids home from the hospital in the Camaro! The obnoxious twin turbo'd Camaro!! Talk about the evil eyes!!! LOL!! With my second kid that is now 3, we had to figure out how to get the carseat in rear facing with the cage!! But I wouldn't have it any other way, I can always say that their fist "drive" was in my first car. Heck, the oldest is now 7 and he was only a week old and we took the Nomad to a cruise in with him and the next weekend we wet to a show in it that was about an hour and a half away! He's been on three Power Tours (two of them "Long Hauls") and the youngest went on most of the Power Tour last year as well! Obviously in the wagon and not the Camaro tho! I think you gotta raise them like "it's going to be", but maybe I'm just a little weird about that stuff.
I put 3 point belts in the rear of my car and lap belts in the front. I installed a bar between the trunk hinges to mount the top anchor for my daugthers car seat. Then I installed a second mount when my second daughter was born and now that the cars nearly done they are both in booster seats and dont need the top anchors. The older one keeps asking me to pick her up at school when I start driving it. I can hardly wait to park it between all the SUV and mini vans.
Its just what we do! I need to get some 4 point belts for the backseat of the Camaro tho, because they NEED to be very secure back there with the bars so they don't bonk their head. Gotta have the matching car seats tho!! Camaro And for the wagon Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
People are always amazed when they see the booster seat with matching matarial as the seats in my car. It`s like I`m the only guy at a car show with kids. My oldest is eleven now and dosen`t use it much anymore, but it`s been there for years and is part of the car now. Although, two years ago I hit a dear and killed it. I stopped to look at the minimal damage. She unbuckled her seatbelt, climbed into the back seat and road home in the booster seat. It's outdated by todays standards but she must still think it`s safe enough for the ride home that night. .
I'm in a similar situation to you Ryan, in regards to the kids. Similar ages, but... BUT... we had TWINS on our third pregnancy, so it's 7yo boy, 5yo girl and 18 month twin girls. I've brought all my kids home in my 'mid-size' American car (1967 Rambler American), but when we found out we were having twins, I had to do some thinking. The number wasn't an issue, bench seats front and back, but the lap belts and tether straps we HAVE to use in Australia (the LATCH or ISOFIX is not legal here... WTF???) Anyway, so I ended up putting three retractable lap-sash across the back and three new laps across the front. The three girls go in the back, and we had to buy the two narrowest baby seats on the market, and my 5yo has her own seat, while the boy rides up front with me or in the middle when we're all in the car. Maybe I should've left it column shift, but I wasn't really planning on having four kids... LOL Anyway, I drive them everywhere in it. School drop offs and pick ups, to the shopping centre, wherever I need to be. My wife has a late-model (Mazda CX-9) but the baby seats are in my car more than hers! The kids love it, the baby's fall asleep in my car way quicker than in the late-model. It could be the rocking of the cammy V8 or the smell of petrol fumes, I'm not sure on that one yet. PRIMO PARKING SPOTS FOR THE TAKING!
I made a similar decision about my kids and the booster seats in my DD Jeep Cherokee a few years ago. The laws didn't work for our situation!
The bad thing is, you and your kids are never truly completely safe in anything. My son was only a few weeks old in 1996, when we drove by a tragic accident scene. The memory and feelings have stayed with me ever since. There was an idiot in a little Chrysler K car being pursued by the Police. He ran a red light at a very high rate of speed and T Boned a big (73 to 77 style) Monte Carlo. The impact killed the couple in the car. It was only after the scene was being cleaned up that the Emergency workers found the baby car seat in the ditch with the dead child that had been ejected from the Monte Carlo! HE was just about the same age as my child! You never know, when your time can be up. And if I recall correctly, the idiot survived the crash....
Well, I'll never forget my little girl riding in my 64 chevy pick up. While driving through town, a classmate of hers, yelled from the sidewalk, "Hey! how come you get to sit in the front seat?" Without missing a beat, my little girl leaned out and said, "Because the'res no back seat!" I was so proud. Just a lap belt, and a metal dash. My dads 61 had no seat belts at all, but we rode in the back every chance we could. Perspective.
It's Funny, when I was a kid I rode in a 32 ford hot rod pickup with my dad, I would stand in the seat yelling go faster, I did not even Know what A seat belt was...LOL, And I pretty much grew up doing the same shit, Riding in the back of pickups sitting up on the rail, Never even knew you could get hurt, As it just did not happen, But Since now days the only thing that is TV news worthy is reporting How many kids, got killed and raped today, Everyone (including Myself) Is scared to death that something bad is going to happen to us. So being a father of 4 little kids (and one on the way) I spend 30 mins a day straping my kids into 5 point NHRA approved seat belts Before we can even leave the house.....LOL. I learned my lesson when My oldest son was 5, He wanted to ride in my 57 chevy hardtop. I dumped the clutch and he busted his mouth on the dash, (wife made me sleep on the couch for a week)...LOL....But seriously It is programed in our minds to child proof our houses these days, And strap our kids down as if they were getting ready to make a 4 second pass at the dragstrip. Hell I have even thought about putting a cage in my wife's expedition to make the trip back and forth to the school....LOL
I love it when people see the car seats in the back of my avatar. It generally trips them out. gotta start them early, though.
I got my '51 Merc. four door to haul the kids. I put in seatbelts and my wife is a certified car seat installer. I don't worry, but my wife does a little. It's worth it though....the kids love it.
<------- why else do you think i got a wagon. strollers diaper bags, you name it plus three girls. so it was either the wagon or the mustang. mustang was soon replaced by an expedition .the expedition is gone ,oldest daughter is out on her own , and the youngest thinks the wagon is the coolest car at her school now.we have taken the wagon from key west up to chattanooga tenn for family vacation. funny thing is on the '11 hrpt i took one of my freinds that i grew up with. as were cruisin in the wagon i said " REMEMBER WHEN MY DAD told me to get rid of the hot rods and he would give me a wagon and i said dad a wagon just ain't kool . guess he had the last laugh on me"
I remember at about age 4 riding in the front seat of my Dad's Chevy pickup standing up, leaning back against the seat back. I remember this because of a very vivid memory of ending up in a pile on the floor under the dash after a panic stop. After that the view stunk because I never rode standing again .
Thanks everyone for the very interesting stories and info. We're too old to have to worry about this now. Our first kids rode in everything from our Model A to a 57 Chevy without seat belts. We lived in small town central Illinois where most people drove like they should. Then when belts became popular we did have seat belts in our 39 Ford, two 55 Chevys, and the 57 Chevy. Still had none in the 33 Chevy or Model T. When front seat belts became mandatory we all used them in the remaining old cars. We later adopted our first grandchild. Only timer we got in trouble was when the adopted son was around two and we let him ride up front in our 1957 VW beetle to look at Christmas decorations. We'd forgotten to put him in back when we got back to our town. Got only a warning. A few years later I bought a 1977 Vette---Shush. don't tell! I even used a child's plastic lawn chair minus rear legs between and to the rear of the seats, attached it with webbing where the T-tops hooked in the rear area, added a seat belt and got an official "unofficial" okay from a few State Police. But once we started using seat belts we never stopped. Even when they were not required yet. I feel they do help. We are just glad we lived in another lifetime and never had problems. Now the youngest is 23 and it scares the hell out of us any time we drive, whether he's with us or not. The people we meet on the roads are not drivers anymore! The boy still says new cars and larger pickups are safe. Last week we saw a late model Dodge pickup like mine wrecked with the front bumper nearly to the windshield. This was in town! Just be careful whatever you drive.
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