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Automotive News & Views Memories Of The Old GM And Its Cars
386 messages, Last post on Dec 04, 2009 at 9:01 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: toomanyfumes (Jun 30, 2009 8:12 am) 4 kids in the back, one in the front with mom and dad. My grandparents had a '72 Impala 4-door hardtop. I remember as a kid, going on trips with them, actually climbing over the seat! If I got bored in the back I'd climb up front to sit in between Grandmom and Granddad, and then climb back over when I got bored up front. Sometimes I wonder how we survived our childhood, growing up in those carefree days! Back in college, I used to help out with the youth group in the church I attended back then. One time we took the kids to an amusement park, and I remember squeezing 6 of them in my '69 Dart hardtop. 4 in the back, and two in the passenger side bucket seat. The lap belt stretched enough to hold the two up front in, while the ones in back were on their own. Plus, that was long enough ago that nobody really cared if a back seat passenger wasn't belted in. Now, these also weren't big kids...just 10-13 year olds. I wonder how many you could pile into a 70's GM full-size, if you really put your mind to it? I think the last time I really tried cramming a car to the max, it was my '89 Gran Fury. Got 6 people in it. That car only had 56" of shoulder room, whereas any full-size car worth a damn should have 61+". However, that car was also slab-sided, and the dashboard and wheel wells were out of the way, and the driveshaft/tranny hump weren't all that bad. Plus, it had a solid bench seat up front (but still had an armrest) and no armrest in the back, so the center spots weren't too bad. Still not something I'd want to do for an extended trip, though. Plus, 6 passengers would probably exceed the GVWR of most modern cars!
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Replying to: andre1969 (Jun 30, 2009 8:21 am) |
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The 80's Gran Fury M-Body was actaully a slightly stretched Volare'/Aspen F-body [no, not related to the GM f body Camaro!], called a 'compact' in 1976. And sure those old big cars could fit 7-8 people, but safety is more important.
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Replying to: tomcatt630 (Jul 01, 2009 7:59 am) Actually, it was on the same 112.7" wheelbase as a Volare sedan/wagon, although there was a bit more overhang. I think my Gran Fury was about 205" long, whereas a Volare sedan is around 202. Not a huge difference. And sure those old big cars could fit 7-8 people, but safety is more important. Well, my Gran Fury had an airbag. Crumple zones. Rudimentary crumple zones by today's standards, but still had 'em. Side door guard beams. Fewer blind spots than probably any car built today. EXCELLENT brakes, as it was a copcar. Also had a beefed up suspension, and enough power to get out of its own way. It was also a heavy, solidly built car. Smaller than a Caprice or Crown Vic, but not much lighter. Your typical similar-sized car of today is going to be safer, as time has marched on and so has technology and safety standards. But I'd hardly call an M-body a death trap. I also wouldn't recommend 7-8 people, as it only had 56" of shoulder room! My guess is that it's about as big inside as a Ford Fusion, but actually feels roomier because of the big windows, no center console, less intrusive dash, less curvature of the sides, etc. |
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Jun 29, 2009 5:07 pm) Considering that many W-car's have been sold to fleets as company cars it's probably a fair amount. My wife often has 3 other people in her company car when traveling to meetings and/or lunch. I find the backseat of her GrandPrix to be borderline dangerous as my head gets wedged between the roof and the rear window, it's horrible. It's fine for kids, but anyone over 5'10 and/or has long legs will not want to sit back there long. |
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Replying to: tomcatt630 (Jun 30, 2009 7:20 am) HAMMER  NJ.NET 
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Replying to: hammer77777 (Nov 12, 2009 6:48 am)
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Replying to: garrison16 (Nov 12, 2009 4:44 pm) How is the center spot on that Concorde? I'm curious, because I have a similar 2000 Intrepid, although I have bucket seats. I've seen a few of them with a split bench though, and that center spot looks like a total waste to me. The dashboard juts out at the center. Plus, while it's FWD, the engine/transaxle are longitudinally-mounted, and do intrude a bit into the passenger cabin. You don't really see it so much with the bucket seats, because the console hides most of it. Also, these cars do have a vestigal "driveshaft hump", as they were originally intended to have an AWD option that never materialized. I think those split bench seats can be nice because they let you stretch out more, and the center armrest is usually more comfortable than what they give you with buckets and a console. But for 3 across seating, I'd imagine they'd be horrible. I also have a 1985 Silverado, which just has the old fashioned regular bench seat. It has about 65 inches of shoulder room, more than any car ever had, with the exception of maybe GM's '71-76 big cars, and their '91-96 "bathtub" style cars. Honestly though, even with that truck, I don't like putting 3 across, at least not for a very long trip. As the driver, it just makes me feel hemmed in. Guess it just depends on what you're used to.
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Replying to: andre1969 (Nov 12, 2009 4:52 pm) nice the 3 or 4 times that I needed to make a brief trip with 5 other adults. It was not too uncomfortable. Once I made a round trip of about 70 miles with 2 other adults and three teenagers. It was not too bad. You would not want to do it too frequently. The Concorde is an LXI with a dual power leather bench seat. The Intrepid is a base model, cloth interior driver side power only. I think that with 2 people in the front the confort is about the same. I do like the Concorde better
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My first car, in high school, was a '71 Buick Electra 225 four-door. It had a non-split bench seat (power). I regularly had eight people (granted, I weighed about fifty pounds less then) in that car (usually other kids). Not exactly comfy, but that car did hold six real adults quite easily. Actually, my ('downsized') '77 Caprice wasn't much worse....I do remember two of us and the entire contents of our dorm rooms returning from school. Good times.
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