[TWX]

Several Chrysler Corporation cars had swivel seats in the fifties and even into the sixties, and then they stopped building them that way.

Aside, I saw some videos on the Internet of crash tests, and it looked like on the Chrysler products, the swivel seats fared poorly in crash testing, especially in some crashes where the doors opened.

Was occupant safety the reason why swivel seats went away?

 

[Dave Z]

I would guess it was mostly because they were a fairly hefty expense compared with the acquisition of sales they brought about.

Safety was not a big deal when they were dropped, but it was starting to become visible (Corvair helped), so maybe safety was also an issue, all right. But I suspect it was a cost thing. Maybe a warranty thing, too, any extra complexity...

 

[ImperialCrown]

Lap seat belts were optional then and any car crash was bad, unless you were heavier than what you hit. The padded dash really wouldn't save you from injury and you had one hydraulic brake circuit to stop with.
I worked on a swivel seat in a 1960 300F and the door hinge linkage turned the power seat as the door opened. Cool.
It probably helped the older or infirm crowd who had trouble getting in and out of low vehicles with a dog-leg A-pillar or if you wore a long dress.
The 'squared-off' steering wheel gave good thigh room underneath it and good visibility over the top of it. No tilt or telescoping columns then.
It worked OK, but I imagine that dirt and rust made them troublesome after awhile.

 

[Jeff2KPatriotBlue]

They had them in the second row of the mini vans for a few years.

 

[FreeLantz]

They had them in the second row of the mini vans for a few years.

You beat me to it. Recently, the "Swivel 'N' Go" option was available on minivans and included a collapsible table for the second row. The "swiveling" was not for ease in getting in or out of the vehicle like in the 50's Mopars, but instead to turn the chairs around facing each other. Like the VW Eurovan that had offered a second row table 20 years earlier, the Chrysler "swivel" vans were not big sellers.

 

[AC TC]

I think its because women uses pants today instead of thight skirts....
We could of course discuss if we like that change for a while.

 

[Dave Z]

The minivan swivel seats (2008-2010, I believe) locked into two positions and did not swivel out automatically — they were just there to support the table, really. My kids loved them and I believe that riding "backwards" is safer in the case of a crash.

However, they were really a different thing, because they had to be locked into one of two positions. (Well, the car would still start, I assume.)

The older swivel seats were much more trouble prone, I would imagine, partly because they operated every time you got in or out! A much more complex mechanism, more exposed. I would think it was fairly expensive to implement but as you said, I.C., a boon to those of limited or painful mobility.

Now, those who have a hard time getting into a low-slung vehicle (as just about all cars from the 1960s would be called now) can just get a crossover like the PT, essentially at the height where you open the door, sit down, and swing your legs over.

 

[ImperialCrown]

A lot of it may have been about getting in and out of a car with the upmost of dignity. It was class and a little 'gee-whiz' gadgetry and in some cases, practical. Bigger door openings helped, but big doors were heavy to handle. Times and tastes have changed.
The newer minivan swivel n' go wasn't nearly as popular as the stow n' go seats.
There was a concept minivan that I remember had all the creature comforts like a limousine that had a conference table, internet, fax, etc. and was set up as a mobile executive office. That was the first time that I saw the passenger swivel seats in the back of a minivan.

 

[TWX]

I think its because women uses pants today instead of thight skirts....
We could of course discuss if we like that change for a while.

Heh. Not according to TMZ!

A lot of it may have been about getting in and out of a car with the upmost of dignity. It was class and a little 'gee-whiz' gadgetry and in some cases, practical. Bigger door openings helped, but big doors were heavy to handle. Times and tastes have changed.
The newer minivan swivel n' go wasn't nearly as popular as the stow n' go seats.
There was a concept minivan that I remember had all the creature comforts like a limousine that had a conference table, internet, fax, etc. and was set up as a mobile executive office. That was the first time that I saw the passenger swivel seats in the back of a minivan.

It would appear that dignity and modesty are traits that are not valued as much as they once were...

 

[peterjon1]

I seem to remember that GM had them available in the mid 70's in the mid size cars like the Malibu, etc

 

[rapidtrans]

I seem to remember that GM had them available in the mid 70's in the mid size cars like the Malibu, etc

I remember those also. They were available on the Chevy Malibu/Laguna series in '74.
I believe i had to manually swivel the seat on those.
The mopar version swiveled as the door opened as mentioned above.
I imagine the "take-rate" of either version was rather low.

 

[Curtis Redgap]

For the most part, the swivel seat option was (back then) another Chrysler engineering project, gone way over long! A great idea, but in practicality not so workable. Expensive to repair, unweildly for smaller people, and IF (imagine now) you parked in a lot or a garage, amongst other parked vehicles, you couldn't use them because the door wouldn't open far enough to let you out. So, if you tried to utilize them in a partially swiveled out position, you could not, or even barely squeeze your legs out from under the steering wheel. This because the leading left side edge of the seat was lodged tightly against the partially open door. Which created a nice sort of "prison cell" type of situation. Hmmmm. More than a few customers brought their cars back with orders to "disable these [email protected]#ned things!"

 

[TWX]

I can see that being a much bigger problem in the two-door cars, with the doors being so much larger...


And, it would follow, in a wreck, if the door opened, auto-ejector seat!

 

[eigib56]

Swivel seats were a gimick for Chrysler in '59, just as they were for GM in the mid-70s. My father had a '59 Chrysler equipped with them, and after the novelty wore off, neither he nor my mother ever bothered to 'swivel' them for getting in or out. I suspect the reason chrysler discontinued them was that the 'wow factor' was short-lived.

 

[Miles11]

I remember those also. They were available on the Chevy Malibu/Laguna series in '74.
I believe i had to manually swivel the seat on those.
The mopar version swiveled as the door opened as mentioned above.
I imagine the "take-rate" of either version was rather low.

I distinctly remember my seventh grade teacher having them in her burnt orange Grand Prix. Not that I watched her get out of her car in a skirt every morning....

 

[TWX]

I distinctly remember my seventh grade teacher having them in her burnt orange Grand Prix. Not that I watched her get out of her car in a skirt every morning....

Sounds like for her, it was a good thing that the seats swiveled, to help protect her modesty just a little...

 

[CindyEllis]

I remember those also. They were available on the Chevy Malibu/Laguna series in '74.
I believe i had to manually swivel the seat on those.
The mopar version swiveled as the door opened as mentioned above.
I imagine the "take-rate" of either version was rather low.

I had them in my 74 Laguna. They made getting in and out so much easier. There was a release on the side that you would lift to allow the seat to pivot.

 

[mopar_johnny85]

I thought I remember hearing a story once that one of the Chrysler big wigs was out with his wife for dinner and it was a hot summer day so she hiked up her skirt to help cool off with the a/c. When they arrived at the restaurant the valet had opened her door before his wife was able to pull her skirt down and the seat swiveled out causing much embarrassment. The option was gone the next year. I'm sure it wasn't true but made for a comical story.