I’m old enough to remember the time when people freaked out about the new seatbelt laws that were coming into effect in the early-mid 80s. But as it is now, I cannot even imagine driving without a belt strapped on. I feel extremely vulnerable and “naked” without it fastened. I can remember the old common mom and grandma practice of throwing their right arm out in front of me during sudden emergency stops. Like that’s gonna save my life in a head-on! Edit: now more commonly known as Frank Costanza’s “I stop short!!” method.
I am probably older than you. We were taught in school how to 'tuck down' if we saw an accident happening. We were also taught that if we were not wearing a seat belt we would be 'thrown clear.' Of the accident. I have a 1955 Thunderbird with seatbelts. A factory option. Most people back then didn't want them.
@@Colorado_Native I remember my dad saying something like that (born 49). That the idea, even for the driver, was to throw yourself down into the passenger footwell if you could. That’s just amazing to me. Adam mentioned this in the video vaguely as well. The thrown clear argument is crazy too. I know people have freakishly been saved by that happening before, but still, flying through a windshield, or out the side window if “lucky”, and then hitting the pavement or solid ground still sounds awfully dicey. It’s amazing how far vehicle safety has come.
@@tylernewton7217 True. When I was in high school I worked for a guy. His brother didn't like to wear seatbelts. He got drunk, hit a telephone pole, and went flying out the driver's side rolled-down window. We reclaimed the car, a Ford LTD, and he had actually bent the steering wheel on his departure. He was DOA. Thanks for the reply.
A few years ago I owned a 1974 Imperial that had a functional seatbelt interlock system. I considered that to be unique so I left it alone and did not defeat it.
Adam, 1974 was a strange year. Nixon resigns, disco begins, pet rock debuted, and "Convoy hit #1. I'm surprised they recently didn't try to reinstate that interlock.
All those leaded gas fumes in metro areas made people more stupid. Literally. I saw a study about it years ago and it showed IQ reduction in populations for a period of time surrounding the use of leaded gas as fuel.
but we had the Rockford Files, Good Times, Chico & the Man & Happy Days on TV & The Longest Yard, Blazing Saddles, Texas Chainsaw Massacre & 2 of my favorites Dirty Mary Crazy Larry & Gone In 60 Seconds! Nixon was an idiot, took me many many many years after disco to actually like it {I was more into hard rock}, had a pet rock but it died & Convoy was an excellent movie! ✌💖☮
I got my driver license (unlaminated paper, no photo) at 16, in 1976, in a '74 Dodge Monaco. Like most families, mine had disconnected the seat switches about 0.5 days into owning the car. Knowing that the person administering my exam could fail me if the car had "defective" equipment, I hooked them back up that morning before my older brother begrudgingly drove me to the examination station. Even though the cars with interlocks had been around for over two years by then, the sweet little old lady who administered the exam was completely befuddled by it - as if no one had EVER come in with the system engaged. She kept telling me she didn't need to put on her seat belt, and I should just start the car. It took a couple of minutes and a lot of buzzing to convince her that I couldn't start it until she buckled up. She muttered about it for the entire drive, but I passed. A couple of years later I got my first car, a '74 LeMans, and of course the seat switches had been disconnected. I hooked the system back up, because I knew that seat belts were a good thing. A few of my friends grumbled but most adapted, and as I knew it would, it trained me to put the seat belt on out of habit. After I was first in the habit, I got a lot of side-eye when I'd use them in other people's cars. Now, finally, it's habit for almost everyone. Having the interlock engaged sucks if you don't have an automatic garage door opener. Luckily the parents had one for the Monaco, and when I owned the LeMans I was too poor to live anywhere that had a garage 🙂
my '74 corvette had its seat sensors removed and the interlock override under the hood all mangled up to bypass the system...before I bought it almost 30 years ago...and which *mostly* worked. I found a clean original override which of course caused the car to not start due to the missing sensors, but found online the way to invisibly short the override and now I have an underhood back to looking stock and clean, on a car that starts every time! hard to imagine a time where people had to be forced to use seatbelts...it's so automatic now.
I worked at a Cadillac dealer as a lot attendant in the mid 70's so we had many 1974's coming through on a daily basis. To move them around the lot, we would lift out butts off of the seat to get it to start and then drive it to the destination on-site with that stupid buzzer blaring. I also remember the motorized belts trying to strangle you. Good times.
The motorized seat belts were the manufacturer way to save a few bucks of putting air bags in. Lost more sales due to the Micky Mouse motorized seat belts that always seemed to break early on.
The owner's manual for my dad's 1974 Oldsmobile 98 mentioned the seat belt interlock and front passenger occupancy sensor, but it was only on models sold in the US. My dad's Oldsmobile was made for export to Canada. It did not have the interlock.
I didn't begin wearing seatbelts religiously until I was stationed in Germany in 1983, where it was mandatory by law -- not by some sort of mechanism in the vehicle (1978 Nova). It became a habit and like others have observed, I now feel naked without the belt on -- but I never owned a vehicle that had these silly lock-the-car-out sensors. But my current 2018 Toyota Sienna does indeed have a chime that oh-so-gently reminds me that the belt isn't fastened when I'm driving the car into the garage. I can put up with that, but to lock out my car? No thanks.
I remember those GM door mounted seatbelts on a couple of Olds Cutlass Ciera models my Dad had as well as a Chevy Lumina coupe I owned. We were seatbelt wearers from way back (we wore them regularly even in the early 70's). In our case, we just left the door mounted belts unbuckled and then would just put them on after closing the door. Worked fine for us. We tried using them by design and leaving them buckled full time - hated it!
Seatbelt use was a huge thing with my family from my earliest years. When I was 1 in 1971, my parents’ friends lost a child who’d bounced against a rear door, which opened and ejected the child. After that, my folks traded their big station wagon for a Volvo P1800ES and we did not have another 4 door primary vehicle for many years. Thanks to 2 door coupe backseats and seatbelts, my sister and I were kept pretty safe as kids.
My family was the same. My folks always drove a coupe when I was little so that I was unable to open a door while in the back seat. My earliest childhood memories involve riding in a huge T-Bird coupe in the back seat😁
Thinking back, My parents mostly drove two door coupes also. The one time we had a four door was when Grandma gave us her '77 Fury and wouldn't you know the one time my little brother was sitting in the back, mom took a turn on a side street and the door closest to him opened up. Mom freaked out. Thankfully little bro didn't fly out the car.
