124 Back Seat Reason and/or History?

[Kingme2]

I think many of you are making a false assumption... There is actually a fair amount of room in the back... As long as the FRONT seat is further forward! I'm not handicapped by all that extra height, therefore my driver's seat is comfortably further forward, allowing plenty of room!

Years ago, when I was 18 (ok... MANY years ago ) I was the designated driver. Pulled over at a check stop, had THREE people in the back seat (including one who was trying out for CFL {recruiting place for NFL} directly behind me)

Actually, my driver seat was broken, so was supported by a hockey stick (Yay, Canada!!)... The big guy was the only one who COULD sit behind me, as he had to hold my seat up with his KNEES. Shorter people made it so my seat had to be further back, less wonderful for me.

[BEEK]

i can remember many times in my childhood i had 4 people in my spider, wasnt much comfortable for them, but i was driving as to the ashtray, the console was sourced from the 124 coupe, which did have a rear seat...fyi

[dinosabella]

I'm 5'11" and I managed to push up the drivers and passenger seat to allow a buddy who is 5'6" to sit comfortably. Sure it wasnt the most comfortable experience of my life but it worked!!

And in my younger days I managed to use the back seat for other activities with the two front seats lowered and pushed as far up as possible

[Danno]

That isn't a seat. Who in their right mind would make a seat that has the convertible top come down right in front of the seat back? Are there any cars with a verified rear seat that have the top come down in front of them like that?

[seabeelt]

Those are extra large padded headrest for when you have the seat laying down looking at the stars with the top down. We wont go into stories of what happens when the top is up.

[whiterabbit]

Noooo way you gonn'a get frisky in the back "seat"! Unless she works at a carnival.
I bet they thought we were gonn'a carry our case of wine and a picnic basket back there.

[azruss]

where there's a will, there's a way i do remember a few close encounters in the backseat of a 65 bug

[Redline]

Check Brian Johnson's (AC/DC) Top Gear interview, where he explains the sliding windows on his Mini...

[solarmon]

I believe it was to avoid the European taxes on tw-seated "toys". .and. .back in the seventies when I still measured distances in six-packs. .it was an excellent place to put the cooler

[bradartigue]

It was designed from the very beginning to be a two seater. It was never assumed to be anything else. The standard stories are:

1) To avoid taxes (they actually did manipulate the engine displacement to avoid taxes)
2) To make insurance lower (it would have increased to have such a small convertible car be a 4-seater)
3) That it was intended to be a seat, hence the seatbelt retainers on some model years (carry overs from the floor pans used in other pininfarina assembled cars).

Truth is, it just never was a seat, it was a cosmetic treatment for a shelf, and with the top up it looks better than, say, the parcel shelf of the later years. This and a whole bunch of other questions were asked of Tom Tjaarda when I met him back in 2009. I'm sure he enjoyed the interrogation!! (By the way, nicest guy you can meet and loves the Spider to this day).

The ash tray "servicing" the rear was there because the 124 shared that entire center console with other models. After about 74 they replaced the ash tray with a coin cup (and discontinued all other cars that used that console).

[ventura ace]

Whether it was a seat or not, the early 124 spiders could accomodate 3 seat belts and hold 3 little tykes pretty well (including 1 child safety seat and 1 child safety booster), even with the top folded down. There is even more room in the back with the top up. Our kids enjoyed the cramped ride back there for several years.

Alvon

[tartan18]

Very cute ... great picture.

[mostlytwowheeled]

What I've found is that the Italians have given us a small trunk, for clothing and toiletries, and a back seat for TWO coolers of beer.

[arana]

remember the Subaru Brat? with 2 seats in the bed? those two seats changed the class and therefore the import tax category for a cheaper option. I assume it was something similar for the spider.

[bradartigue]

And don't get me wrong, I've used them a lot as back seats, we have belts in the 1970 to fit the kid booster seat.