mostly has to do with safety. That old R-10 had a front bench seat, basically a couch, or sofa. Most cars of the period did. Hard to do an effective 3 point harness with that set up. And that spot in the middle big enough to hold another person? Where the problem child was required to sit on road trips? (Who, me?) A really unsafe place to be.

But boy I loved that bench seat. I could sit anywhere on it and still drive the car. Fun thing to do entering the high school parking lot sitting in the middle of the car.

So front seats became bucket seats. Safer and more comfortable, really.

As far as the reclining goes, they still do, but not as far, and with different mechanics. Reclined while driving and the seat belt is useless in an accident, and probably dangerous.

The R-10 seat reclined with a simple spring-loaded ratchet lever. Grab that handle, give a yank, an you’ve a bed. But that system is weak. in an accident, it snaps and folds you into a sandwich. So now, that is a screw mechanism. Just a bit stronger. Usually controlled by a switch or mechanical knob.

Then there are the headrests that limit the recline into the back seat. I approve of head rests. Might have been really bad off once without one.

The R-10 was a fun deathtrap of a car.

Now, not so any more. If I had to guess why, its probably because it is very difficult to engineer a seat that meets crash safety standards and is fully foldable. But I really don’t know that for sure.

The car I prefer in NZ, if not a Ute, is the Toyota Rav 4.

But the rear engine meant a poor cooling system. Required constant attention and which, ultimately, led to its demise. It was never the same after the ring job.

Horrible safety features. Lap belt. Huge steering wheel. No head rests. Windshield of death. Split bench front seats that could recline to about five degrees above horizontal.

So, basically the perfect car for a teenager in the 1970′s.

to NZ we just get there and are instantly on the NZ time with no hassle. The way the timings work it’s dinner time in the UK when we fly so it’s dinner on the plane, move watch to Dubai time (+3) and sleep. Wake at around 4am, have breakfast and land and move watch to Oz east coast time (+6). Then keep busy in the airport and don’t sleep as it’s now mid afternoon, that’s easy as you’ve just slept and had breakfast. Then onto the next plane, do something to occupy yourself, have dinner after 3 hours or so and sleep, wake up in the morning and land in Oz, move your watch forward to NZ time (+2) and then arrive there at lunchtime. You leave on Thursday night and arrive Saturday lunchtime and it’s all good.

Travelling the other way is hell. You leave on Saturday, arrive on Sunday with a screwed body clock and spend a week being nocturnal.

My English rose, my first motor…

5 Automatic.

Must admit, reflecting on this fleet, each one was a friend with their own story. I’ve had really fast cars, utilitarian cars, cars that didn’t need no stinking roads, very efficient cars. But my favorite was my first friend, a little red 1970 Renault 10 with a push button automatic transmission. Could write a book about our adventures.

A photo from the web:

(You could crank start this thing, there was a tool in the boot, and I did.)