When I was growing up in the 60's as one of 5 kids, a bench seat in the front and a column gear change was the only way of getting 2 adults and 5 kids in the car. 3 in the front and 4 in the back.
I read that Oldsmobile ditched all their front bench seats in an effort to 'modernize' the marque's image.
....and that move resulted in those customers switching to Buicks!
My first car was a 1936 Ford 5 window coupe. It had a narrow bench seat and it was very cozy with long handled gear shift in the middle. Wish I never sold it. I rescued it from a junk yard and restored it. It was beautiful.
Last car I had with a bench seat was a 74 Plymouth Fury III. Loved those little kid car seats that fit over the backrest in the middle of the front seat.
Me too. My old Ford pickups were bench seat. My girlfriend now wife slid over all the time. My neighbor used to refer to this situation as the "2 headed driver".
Now we talk about getting a bench seat so the two little dogs can sit there
Same here. Those bench seats were responsible for a lot of kids being in this world back when we were young. Now they are just a resting place for the little dogs we take with us on trips.