The Mother-in-Law Seat!

"Jim Spanfeller" (awesomeaustinv) 04/03/2020 at 19:08 • Filed to: Quirks and Features

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“When you said the car had seating for three, this was not what I had in mind!”

Fun fact: Some old luxury cars could be had with a “Mother-in-Law seat”, which was a seat that slid out of the side of the car so you could take another person (such as your mother-in-law) with you, without them technically being in the car. Despite the obvious brilliance of this idea, some pesky things like safety regulations put a stop to it, which is why we can no longer enjoy the benefits of external seating.

This one could theoretically seat six! It’s practically a minivan roadster!

Think that car has enough people in it?

In add ition to the Mother-in-Law seat, this particular one also has one of the strangest rumble seats I’ve ever seen. Yeah, t hat looks absolutely terrifying.

10/10, would daily the “Yellow Peril”.

Definitely don’t slam on the brakes while Mother-in-Law is riding along...

I gotta say, even though the mother-in-law seat looks terrifying, I love this era of car design. There was just so much wild experimentation and creativity going on :)

ranwhenparked > Jim Spanfeller 04/03/2020 at 19:20

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Part of the rationale was that there was a stigma against 2-seater cars. r espectable people would never be alone with each other unmarried, or, at least, you didn’t want to send the message that you were the sort of person who would do that. Bolting a dealer installed accessory seat to the fender made your car a 3-seater, and therefore totally proper and respectable, even if the seat was rarely or never used in practice. 

Goggles Pizzano > Jim Spanfeller 04/03/2020 at 19:21

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There’ s only one mother-i n- law seat and that’s the front sea t. Thank you very much.

wafflesnfalafel > Jim Spanfeller 04/03/2020 at 19:27

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hey - its the roaring 20's all over , everything old is new again. Five bucks Tesla is working on one.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Jim Spanfeller 04/03/2020 at 19:29

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“mother’s little fluffer...”

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Jim Spanfeller 04/03/2020 at 19:33

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This reminds me that I really want to take an NA Miata and turn the trunk into a rumble seat. Basically instead of opening like normal, it flips backwards and reveals a very tight fit for two people in a very illegal manner.

Jim Spanfeller > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 04/03/2020 at 19:36

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You, sir, are insane. I like you ;)

AestheticsInMotion > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 04/03/2020 at 19:39

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*looks outside at Miata sitting in the rain*

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 04/03/2020 at 19:48

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Who says Mother-In-Laws aren't tough? With that kinda guts, they would have enough respect in my book to get shotgun.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Jim Spanfeller 04/03/2020 at 19:55

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I have a million of these ideas. If I ever win the lottery, I will have the wackiest garage. A few ideas I’ve had in addition to the aforementioned miata

-Mid engined pontiac trans sport minivan w/ the original ZR-1 motor thus making the “Trans Sport Grand Sport”

-Lightweight, 2-seater version of the BMW 7-series w/ the long wheelbase.

-A series of buick regals prepped for LeMons but each one has a different theme that rhymes with “Regal” so you have the Seagull Regal (apinted to look like a seagull and honks a lot), the Legal Regal (it has a tie and a briefcase and the shifter is a gavel), the Regal Regal (it has a grown and a scepter for a shifter), the Beagle Regal (it’s a bit of a dog)

-A rotary engined suzuki cappucino that I will drive while wearing a WWII fighter plane pilot style outfit (and a scarf!)

-A previous-gen chevrolet silverado regular cab long bed with a Corvette C7.R V8 swapped into the middle and the whole truck modified to become something like an LMP car

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > AestheticsInMotion 04/03/2020 at 20:00

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Jim Spanfeller > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 04/03/2020 at 20:15

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That sounds simply delightful. I often fantasize about doing stuff like building a gasser out of a Saab 9-3 using an Evinrude 2-stroke v8 from a racing boat. Or building a tracked Mustang so I can call it the “Mustank”. Or Tesla-swapping a Mustang so I can call it the “Musk-tang”. Really, I’ll do almost anything for the sake of a good pun. Or building a pushmipullyu car, which is a car with two front ends so you can drive it from either end. Or any number of different ideas for cars with two or more engines...

Similarly to you, if I won the lottery, I’d make some weird crap ;)

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Jim Spanfeller 04/03/2020 at 21:24

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Oh the good old days when safety really wasn’t a concern.

Cars were big and slow and safe... enough