My family had two 1965 Chevy Impalas (SW and Sport Coupe) with optional seatbelts in all passenger positions front and rear, even the third seat in the wagon. They had also had belts in their previous1957 Ford. AND they actually followed the recommendation in the manual that the belts be changed at specified mileage/ duration of use (at least in the wagon, as the coupe was gone by then). The Service Manager at the dealership commented that those were the only belts he had actually ever replaced.
I remember the first time I drove a car with motorized belts. A family member worked for Saab at the time, and he would always have different cars to drive around. One day, he drove a little white 900S into the driveway and tossed me the keys. He told me to take it out and tell him what I think afterwards. I was excited, because I loved driving those things (I was 18 at the time). When the belt starting coming at me, I thought I was about to be decapitated. Other than that, It was a fun drive! When I got back I told him about the seat belt, and he made a note of it. I don't think they ever released a retractable shoulder belt version of the Saab 900, and I like to think I was a part of that decision.
I had a 1974 Pontiac Grand Prix and was told the system was hard to defeat but we unplugged the weight sensors on front seats and car started with everything working.
The rental car we had in Hawaii in 1974 had this system and drove my parents crazy trying to get it to work properly. Great vacation for a 8 year old. My 1988 Maxima had those electric seat-belts, I did not like that. We have come a long way since then, cars with 10 airbags, and all the other safety equipment.
I learned from a car salesman that certain metal washers from the hardware store could be plugged into the buckles. Alternatively, those plastic tag style key rings could be plugged in to disable the interlock.
I took driver's training in the Fall of 1969 and seat belt use was mandatory and drilled into us. Once I got my license my 1968 Cougar had the seat belts but that never deterred me. Strapping in was like strapping into a jet fighter. I got to test out how they worked only two months later when a car made an ill-advised left turn right in front of me at 35 mph. I slammed in the shoulder belt while my glasses flew off my face into the windshield. The Cougar did survive and is in the garage now. My 68 Mustang and 73 Polara have those separate belts. My 91 Mazda has the motorized shoulder belt attached to the door where a few times in a hurry I have hung myself and it is two separate buckles. Still works, though. As for my 74 Plymouth Duster company car I really don't recall dealing with the system under discussion.
I took my driver's test in my Mom's '68 Cougar in 1979. I drove it until 1990 when we sold it. I do remember that non-retractable shoulder belt. When you were cinched in, you could hardly reach the radio.
We had a 74 Pontiac Lemans with the infuriating seatbeat interlock system. It was awful. It seemed like any weight on the passenger side of the front bench would trigger the interlock. I mean, less than 5 lbs of weight. A book 📖 would set it off. My parents had that system deactivated IMMEDIATELY when the law was repealed. They also had all of the emissions plumbing ripped out because of the constant stalling and hard starting problems. The 350/4v had great power
I remember the dark days of the early EPA smog motors (1973-1983). Fortunately, because the engines had pre-smog legacy, they could be retro-engineered back to normal running condition. Even in the 1980's when early computer controls were installed, if the engine existed in pre-computer configuration, it could be retro-engineered back to that. Case in point. I had a 1985 Olds 88 with the wheezy 307. Numerous annoyances with the electronic Q-Jet motivated me to get some parts out of a 350 Olds in the junkyard and, voila, the 307 was desmogged and decomputerized. The rat's nest of hoses and wiring were gone and the engine ran great. I later had a 1990 Ford Crown Vic. Same idea (donor was a '75 F-150) but, much more involved. In the end, the fuel-injected 5.0L became a reliable and peppy 2bbl 302 grocery getter and everything was easy to get to.
What about the annual vehicle inspections? When we lived in Texas during the late 1970s and the 1980s, the mechanics were under the explicit order to check whether the emission control system wasn't deactivated, disabled, removed, etc. during the inspections. If they weren't present or function, this was automatic fail. You'd be hard pressed to find the mechanic who could look other way for small amount of "donation".
@@InTeCredo I'm sure some States eased off the enforcement as soon as they were able to. I remember when Florida got rid of comprehensive inspections altogether in 1981. True story: the Governor's (Gov. Askew) wife had to wait over an HOUR in line to get her car inspected. She fussed to her Governor husband and, lo and behold, comprehensive auto inspections went away.
It seems odd that Ford and GM are mentioned in this video, but there's no mention of Chrysler. Not to change the subject, but during the 1974-1976 model years, GM offered the first airbags for its Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac divisions. And during the early 1970s, Chrysler offered the first ABS sold in the US on the Imperial.
Hard to imagine not wanting to wear a seat belt, but it takes all kinds; I remember my parents having to pay extra to have rear seatbelts installed in our early sixties wagons. Great channel, thanks.
My dad's cousin drove off a bridge in a convertible TBird and drowned wearing a belt in the early 60s, so he wouldn't wear one until the late 70s. Fortunately, we never had a major accident. He did have front belts installed in the '56 Olds we kids drove to HS in the mid 70s.
Your imitation of the buzzer was impressive. I still remember that. I also remember that the 1973 Ford LTD Country Squire only had belts around the hips and they would tighten automatically. After half an hour of wearing them, they would ignore your belly and then try to stick to the back of the bench completely killing all blood flow to your legs. And it hurted badly. Only remedy was to unbuckle, get the seat belts to their resting position and buckle up again, after which the process repeated itself. As for security awareness, I know in the Netherlands many people would have told you at the time that it was safer to be slung out of a car in an accident than to wear seatbelts and remain seated inside the crashing car. Seeing the fire risk and the crash tests of these old cars, I can follow that line of thinking, but the statistics told otherwise so that story was less popular after a while.
Best friend had a new 1978 or 79 GMC 4 wheel drive truck. We took it across a frozen plowed field and the bumping up and down, the seatbelts ratcheted down more on each bump until I told him to stop so I could release it. Crushing.
I turned 16 in January of 1974. I had been looking forward to getting my license for a very long time. Unfortunately, it seemed the world was conspiring against me, the fuel shortages with resultant high prices, the idiotic 55 mph limit and what they were doing to emasculate new cars, giant bumpers, detuned engines and that stupid seat belt interlock. Many years later I bought a used 74 Pinto wagon to use as a commuter, it had remnants of the interlock system but it had long been disconnected.
My Aunt had a 1991 Mercury Topaz for several years when I was a young boy with the motorized shoulder belt. When she bought the car new in the spring of '91 she actually got an insurance discount for having them, although she hated them with a passion, as a child I liked them and thought the car was very futuristic dispite being a base model with a 5 speed standard transmission, manual locks and manual windows, AM/FM radio with cassette player 😅 My cousin (her son) became an EMT in the early 2000s shortly after the 9/11 attacks and during his first few weeks on the job told me about a head on collision he responded to involving an elderly woman in her 60s who was decapitated from the shoulder belt of one of these late 80s/early 90s cars with the power shoulder belt, it appeared she failed to fasten the lap belt and the shoulder belt caught her by the throat as she slid under. I was in 7th grade at that time and that's when I realized why this feature lasted for less than a decade and then airbags became standard equipment and actually offered additional protection (for adults and larger teens) provided the seat belt is properly fastened. I was glad my aunt got rid of that car before my cousin told me of that gruesome accident. But I do recall seeing a good handful of cars with the power belt when I was a child / teen, seems many of them were Toyota's, Nissan's and Honda's from what I remember.
I had a 1973 Ford LTD while in high school, and I had to be careful of having to much homework as I always placed my books on the passenger seat next to me. I’d get upset with my homework even before leaving school as my weight alarm would sound because of one or two extra homework assignments. My mother wanted a small car once her kids were out of the house so she brought home a brand new 1988 Ford Escort with one of those silly automatic seatbelts. It would scare older relatives and friends until they got use to them. They seemed to think it was a trap. LOL Thanks for your great work in your materials of information in your videos.
I remember that interlock system all too painfully well. I was working part time (summers and college breaks) for a Chrysler-Plymouth-Imperial-AMC dealer and the number of complaints we had about it - and the number of times we were requested to disable it, especially on the big Chrysler products. And I remember the motorized seatbelts too; I owned an '88 Mercury Topaz that had multiple failures of that system over its 356K life. But I've had enough sense to wear seatbelts all my life - my Dad installed them in his '29 Model A Ford roadster when he restored it, on which I learned to drive in the early '70s - and I'm alive because I was wearing one when I was hit head-on by a drunk driver in '79 (he didn't survive, even though he was in a Sedan de Ville vs. my rented LeSabre, because he wasn't wearing one).
Lap/sash combination belts became mandatory fitment in Australian cars in 1967 for front seat outer occupants. Compulsory wearing of them began in 1971-1972 depending on state. They just fined us into wearing them. Retracting belts came around in the very early 70s, and mandatory in 1975.
My ‘74 Gran Torino still had this system hooked up when I got it years ago. It got disconnected real quick haha. Never knew that’s what the red button was for though. Thanks.
I was old enough to have learned to drive during the implementation of these systems and was waiting to pounce on you for the "putting your college books on the passenger seat issue " Personally I never had any of several systems fail on me. Wore both belts my '69 Mach 1 tight enough that in 1977, launching it on about a 50 foot flight resulted in a good landing. As in any landing you could walk away from was a "good landing" (It was January and there were snow banks involved and we'll leave it that)
Adam,you bring back memories of my dad the most pissed off I had ever seen him.He bought our brand new 74 Torino station wagon,brought it home and told my mom that you had buckle the seat belt to drive the car.She didn’t like the idea but went along with it.Well were all set to take a ride and the damn thing would not start,buzzing and Mom and Dad buckling and unbuckling their belts.Dad was cursing in Greek and threatening to throw the car into the Chesapeake Bay. I went with him to the dealer and he laid them out and demanded his money back.Chief mechanic took the car and calmed my dad down and was back in 10 minutes no more seat belts and no more buzzer.Dad was a happy camper,so was Mom.Mike the Greek
Had a new 1990 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS turbo with those motorized seat belts. Worked pretty good and didn't mind at all. That car was all wheel drive and fast as hell. If I recall correctly, it was the fastest 0 to 60 car sold that year, besides exotics. Had a blast blowing the doors off 5.0 mustang etc.
Hi Adam: A most beautiful wagon and I REALLY appreciate you displaying one of your wagons from your portfolio of classic vehicles. More videos or your wagons if you have the availability. Also found this video most informational as to the engineering of these seat belts to the starting of this vehicle. I really enjoy and appreciate your videos!
My father had a 1974 Nova. It was fairly easy to disconnect the buzzer feature. At both the driver and passenger front seats, near the back, bottom of the seat were electrical connectors that snapped together. You just unsnapped these connectors and defeated the buzzer.
I grew up during the 60’s and 70’s, getting my drivers license in 1981. I can remember when the seat belt “law” was put in action. In California, it was a secondary offense, meaning if you were pulled over for speeding, running a stop, that kind of thing, and were not wearing a belt, you’d be cited. Well, the federal DOT didn’t like that and told the states that if they wanted federal Highway funds they needed to make seatbelt enforcement a primary offense.
I wouldn’t say the premature wear on the seat belts was from having to buckle them so often. I think it’s more likely due to lower quality or poorly designed materials in the belts and the guides they passed through. Later years models I’ve owned have never exhibited that kind of wear and have been engaged every bit as often. BTW, that’s a great impression of the warning buzzers from back then.
I agree. I don't see how the interlock would have caused that many more uses of the seat belt than otherwise. His example of having to engage the seat belt for non-trip uses of a vehicle, like solely to back out of a garage? That's a tiny percent of all trips made with a car, not able to add meaningful wear.
Great video as always. My mother had a 1972 Chevelle and it had that loud buzzer that went off if you don’t have the seatbelts fastened. We ended up buckling up the lap belts and stuffed it in the seat.
I remember a lot of people just left the seatbelts fastened all the time and sat on top of the seatbelts....hence another government public safety meggage was issued saying "Don't be caught DEAD sitting on your seatbelts!"
I can give an example of the anti-seatbelt argument. My father was in a single-car accident involving a brake failure that caused the car to go out of control and roll. The car was an old Ford Granada, and as I recall Dad either wasn't wearing a seat belt at all, or was only wearing the lap belt (shoulder belt separate). He was driving and the only occupant. When he lost control, he sort of dived to his right and laid down across the bench seat. The car rolled into a ditch, crushing the driver side roof down to the car's belt line. If he'd been held by the shoulder belt, he'd have been crushed to death. As it was, he received a minor cut on the chin and was otherwise unhurt. Note that I'm not advocating against seat belts or shoulder belts, and probably more modern cars wouldn't crush so easily in the same way, but there was a time when that argument held some validity.
Great video Adam. Very interesting. Please definitely do a video of the GM door-mounted seatbelts as one of the worst inventions. Apparently GM (and the federal government) failed to consider that one of the main purposes of a restraint is to avoid ejection from the vehicle... this did the exact opposite and made that a possibility in a crash. A cheap way to meet the passive restraint requirement, and a horrible idea all around. If I recall, I believe Toyota and Honda also used door-mounted belts on their Accord and Camry coupes for a period of time.
I was appalled when I saw those door-mounted shoulder anchors because they "prod" into the space where many of the heads would collide during the side impact collision, causing the extensive injury to the skull, scalp, and brain (if the impact was violent enough to crack the skull). I brought this up to the NHTSA and the senators: they didn't act on it, though. General Motors was world's worst bully when it came to the safety mandates; GM pointed out that Volkswagen had installed the door-mounted shoulder anchors in some of the Rabbits (they were three, not five, doors so the shoulder anchor was further away behind the drivers and passengers).
Yup I had a '91 Corolla GT-S with the door-mounted shoulder belts, loved that car MISS that car dearly for the simplicity, reliability and fun factor but that had to be the WORST seat belt arrangement I'd ever seen! And that's coming from a guy who also owned a 1972 Pinto that had separate seat and shoulder belts and the light and buzzer! To me this was actually a dangerous arrangement. At least with the Pinto you could put on the seat belt with out the shoulder belt (but not the opposite as the shoulder belt hooked into the seatbelt piece), but with the later 1980's to early 1990's design you only had a shoulder belt on unless you remembered to also put on the seatbelt and being in that state in an accident with a shoulder but no lap belt was a very, very bad thing!
I have that seat belt feature on my 75 imperial crown coupe. What a pain in the ass! It is getting a new vinyl top this winter, and that feature is going away! Love your channel, Adam!
As a current owner of a “Classic” 1974 Pinto I can attest how annoying and poorly designed the system is, I literally have to put on the seatbelt to move the car into the garage. And I always wondered why my seatbelts are worn out (it has low miles) thanks Adam! I now know why! I also had a 92 Mercury Topaz with the automatic seatbelts and most times I didn’t bother with the lap belt….Safety First!
Many people, including in my family, just hooked the belt up once and sat on them. Later in the 70s, the buckles stood up off the seat in plastic holders so that didn't work, but they were easier to buckle. Our '68 Electra had an entirely separate (large!) buckle on a strap for the shoulder belt, so there 5 buckles on long belts on the front seat (plus 3 in the back) that were all shoved in the crevice. There was at least one study that found that belted drivers tended to cause more accidents because the belt gave them an enhanced sense of security. I'm one of the few people who liked the door-mounted belts because it didn't dig into my scrawny collarbone like pillar- or seat-mounted belts usually do.
My first car, a 1974 Chevrolet Vega Kammback, had this system and my parents LOVED it…for me…a 16 yo boy. It did get me into the habit of wearing a seatbelt 100% of the time. However, even today, I ride around with the passenger seatbelt firmly secured with no one in the seat! Old habits die hard!
My buddy had a 74 Buick Electra. If you sat in the passenger seat without the seatbelt fastened, it would cut out the starter. If he was in the middle of cranking it and you put weight on the seat, it would kill the starter immediately.
My dad bought a brand new 74 Dodge Monoco. I distinctly remember the sales manager telling him how to defeat that system. It was a simple wire connector under the seat that you had to disconnect, and that was all there was to it on the Chrysler corp cars.
In Canada, we were lucky not to get this system. But cars were still wired to get this system until early in the 1975 model year (they had a black jumper plug next to the brake booster where the defeat button would have been on a car with the seat belt interlock). If you got a car with the airbag restraint, it also eliminated the seatbelt warning light and buzzer, eliminated the standard shoulder belts and the seat belt guided on the headrests of GM cars as well. I've searched for years for a 1974-7) GM car with airbags so I wouldn't have those annoying shoulder belts. Back in 1992, I had offered to buy a 1975 Park Avenue that wasn't for sale and the owner had kept my phone number in case he's decide to sell it but he finally sent it to the junkyard rather than selling it to me as it had been hit in a parking lot by someone who had a heart attack and he thought I wouldn't want it with that damage (it was a high mileage car that needed restoration, more likely needed to be sold to Derby guys as this is what happened to a lot of these cars!). It took me 9 years in those pre-internet and early internet days to find another one! I found a black and white ad in an auto trader magazine of my current 1975 Electra which seemed not to have shoulder belts. I figured I'd have to call for this one! Still have it 22 years later.
Thank you for covering this! The buzzer required for '72 was annoying enough (my parents '72 Dart for example) but this was a whole level above in irritation. As an 8 year old in 1974, even I realized it was draconian! Our '78 Dodge Omni had a 30 second raspy reminder, and the subsequent Toyotas and Mazdas I encountered had pleasant but insistent chimes. 😂
I recall in high school 42 years ago, that the class was called together to watch a filmstrip of car accidents. I can still remember the scenes from the film and when I left in my car that day, I wore my seatbelt and drove about 30 mph. Two weeks later, I stopped wearing the seatbelt in my 1975 Chevy Nova. Safety improvements have come a long way, such as airbags, that many people owe their life to. Today, I could never drive without a seatbelt on because without it, it feels unnatural.
