Car seats for classic cars

Gloomendoom

Imp wrote: »

What do you do when the car is so old it doesn't have seat belts? Do you just chuck a car seat in the back and let it rattle around?

If the children are over three they don't legally need to use car seats or wear belts if there aren't any fitted. If they are under three they can't ride in cars without belts.

hngrymummy

helnel wrote: »

When I used to work in the motor industry we used to have statistics on the how well cars (and their occupants) faired in accidents.

The 2CV was consistently at the bottom of the list.

So I won't fit into that stastic then, and nor will several of my friends. One got rammed head on by a beast of a car. His 2CV crumpled around him, and he walked away. The car just absorbed all the impact.

You also need to look at how people drive. Those with older cars tend to drive more carefully, as they like their cars and know that they don't have airbags. Whereas I've noticed that a lot of people in more modern cars with airbags and side imapact bars drive like nothing can harm them, because that's what the adverts say. Having worked on the M25 for around a year, I can assure you that's really not the case.

I can also assure you that if your child runs out into the road without looking and gets hit by a car you would want that car to be a 2CV rather than a BMW as the child will do more damage to the 2CV than the 2CV will do the them.

hazelrichardson

I had to fit seatbelts in the back of my classic cars to take the baby seat. I found that there were a number of seats that fitted, I just had to keep trying them!

I've got a 1978 Fiesta and a 1985 Capri. The bucket seats in the capri caused a problem but we found a seat in the end.

hngrymummy

I have lapbelts in the back of my car, but might see about getting the other sort fitted and then take her to Halfords and Mothercare and say "I'd like a carseat for my car please" and see how many of the shop assistants look bemused.
Halfords was always great for bemused assistants "I'd like some wiper blades for my car" "Certainly madam, they're all over here. What is your car?" "Citroen 2CV" "A what? Never heard of em"
or "I'd like a timing gun please" "What's one of those?"

geekgirl

I had a 2cv and had 2 child car seats in the back seat for my two children. We had an In Car Safety Centre where we took our old, crazy and classic vehicles to have car seats fitted. We always found something that was safe for our children.
The safety centre was great because they only did car seats and other safety devices so they really knew what they were talking about and wouldn't let you even buy anything unless it really was safe for your children which was very reassuring.
My children are adults now and have children of their own to be worrying about car seats!

lauren_1

hngrymummy wrote: »

I have lapbelts in the back of my car, but might see about getting the other sort fitted and then take her to Halfords and Mothercare and say "I'd like a carseat for my car please" and see how many of the shop assistants look bemused.
Halfords was always great for bemused assistants "I'd like some wiper blades for my car" "Certainly madam, they're all over here. What is your car?" "Citroen 2CV" "A what? Never heard of em"
or "I'd like a timing gun please" "What's one of those?"

If you have lapbelts you can get a base for the carseat that stays in the car, I am sure that the graco bases can be used with a lap belt.

Steel_2

Our late 1950s fibreglass sportscar didn't have seatbelts originally. Neither did it have mirrors or a windscreen although I insisted on all three being on the car before I would go out in it.

Interestingly though, we found a major safety issue that I wonder whether most people with classic fibreglass cars would even think to look for.

The original design of the car meant the seats were bolted to the fibreglass bodyshell and the load spread by penny washers. If we had an accident, our weight thrown forward in the seats could have ripped the bolts out of the fibreglass and potentially thrown us out of the car.

We had to weld to strengthening pieces to the chassis for the seats to properly bolt into.

Now I say to anyone with a classic car, if its fibreglass (not sure if OPs is) check how the seats are bolted down otherwise the job of the seat belts and baby car seats could be compromised in an accident.

Imp

VK-2008 wrote: »

personally if a kids not safe its not worth risking it

a kids life is worth more than going out in classic car

Can I just say how much I disagree with this.

hngrymummy

Thanks Steel
our cars aren't FG, but I will certainly be looking into how the seats are fixed to the car. Never really thought of that beond the usual 'MOT pass'. If I think that the standard fitting is less than I want it to be, then I can see some welding bills approaching

I loved going out in my Auntie's classic car when I was little, so I want our little sproglet to have the same fun.

bravobeastie

VK-2008 wrote: »

personally if a kids not safe its not worth risking it

a kids life is worth more than going out in classic car

Imp wrote: »

Can I just say how much I disagree with this.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: