Im looking for a family 4 door car and my wife has a list of demands 1 seat belts 2 air conditioning 3 heater 4 4 doors so I know I can put in seat belts but what year were they installed
they were in my 68(Mopar) from the factory, even had shoulder restraints that were folded up against the headliner and rubber cord loop to hold them there when not in use..nothing in my 53
If memory serves me correctly it was about 1964. The '63 Lark I had in college had the mounts for front seat belts from the factory. If the customer so desired the dealer could install seat belts. The brackets were for the front seat only at that time.
You should have negotiated better with your wife so she would let you buy a 2-door! I've heard the story goes that WWII vets coming home after the war learned about the advantages of seat belts, and were putting them in cars (mostly hot rods, I believe) right when they got back.
In Texas they had to be available for purchase as an option in new cars in 1965, required as standard equipment for 1968. In 1965 Ford produced Mustangs that did not have provisions in the floorboards for seatbelt anchors, so even then manufacturers made cars that could not get seatbelts (unless you modified the floors)
the following is an excerpt from this site: The first seat belts were not installed in cars by auto manufacturers. Early automobiles did not go particularly fast, and there were relatively few cars on the road. As the number of motor vehicles increased, so did the amount of danger. In the 1930s, a number of physicians, seeing the results of traffic accidents, lobbied car makers to create some sort of restraining device to keep people from being thrown from a car in an accident. Several doctors actually designed their own lap belts and installed them in their autos. It was not until the 1950s that seat belts began to appear with some regularity. In 1954 the Sports Car Club of America began to require drivers to wear lap belts as they raced. Soon afterward such groups as the National Safety Council (NSC), American College of Surgeons, and International Association of Chiefs of Police issued their own recommendations for the manufacture and installation of seat belts. The Swedish auto manufacturer Volvo began marketing lap belt in 1956; that same year both Ford and Chrysler decided to offer lap belts as well. Seat belts were not required by law, though, in the United States until 1968.
Um, you can bolt belts into about anything. No need to have it a factory requirement for your purchase. Now you can quit looking at 75 LTDs!
Wasn't 1963 the first year for federal madated auto mods? Amber front turn signals and seat belts is what I thought was required by the feds that year. I seem to recall my older bro talking about it when one of his buddies showed up at the house with a new 63 409 chebbie. Not 100% 'cause I was only 9 back then.
Im looking for a family 4 door car and my wife has a list of demands 1 seat belts 2 air conditioning 3 heater 4 4 doors so I know I can put in seat belts but what year were they installed you can add all this stuff to almost any car.. if ya buy a car without lap belts give me a yell,i have about 20 sets out of bluebird school buses,in different colors,,i did that with my 55 just drill some 1/2 holes & used 2' flat washers to sandwich the anchors to the floor--chuck
Ford won the 1956 Motor trend Car of the Year award for seat belts and padded dash, both firsts for the Big Three. 1968 they were mandated by the Feds in the US.
The government mandated them around 1966. However, they were an option before that by the big 3. If you find a ride just install them yourself. The only thing is that the anchor point must be reinforced.
The first with them installed at the factory as standard equipment. They were available as an option or dealer installed option earlier. But I think the Fords were front seat only at the time. And as Damagedduck said, you can easily add all of that to any car of your choice. If I was picking a 4 door cruiser I think it would be a 55 Buick Special or Century 4 door hardtop. I had one just before I got drafted and it is still one of my favorite cars that I have owned. Lots of room and damned comfortable for six people to ride in.
Chrysler Corp. offered seat belts mid year 1955. I have the dated accessory folder offering the new option. Don't give me the old "Ford was first" line !! My father's '56 Ford wagon did not have them standard. My dad's '60 Galaxie didn't have them EITHER. That said, I agree that Tucker had them earlier than Chrysler!
if looking for Family safety should likely look for shoulder type seat belts to install, disc brakes, etc.
bingo..... Also back up lights also became very common that year. Safety (and smog) equipment slowly trickled onto cars during the 60s, some of it was voluntary, most of it was required by the feds, a little by the states. You can build a car however you want. I'd be looking at styling to figure out what kind of car to get, then make it satisfy her as needed.
Buy what you like and put in belts! I don't understand the conversation around the seat belts. That is a very easy to add accessory that anyone with a modicum of intelligence can install. The air conditioner is harder but that can be done as well. I installed both in my car because I want safety and comfort. Look for a car that floats your boat and then make it fit your needs! ~Alden
My '72 Chevy pickup and my brother's 74 Dodge pickup both have threaded holes in the pillars for shoulder belts, even though both were originally equipped with lap belts only. Also, never mount belts to the frame, especially in a truck. In a wreck, body can shift or separate from the frame, doing more damage. Mount securely to a reinforced floor point.
3 point seat belt as standard equipment was Volvo in 1959 Tucker had seatbelts in all his cars in 1948
The 1948 Tucker was supposed to have them, but installation was squashed by their board of directors, and no Tucker left the factory with them. (from their board, via the Club Historian) The 1949 Nash had a front-passenger side only seat belt, but the purpose was to keep the passenger from sliding forward when the passenger's seat was reclined. Very needed, too. I retrofit period type seat belts into everything I drive, even since I nearly drove off a fire road while drifting my '63 Chevy truck... I hit a drain ditch, went airborne, and ended up reclining on the bench. A real white knuckle ride I won't be repeating.
The first U.S. patent for automobile seat beats was issued to Edward J. Claghorn of New York, New York on February 10, 1885. Claghorn was granted United States Patent #312,085 for a Safety-Belt for tourists, described in the patent as "designed to be applied to the person, and provided with hooks and other attachments for securing the person to a fixed object."
That's because they were also an option from Ford originally ... coupled with the padded dash as a 'safety package' ... not particularly popular, either.
For soe reason I think that seat belts became required by federal regulation in '64 or '65. Probably a quick google search would net an answer on that one but it would take all the fun and conjecture out of it. I know that Ford as well as GM had them as optional equipment in the '50s. I had 2 '55 Fords when I was a kid and they both had belts in them when i bought them, the belts was a color match to the interior. I bought them used so it is no indication if you could get them with belts or if someone put them in there.
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