Back in 1973-1974, GM did a two year experiment with offering optional airbags in its B-body cars. They came and went without fanfare UNTIL in the mid-1980's, when a Reader's Digest story showed up and told how two cars had a head on collision (drunk driver). One of the cars was a 1974 Olds 88 with the airbags and the other didn't (can't remember what make and model). The driver of the Olds 88 was also wearing his seatbelt and he walked away (bruised a bit) from the crash because of the airbag. The drunk driver died and the body looked pretty bad from the impact. THAT story got Congress's and the media's attention and it wasn't long before public pressure caused the NHTSA to tell the automakers to start offering airbags again. Later on, airbags became mandatory.
@BlackPill-pu4vi airbags were first made mandatory on driver's side only, around 92 or 93. I think 1994 was first year for dual airbags. Who knows if they are better than seat/shoulder belts alone, though I suspect they do reduce fatalities somewhat. As long as they don't explode suddenly during a quiet Sunday drive like the Takata airbags did.
@@johnlandacre767 it definitely wasn't 1992 when a driver's airbag was mandatory although my mother's 1991 Mercury Sable station wagon she had for about 4 years in the early 2000s when I was in middle/high school had a driver's side airbag, but not for the passenger side. My first car was a red 1992 Pontiac Sunbird convertible , 3.1L V6 5 speed standard transmission, no airbags but the front seatbelts were mounted on the door, drove it for about 2 and a half years when I was in college, paid $1000 for the car in 2013 and parted it out in the fall of 2015 a few months after I graduated because the body was rotting out, the top leaked like a sieve when it rained and was having some electrical problems as a result. Engine and transmission ran like a champ and it still drove and handled well, but I was concerned about the door popping open in a crash and that was a large factor in my decision to get rid of it. But I was the popular one in college, driving with the top down wearing aviator sunglass in the summer and got my money for nothing and my chicks for free 😎 Good times. Currently drive a 2014 mustang convertible, V6 automatic, and a 2011 Toyota Tacoma 4 cylinder 5 speed manual for work.
@@Sparky-ww5re I am mistaken. Internet info lists 1998 as first year for mandatory dual airbags. But I sold cars in 97-99, and remember several early 90s cars had driver side airbags. We bought a 1994 Nissan Altima, and it had dual airbags. So I guess I was extrapolating info from that. Let’s say the farther into the 90s one goes, the more common airbags became.
I think that it's great you featured this system on your channel, Adam. I'm sure many of your viewers have never heard of it. I agree with you (and most Americans of the time) this was a stop too far. FYI, shoulder belts were required by law in all cars manufactured for sale in the US effective January 1, 1968. The buzzer wired to the seat belts/passenger seat was required beginning January 1, 1972.
I had a 1988 Ford Tempo GLS company car. It had the motorized seatbelts. One night I was staying in a hotel and the temperature dropped to 18 below zero Fahrenheit. That morning, in addition to the engine cranking extremely slowly the motorized seatbelt would not retract into driving position, but stayed way forward. A few gentle tugs produced nothing. I wound up driving the car for at least 15 minutes before it ssssllllloooowwwwlllyyy began to creep across the door sill. When I arrived at my destination, it wouldn’t release. I had to crawl under it to get out. Right around that same time I rented a Dodge Spirit I believe it was, it also had the motorized shoulder belt. I had flipped the sun visor over to the side window to block the sun. When I arrived at my destination, I opened the door before I flipped the sun visor back. The motorized belt caught it and literally ripped it off of its bracket. When I returned the car I carried the visor into the desk along with the keys. The desk clerk asked, “what’s that?” I told him it was the sun visor from the drivers side. The clerk said, “what made you decide to take that off of the car and bring it in here?” I said “the car decided it didn’t want it anymore I guess.” I then explained what happened. They did not charge me for any damage.
when I was looking at my first car, I got a 1990 Ford Tempo, I made sure to dig and dig for one with the optional driver's side air bag(option since 86), this way it did not have the motorized seatbelts. Great video!!
I was surprised you didn’t mention that the early seatbelt retractors in 1974 would lock too easily, for reining you in when in sudden stops. Only problem is if you pulled the belt out too quickly it would lock! Repeatedly! Until that belt was connected you weren’t going anywhere and the connection was iffy requiring multiple insertions, so good luck!
Yup those early belts were not inertial, they were just plain RATCHETS, soon as you gave 'em slack they locked and they could only get tighter not looser! But I'll give you one even worse, I remember putting on the seat belts in my friend's '68 Camaro or grandparents' '66 Cadillac, not even a ratchet---you had to pull out the side of the belt on the retractor fully and cinch up the other side of the belt in the buckle until it was tight, if you just put the thing on and let it retract you weren't doing it right and had way too much play in the seatbelt!
I bought a new 75 Mustang II in early 75. It had the seat belt interlock, that I actually disconnected in a parking lot just outside the dealership. The buzzer had to wait until I got home. My car was an early production model, because most 75's didn't have that 'feature'. As for those motorized belts, as a mechanic, I would often reach in thru the window to start the car or just turn the ign on, only to get strangled by that stupid motorized belt! Glad all that garbage is behind us now.
I remember as a kid of the 1960s rarely buckling up until the government mandated it. Our family’s ‘73 Impala featured that constant, irritating buzzer that forced buckling, although many like my dad just buckled the seat belt and sat on it when driving. Later, my ‘91 Ford Escort wagon featured those odd automated belts that ran in a track along the upper door frame. I knew an older guy as late as 2002 who still resented governments ticketing people for going beltless, just as many states require motorcyclists to wear a brain bucket. Offering safety features is one thing, but mandating their use is another. I wonder how many car safety mandates are driven by insurance lobbies. Yes, I always buckle up, but I believe people should have the right to not do so. I don’t want to end up being cocooned in government-mandated bubble wrap because Washington has decided I’m too stupid to walk down the road without it.
My first car in 1974 was a 1974 Honda Civic hatchback which had the seatbelt/starter interlock. I removed one fuse and disabled it. I always wore my seatbelt on the road but not to back out of the garage!
I could be wrong but as I recall the government regulation was for a "passive restraint" system. I think it was actually about air bags, which were newly available at the time, but I believe the manufacturers found they could install a Seat Belt Interlock System to meet the requirement for much less money than what an air bag system would cost and being always cost conscious the Seat Belt Interlock System is what the manufacturers went for. It was truly a terrible system and as you said it didn't last, the legislation was revoked and it took another 20 years to bring in the air bag specific "passive restraint" requirement we have today.
