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The classic front bench seat, affording seating for six (well, usually there was a bench in the back too, but not always). But just how often was it used? My father couldn’t bear to have anyone sit that close to him, so the middle spot in the family Fairlane languished. That’s right, it wasn’t really about family at all, but for your sweetie to slide over and sidle up real close to the man behind the wheel. Did you ever see it the other way around? And with a necker’s knob to go with it, your right hand was never in bind, no matter how tight the corner.
42 Comments on “Curbside Classic Clue...”
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It’s a GM for sure. After that I’m a little lost.
Bench and crank windows? How about a Chevy C/K?
Those seat belts sure like GM-ish. Angle of the seat suggests a truck.
For some reason those seat belts look more Chrysler to me, how about a very late Dodge Dart.
I agree…definitely Mopar seat belts. Tough to tell with the lighting and angle, but the driver’s door doesn’t look particularlty big. How ’bout an Aspen or Volare?
K car. Definitely. Either a Dodge Aries or a Plymouth Reliant. First car I owned when I moved to North America.
Door trim is identical, bench seat looks just as uncomfortable and there’s that crappy plastic trim on the B pillar which I had to remove when the headlining fell out.
aaaaaand after a bit more research… see this link for a picture of a Plymouth Reliant interior.
http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_images/2/3678/601/21692800002_large.jpg
It looks like a late 70’s, early 80,s 4-door.
The door panel makes me think GM.
I don’t know if any of the GM X-cars had a standard bench seat like this one, ( I thought they had fold down center armrests in their benches ) but if they did, I’d say it’s an X.
Probably a Buick Skylark.
Glad to have you back.
I believe my grandfather’s 1980 Citation was a bench seat, but I also remember the belt buckles had ‘GM’ embossed on them rather than the generic silver starburst in a square.
Plus those buckles are in some kind of plastic insert to hold them out; I wouldn’t think anything like that was in use before the late 70s.
I’m seeing that arm rest on other K Car door pictures; that’s my bet, too.
I agree with majo8, I usually haven’t got the slightest clue about these Curbside Classic articles (but I still find them fascinating) and this picture gave me flashbacks to my parents’ 1981 Buick Skylark. I was very young when they had that car and I don’t remember that much about it but I remember that gawdawful upholstery very well.
1979-83 Newport/Gran Fury/St. Regis. Or a Diplomat.
The seats, seat belts, steering wheel and carpet on the lower door panel made me think mid-late 70s Buick Apollo / Skylark … but wait … 70s GMs always had metal seat belt buckles didn’t they? I think Sinistermisterman is right … it’s a really low spec K-car. The seat fabric and colour look like Iaccoca picks ;-)
Buick electra station wagon .
Mid ’80s to early ’90s Olds Cutlass.
K Car. Seat pleating is familiar as are the arm rests & door handles
Got to be Chrysler, but damned if I know. I want to say, big V8, RWD. Not built after the mid 80s. Did Paul find the world’s most pristine early 80s Diplomat?
I agree. post 1980 Chrysler 4-door. Diplomat seems most likely. Could be a 70’s Volare or Aspen though
I’m not an expert on the M-body, and my ’86 Diplomat is fairly high-option compared to this picture, but the seat belt buttons on my car are more rectangular and the door panels are very different.
It looks closer to a K-car.
@ajla – Fleet model. Not a cop car but fleet, like what my school district would have bought for Central Office folks to ride around the county in. (Speaking of which my new position is likely going to have me spending lots of time in fleet/base vehicles from the big 3.)
I’m in agreement with those saying this is a Dodge Aries / Plymouth Reliant. This looks like the mark one version (1981 to 1984) rather than the restyle (1985 to 1989).
My aunt and uncle had a couple of K car wagons in the 1980’s. They were acceptable little family cars. The Aries and Reliant were not fancy by any stretch, but they were reasonably comfortable and roomy … and good value for money.
It’s either a Plymouth Reliant or Dodge Aries, between 1980 and 83, as the 84 had a thicker steering wheel spoke. It can’t be a Chrysler variant, as they had more upscale seats and it has to be a sedan or wagon, as the coupe had a split bench.
Looks like a 1981-1984 K -car to me.
Early 80s K car. I still have one and the pic looks soooo familiar!
