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I know, I know, I fondly remember those cars well, and take it a generation before when coachworks was an art, real wood, real leather and fabrics, it was all style and opulence. I suspect in another 20 years, cars will be even more austere than they are today, whereas the automobile was a statement in the past, it's functional today, and heading towards a mere transportation device in the future.
And let's not forgot door panels.
I liked them better when they were classy, not just a big piece of plastic!
I will admit a certain fondness for the nice leather interior cabin in our 03 Passat. The car was a dog in many ways, but the interior was always comfortable and held up well enough that it essentially looked perfect when we sold it as-is for $500 earlier this year. (I regard the electrical systems in early 00s VWs and the new Berlin airport as the two great failures of 21st century German engineering)
Todays Vehicles have a very basic design cookie cutter setup.....they all are vynl leather cheaply made or leather hardened.....there is no diveristy of choice anylonger....they have gotton rid of real comfort and went to cheap materiald cheap made and cheap design.....they just make for the looks. So Ridding for long periods of Time with the newer vehicles leather..does it bother you or do you not know the diffrence between the real comfortable seats of the past???? Well car manufacturers should have the available seating for varient orders for customers from original designs and material.....for those that dont know about this your reply will be utterly useless.....
I couldn't agree more... I was saying exactly this on fb today, and I wanted to see if anyone else felt this way, so I signed up to see if anyone else out there agrees the leather in luxury cars has gone way down hill... the seats used to be pillowy, cushy, and comfy... now they are hard leather buckets that don't even resemble luxury to people who know what quality looks like. It is kind of infuriating to me as I am finally in a place to buy a luxury car, and I can't bring myself to do it, because I hate the seats in all of them... I am gonna buy an old SUV and put some old range rover seats in it, because that was true quality. I would just get a range rover, but I don't want to deal with the maintenance. Lexus might be the best bet with their saddle tan, but I am really frustrated with this. does anyone have a loophole for me? some luxury SUV with real luxury seats?
My custom 78 Continental Diamond Jubilee Edition mark v is the most comfortable vehicle interior I have ever been in.
It rivals sitting in your living room, especially the rear cabin.
Drivers seat is equipped with a power lumbar support.
When I owned it (sold it about 8 years ago) I had a custom top put on it, and custom blackdiamond paint, with gold highlights.
The seats, nothing today compares to the comfort and build quality.
My 66 Tbird seats were comfortable as well.
Bob
this is what I am talking about!!! I need to find something like this with leather in an SUV for today! any ideas? people just don't appreciate quality anymore. It is really depressing.
I couldn't agree more... I was saying exactly this on fb today, and I wanted to see if anyone else felt this way, so I signed up to see if anyone else out there agrees the leather in luxury cars has gone way down hill... the seats used to be pillowy, cushy, and comfy... now they are hard leather buckets that don't even resemble luxury to people who know what quality looks like. It is kind of infuriating to me as I am finally in a place to buy a luxury car, and I can't bring myself to do it, because I hate the seats in all of them... I am gonna buy an old SUV and put some old range rover seats in it, because that was true quality. I would just get a range rover, but I don't want to deal with the maintenance. Lexus might be the best bet with their saddle tan, but I am really frustrated with this. does anyone have a loophole for me? some luxury SUV with real luxury seats?
thanks,
You can get an Explorer with heated, cooled, and messaging seats with adjustable lumbar support.
The new Grand Cherokee Summit trim levels have a Laguna leather option for about $5k.
You can get an Explorer with heated, cooled, and messaging seats with adjustable lumbar support.
The new Grand Cherokee Summit trim levels have a Laguna leather option for about $5k.
But you can't get a bench seat anymore was nice when you wife or girlfriend could sit next to you really close when you were driving. Or when you stoped to rest you could stretch out and put your legs across the front seat without a shifter in your way. Sorry but the big land yachts of the 70's were the most comfortable driving cars on the road.
Flat, unsupportive, and borderline dangerous in an emergency maneuver. Your car should not be a living room couch on wheels. And you should NOT be driving down the road with your arm around another person or have them leaning up against you. Dangerous as you're nowhere near prepared for avoiding an accident. Same with stretching out across the front compartment. Seats should hold you in place so you're in full control of your vehicle.
Cars of yesteryear in general, on many different fronts, are totally inferior to today's vehicles. Gas mileage, pollution, safety, performance, and yes, even comfort for many. That being said, there will always be that place in history that is adorned by the automotive world where a springy floating bench front seat with you honey snugged up against you while you glide down the road with your thin steering wheel at your fingertip. Floating along like a feather in the wind, not a care in the world, and your lap belt on. Totally clueless that if you hit anything at all above 25mph, you're likely toast or best case, getting a whole new face with a new set of teeth, assuming you'll be able to brush them yourself.
Seats today are engineered to complement far more than just those memories of yesteryear. They function in concert with airbags, crumple zones, reinforced pieces of steel inside the door frame, and so on. Just ask a crash-test dummy. Also, materials of today are lighter, better constructed with stronger and lighter glues (when is the last time you've seen a headliner sagging in a vehicle built within the last decade), and quite frankly stand up to abuse and use better (for the most part). Interior seats no longer die a quick death because of the sunlight. Dashboards aren't splitting down the middle. Knobs aren't coming off in your hands, and FAR LESS annoying rattles.......yet MPG's are much much better, acceleration and braking is far better, and 40mph collisions are far less likely to kill you instantly.
I'll take today over yesterday any day of the week and twice on Sundays, no argument about it. Can you imagine an airbag in one of those cars from the 70's going off? I'd rather hit a pillow than the edge of a metal-trimmed dashboard at 60mph.
But you can't get a bench seat anymore was nice when you wife or girlfriend could sit next to you really close when you were driving. Or when you stoped to rest you could stretch out and put your legs across the front seat without a shifter in your way. Sorry but the big land yachts of the 70's were the most comfortable driving cars on the road.
My niece's Ram has a center console that turns into a bench seat.
I personally don't want anybody right next to me while driving. The person in the center has no leg room because the transmission tunnel is in the way.
I don't have much a dog in this fight because I find pretty much any seat comfortable. However modern cars have far more interior goodies like heated steering wheels and touch screens that there's no way I would claim the old cars as better. As a previous posters had mentioned, the fake wood and cheap, squeaky plastics left a lot to be desired. I also prefer more bolster support and a head rest.
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