Thank you Adam. I remember the buzzers and how loud they were. They were replaced with chimes and bells. I recall the GM cars in the 80's and early 90's with the passive seatbelt system. There is a MotorWeek video here on You Tube where they show it. I think it was 1987 or 1988 Pontiac Bonneville where they displayed this. They talked about how easy it was to defeat it.
I have a 1983 Mercedes 380SEC Coupe that has those mechanical seat belts, or what they term the "seat belt presenters". When you turn the ignition on a mechanical arm extends from the side of the chopped B-pillar, prompting you to take the belt; once it is clicked into the buckle, the presenter arm retracts back into it's housing. By the time I bought the car used it had already had both of these mechanisms replaced due to prior failure.
Had a motorized belt in a 90 Plymouth Laser. Once in a while, I would put my head to the left and open the door to see where I was in a parking space or something, and the belt would move back and wrap around my neck!
I remember the motorized belt primarily in small round fords. Escort Tempo etc. I have had numerous GM models with the passive belt. Admittedly in that time I was very passionate about keeping the car 100% as the owners manual intended and using every feature of the car as designed. I tried really hard to keep the seatbelt buckled I didn’t like the drag it put on opening the door, more than I disliked sliding under it. By the time I made it to my 92 Brougham which was the last car I had which employed this two striker door mounted seatbelt I had stopped leaving it latched. If I was to add one to my very modest collection today I’d probably leave it buckled as part of the experience. Much like I leave twilight sentinel on max delay or like I have memory seats and columns set on max lower (or raise) and retract on exit.
My ‘74 Pinto Squire, same color, same wood, had all that you just showed, including the bypass button under the hood. All the interlock stuff was already disconnected when I got the car in ‘81, but the modem lap / shoulder belt setup was easy to use, and that’s when I started wearing the belts. Six years later I got hit across the front, and the belts kept me where I needed to be.
My father bought a new 1974 Chevrolet Vega. He lived with the system for about a month until a friend of his (who worked at a car repair garage) disconnected it for him. If you were mechanically inclined it was not difficult to defeat.
There's a Paul Newman movie with a 1974 full size Ford sedan that opens with comic relief where Newman is introduced as Harper and then starts the Ford ad his rental car from the airport and hears the seat belt buzzer and gives a smirk, and the buzzer sounds and he disconnects it and smiles with approval and relief, many identified with him.
Been driving since 1976. In 1980 I worked with a guy who was a huge seatbelt advocate. He got me in the habit then and Ive worn them religiously ever since.
In 1974 my grandpa {who ran a MOPAR dealership from 1946-1979} had a '72 Chrysler Newport 400 4bbl & my dad had a '73 Plymouth Fury III 360 4bbl, my aunt had new '74 Cadillac Fleetwood, my uncle was still driving his '70 Dodge pickup 440 4bbl! I remember so many times me & my brothers would ride on the tailgate of uncle Terry's truck even going down the interstate at 60-65 mph & dragging our shoes on the pavement with cars right us & funny thing is we never felt scared ✌💖☮
I ordered a new 74 Mustang II while deployed and I ordered the Factory Service Manual at the same time before I returned from WestPac to pick up my new car in Reno. While I was on the Ship, I studied the manual and about an hour after we picked up the new car, that system was by-passed. I did keep the buzzer as we always wore out seat belts.
My mother had a '74 Custome 500 (Ford Galaxie) wagon similar to that Merc. At first we'd hook the belts on the window cranks; pulling it partway out was enough, you didn't have to buckle it. Within months we found the plug under the seat and disabled the seatbelt alarm. When I was in my teens I got an early-production '74 LTD, and the alarm and the interlock had already been defeated on that car. I started wearing my belt in the late 80s when I nearly slid out of the bucket seat during an abrupt collision avoidance maneuver in a company Ford Aerostar van. I also had one VW Rabbit with the shoulder belt attached to the door, and a Saturn with the "mouse" belt. The Saturn belt shuttle got sticky and unreliable.
Hi Adam. Very informative. Just brought me back to youth/teens in the 70s. When I was young. Rebelled against any laws and kinda stupid. Street race in my 70 RS/SS Camaro. Not wearing any seatbelts. And ride my motorcycle with no helmets. Ohhhh how’d I survived. On my 74 Trans Am. I just clicked all the seatbelts together and just sat on them. Yes. Young and stupid.
A Blast From the Past. Yes, I'm old enough to have owned a 1974 car with the seatbelt interlock (bought new). It was every bit as annoying as you describe. On maybe the third visit to the dealer for service, they offered to defeat it and I accepted without "Much" glee. But, as you point out, that's not all that was screwed up in 1974. After I'd owned the car for 3 years I went to graduate school (700 miles from home). A couple of months into the academic year, the car started to hesitate badly and sometimes just fail to start. I tried a number of diagnostic tests and got nowhere -- being an engineering student I tried to avoid taking it to a dealer. Finally I had a brainstorm: it was driving as if there was no spark advance. I read in the shop manual that there was vacuum advance (no microprocessors in those days) and I traced the hose from a diaphragm on the distributor to the intake manifold. Well, what's this white and black plastic thing inline with the hose? I looked it up in the shop manual and it was a "Spark Delay Valve." I took it off and connected the hose direct to the distributor. The engine roared into enthusiastic life. Problem solved. Hesitation gone when I drove around the block. I later bought a new SDV and the engine ran "Almost" as well as without it. My theory is that the SDV had a finite life and eventually became plugged. Emissions controls in the 70's depended heavily on a retarded spark. On the other hand, my latest car (2022) has a truly annoying alarm that goes off if I try to drive without the seat belt buckled. If I ignore it, it gets twice as loud after the first 20 seconds. We're "Back To the Future."
My first car was a 1973 Chevy Impala from my parents and it had that dreaded "brzzzzz" seat belt buzzer you described, along with that two-piece shoulder/lap system. To defeat it was a simple matter of unplugging the harness under the front seat. Thank goodness.
My parents had one that required us to buckle up. My dad was a fan of seat belts so we always followed the procedure. Oh yes, that sound of the buzzer is pretty unforgettable.