1982 Plymouth Reliant K
Plymouth Reliant/Dodge Aries for sure. I had an 85 Reliant and my dad had an 86. I’d recognize that arm rest and seatbelt buckles anywhere.
I was thinking 80’s El Camino
Before I looked at any of the comments, I said “Chrysler seat belts.” I agree with many of you that the car is an early 80s Dodge Aries or Plymouth Reliant.
Yeah, definitely Mopar seatbelts. Judging by the fabric and trim, a very basic model. I’m going to say 1981 Dodge Aries.
Like some of the others have admitted, I never know what the cars are from the curbside classic clues. But after looking at Sinistermisterman’s link, I am also of the opinion that it is some crappy old K-car. This prompted a google image search of that car. What I found made me laugh, and I thought I would share. I know it’s a HUGE url, haha, but trust me.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://image.hotrod.com/f/10119631/hrdp_0803_11_z%252Bcustom_street_racing_cars%252B1983_plymouth_reliant.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.xiongdudu.com/image/Plymouth_Reliant_K&usg=__NfMAbj11ocJxVasVtlfMYDE4K14=&h=480&w=640&sz=61&hl=en&start=0&tbnid=EgUOmafzB6W9yM:&tbnh=133&tbnw=185&prev=/images%3Fq%3D1981%2Bplymouth%2Breliant%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1600%26bih%3D684%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=719&vpy=352&dur=262&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=170&ty=81&ei=R45sTOrOLIL6lweA35jvDw&oei=R45sTOrOLIL6lweA35jvDw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=32&ved=1t:429,r:19,s:0
Plymouth Caravelle or a Dodge Diplomat
It’s got to be Mopar F or M body. Paul’s done the K-car thing to death.
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/curbside-classic-1985-dodge-daytona-with-k-car-bonus/
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/curbside-classic-1986-dodge-600es-convertible/
Yes he did an article about the Aspen & Volare but how bout the mentality that kept the unit-body RWD “big cars” going?
K-Car Aries or Relient, not an upmarket LeBaron or NYer. 4-door since the door is short not long like a 2 dr. The window crank is a givaway. Mopar used those most models from the late 60’s till the 90’s. They must have paid off the tooling several times over. My grandfather owned a mid 80’s one. He seemed pleased with it.
OK, since we seem to have pretty much settled that it’s a K-car, let’s go back to the subject of the center front seat. Back in your younger days, when most cars had a nominally 3-across front bench, did you refer to riding in that middle seat as “riding bitch”? Not where I grew up, but apparently in other places. I’m trying to figure out if this was a mostly Southern idiom or was it used elsewhere.
My brother had an ’89 Dodge Ram single cab with the bench seat, and he would always call the center seat the “bitch seat”. But we are from Pennsylvania, so perhaps it’s not just a southern thing.
I wanna say K car. I learned to drive in a Reliant. I think it’s claim to fame was 6 seats and 30mpg (would probably be 20-25 with the test nowadays).
1981 Chevrolet El Camino.
Ford Fairmont, here’s why: shape of steering wheel, cut of the door, seatbelts, armrest. The window lever doesn’t seem Ford-like, it’s more Chrysler like, but I stand by the Ford.
Those are Ford or Chrysler belt latches.
It’s not a truck because of the seat’s position relative to the B-pillar, and definitely not a late-80s Ram because I have an 88 and I know the door panels all too well, but because of that I do think it is a early/mid-80s Mopar, most likely a K. OTOH there’s already be a CC on the K car so it may be a larger Mope.
I recognize that sharp trailing edge of the driver’s door from the family’s old Fifth Avenue, I think, but the door latch seems to be in the wrong spot.
Good one!
“Necker’s knob”? That’s a new one on me; I’ve never heard them called that before. I’ve only heard them called brody (sp?) knobs.
“Necker’s knob” was new to me as well. I’ve only ever heard of it referred to as a “suicide knob.” That might be a Minnesota thing though.
I’m going with K-car, and, based on the rather plain door panels, either the Plymouth Reliant or Dodge Aries versions.
“That’s right, it wasn’t really about family at all, but for your sweetie to slide over and sidle up real close to the man behind the wheel.”
Had a 2 door 71 Chevelle Malibu with a split bench seat in front. If things were going well on the date, she could slide in close. OTOH, there was plenty of room on the bench for her to slide away to be cold and distant in both mood and seat position if the date was a disaster.
K car.