My second car was a '74 AMC Hornet Sportabout D/L wagon with factory 304 v8. No seatbelt interlock. It had the one piece shoulder/lap belt, no buzzer connected to seatbelt. Had this car from '93 to '97. It was a fun sleeper😁
I recall my aunt and uncle had a 1972 duster. I learned what they had done to defeat the buzzer was to tie a knot in the lap belt such that it would not fully retract. This was enough to fool the system into thinking it was buckled
I was a kid in 1974 but what I remember almost everyone doing was just leaving the front seat belts buckled and stuffing them under the front seat back. This made getting in the back seat of a 2 door car a lot harder especially in certain models.
I was thinking, he lives in a pretty nice place, I wonder what state that is, then I realized that none of the leaves on the trees are swaying in the breeze. He must have a shop, that he's painted the wall so he can green-screen and drop in some lovely background. Well played, sir.
A Ford salesman showed me the trick to starting my (at the time) girlfriend's 1974 Mustang II. Just pull the seatbelt out a few inches and that would allow you to start the car. Eventually I found the warning buzzer and disconnected it. Problem solved until she rear ended someone and then started to always wear a seatbelt. Who would have thunk it!
My 1974 Maverick has this system, although it only detects when the belt is pulled out of the retractor, not when its buckled. I kept the system working cause I thought it was neat, but I eventually disabled it cause it was so annoying. Great video!
The interlock was well-intentioned, since only about 10% to 20% of people wore their seat belts regularly at the time, but poorly implemented. It also didn't help that the seat belts in many 1970s American cars were hard to reach, cumbersome to fasten, and uncomfortable to wear. They also loved to use metal buckles that could burn you if you grabbed them after the car had been sitting in the hot sun.
My first car was a '74 AMC Javelin, and the interlock system failed. So, whenever I wanted to start the car, I had to open the hood and press the button. In hindsight, I absolutely should have overridden it! My "daily" driver was a '90 Ford Tempo with automatic shoulder belts. Luckily, I never had the typical issues with them. My friends used to get a kick out of pulling the retractor lock lever on the center console while I was driving, which would cause the seatbelt light in the cluster to flash, a big red light on the console to flash, and then the dreaded "ding ding ding" noise.
My oldest sister bought a Ford Maverick when they first came out, the shoulder harness would not allow any movement forward o ce you had it adjusted and buckled. If you needed to lean forward for any reason you had to unbuckle it, or you had to llatch it very loosely, a lot of slop, which meant you are probably going to hit the steering wheel anyway.
I remember the motorized belts but thought they were in order to pass the Feds new regs that there had to be a passive system in the car by a certain model year. The idea was that it would mean standard airbags, but manufacturers of cheaper models that were near the end of thier life cycle could stick in motorized belts until the new model that had airbags designed in would come to market.
Hey Adam, thanks for another great review. I'll start by saying Ford's wagons were always great looking and performing cars. In the late 60s, Ford earned the title "The Wagonmaster", as well they were. It only got better from there. The 1973 through 1978 Ford and Mercury wagons were the best-looking, best-looking running, and most comfortable of any full-size American wagon. Yours is beautiful, and not surprisingly, it's in excellent condition. I had a 1975 white with medium Prarie tan tuck and roll vinyl seats and interior door panels with dark Sable brown dashboard and thick shagg carpet the same as yours. It also had a 460 cubic inch engine with a Motorcraft 4300 4 barrel carburetor. It was completely optioned with all available accessories avaliable, including ATC and a factory locking hood release, I thought was very cool. That wagon was the go to car for my family and friends. Everyone loved it. At the time, Ford made heavy use of engine vacuum to power all the accessories, including the headlight doors and the ATC system. There were vacuum motors. Canisters, check valves and about 47 miles of vacuum hoses that were all color coded to identify what system they were a part of. Even the headlight switch had to have vacuum routed through it to operate the headlight doors, vary complex. I always thought powering the headlight doors with vacuum gave them a very nice, slow action as they opened and closed. A very elegant touch. And the ATC system seemed alive. As the system would adjust the temperature and fan speeds, all eight speeds by the way, you could hear the vacuum operating the various doors and motors under the dash. It would tick, and whezz as it would release the vacuum. I'm sure yours does the same thing. I learned a lot about how it all worked maintaining the system. I would lose vacuum when I drove it in the High Sierras because the air was so thin, especially on hot days. It suffered from High Density Altitude syndrome, just as aircraft does. I drove all my friends crazy troubleshooting that problem. I added extra storage Canisters, vacuum motors to increase available vacuum. Ford recommended downsizing the jets in the carburetor, but that would effect the performance. I had to separate the ATC from the rest of the system and add a Cadillac vacuum motor they used for their door locks. That 460 was great, a perfect fit for that big wagon. I could climb the steep Sierra grades with a full load and 6 passengers and it never let me down. It got 10 mpg no matter what the weather or road conditions. By the time I got that wagon, we all had been dealing with those nasty seat belt sensors so I we knew how to disable them from the system. I remember on the late 60s Fords there were two separate belts. The shoulder belts didn't retract, they clipped to the headliner with big clips. The buzzers and lights were easy to bypass. Interestingly enough, as we got older, and the restraint systems got better and easier to work with. But as you mentioned, once you lived through an intense accident and saw how the belts saved your life, it became second nature to wear belts every time you got it the car. Now I wouldn't think of not wearing my belts and I won't move the car unless all passengers have their belts fastened tightly across their hips and chests, no matter how much they push back. I look forward to watching your next review. I saw one on a 73 black Imperial that looks interesting.
As I vaguely recall our 1972 Chevy had some kind of system where if you did not buckle the seat belt, the buzzer would stay on until you buckled it. The workaround was just to keep the seatbelts on the front seat buckled at all times even if you did not use them. And the sensor did not know if you used the separate shoulder belt. So that thing just hung in place on the roof. What changed things for us after a few cars, was that seat belt use became mandatory by law and if anyone got caught they were subject to a large fine that graduated on repeated offenses. The law is still in effect today, but for the most part I am used to driving with my seat belts fastened at all times whenever the car is in motion.
My 1980 Rabbit had a motorized shoulder belt, and a padded knee bar instead of a lap belt. In a crash I guess it would keep you from sliding under the shoulder belt, but your knees would be wrecked. I couldn’t understand how such a thing complied with regulations.
My dad brought home a few year old Pinto Squire trade in for my mom to drive and consider for a family car. I remember sitting in the passenger seat and lifting my little butt on and off the seat to hear the “ehhh, ehhh, ehhh” of the seatbelt buzzer due to the weight sensor in the seat. We didn’t buy it. We got a 1 year old Honda Civic instead. Years later my wife had a ‘94 Saturn SC2 with motorized seatbelts. A few months into her ownership, while Driving down the road, the front seatbelts suddenly started motoring back and forth on the track. Off to the dealership. Fortunately the astute service writer at the Saturn dealer observed her iced tea wedged in between the seat and the e-brake ( no cup holder in this car). What we didn’t know was that Right underneath the sweating cup of cold tea was the control unit for the seatbelt motors. He advised her the put a towel under her drink to catch the condensation. She never had the problem again. I will say Those seatbelts were pretty good about ripping the sunglasses off your face if you tried to exit the vehicle too quickly before they had completed their trajectory when you shut the car off. Good times!
In 1974 - 1977 I worked at a gas station, while in high school. More than once I got into a 74 customer's car to pull into the bay for service work. I would turn the key and nothing, not a thing would happen, no sound, nothing. I would have a "what the hell" moment until I realized, it's a 1974 car. On went the seat belt for the at most, 30 second drive into the bay. Putting on the belt was probably a good thing, as I could of reach speeds as high as 5 MPH when pulling in. The same thing happened now and again when I went to pull the car back out, but more times than not I would remember I was dealing with a 74 and just go ahead and put the belt on before turning the key. As a side note, I had a 72 Olds Cutlass that had the buzz forever system with no belt on. It was easily defeated by opening the floor seat belt retractor on each side and unplugging it. I am sure it was set up that way on purpose so it could be so easy bypassed.
Got an odd safety rule for you. If you bought 1974-76 Oldsmobile, Buick ,or Cadillac with the ACRS ( airbags ), the shoulder seat belts were deleted! In hindsight, kinda counter-productive
I’m old enough to remember the time when people freaked out about the new seatbelt laws that were coming into effect in the early-mid 80s. But as it is now, I cannot even imagine driving without a belt strapped on. I feel extremely vulnerable and “naked” without it fastened.
I can remember the old common mom and grandma practice of throwing their right arm out in front of me during sudden emergency stops. Like that’s gonna save my life in a head-on!
Edit: now more commonly known as Frank Costanza’s “I stop short!!” method.
I am probably older than you. We were taught in school how to 'tuck down' if we saw an accident happening. We were also taught that if we were not wearing a seat belt we would be 'thrown clear.' Of the accident. I have a 1955 Thunderbird with seatbelts. A factory option. Most people back then didn't want them.
I think part of that feeling is related to the sheer amount of cars on the road, as well as the sheer number insane drivers in the cars.
@@Colorado_Native I remember my dad saying something like that (born 49). That the idea, even for the driver, was to throw yourself down into the passenger footwell if you could. That’s just amazing to me. Adam mentioned this in the video vaguely as well.
The thrown clear argument is crazy too. I know people have freakishly been saved by that happening before, but still, flying through a windshield, or out the side window if “lucky”, and then hitting the pavement or solid ground still sounds awfully dicey.
It’s amazing how far vehicle safety has come.
@@tylernewton7217 True. When I was in high school I worked for a guy. His brother didn't like to wear seatbelts. He got drunk, hit a telephone pole, and went flying out the driver's side rolled-down window. We reclaimed the car, a Ford LTD, and he had actually bent the steering wheel on his departure. He was DOA. Thanks for the reply.
I hear ya!
Nowadays cars tell you that the engine is on, or your door is open, and my favorite, check the rear seat for passengers when you shut them off.
A few years ago I owned a 1974 Imperial that had a functional seatbelt interlock system. I considered that to be unique so I left it alone and did not defeat it.
That is one beautiful station wagon!
Adam, 1974 was a strange year. Nixon resigns, disco begins, pet rock debuted, and "Convoy hit #1. I'm surprised they recently didn't try to reinstate that interlock.
The 70's had a lot of bad things going on. At least the pop music at the time was memorable.
All those leaded gas fumes in metro areas made people more stupid. Literally. I saw a study about it years ago and it showed IQ reduction in populations for a period of time surrounding the use of leaded gas as fuel.
@@robertkeeney3898 '74 was a good year for music.
but we had the Rockford Files, Good Times, Chico & the Man & Happy Days on TV & The Longest Yard, Blazing Saddles, Texas Chainsaw Massacre & 2 of my favorites Dirty Mary Crazy Larry & Gone In 60 Seconds! Nixon was an idiot, took me many many many years after disco to actually like it {I was more into hard rock}, had a pet rock but it died & Convoy was an excellent movie! ✌💖☮
These days they don’t care about safety so much, they are more concerned about forcing electric cars that catch fire on us.
I got my driver license (unlaminated paper, no photo) at 16, in 1976, in a '74 Dodge Monaco. Like most families, mine had disconnected the seat switches about 0.5 days into owning the car. Knowing that the person administering my exam could fail me if the car had "defective" equipment, I hooked them back up that morning before my older brother begrudgingly drove me to the examination station. Even though the cars with interlocks had been around for over two years by then, the sweet little old lady who administered the exam was completely befuddled by it - as if no one had EVER come in with the system engaged. She kept telling me she didn't need to put on her seat belt, and I should just start the car. It took a couple of minutes and a lot of buzzing to convince her that I couldn't start it until she buckled up. She muttered about it for the entire drive, but I passed.
A couple of years later I got my first car, a '74 LeMans, and of course the seat switches had been disconnected. I hooked the system back up, because I knew that seat belts were a good thing. A few of my friends grumbled but most adapted, and as I knew it would, it trained me to put the seat belt on out of habit. After I was first in the habit, I got a lot of side-eye when I'd use them in other people's cars. Now, finally, it's habit for almost everyone.
Having the interlock engaged sucks if you don't have an automatic garage door opener. Luckily the parents had one for the Monaco, and when I owned the LeMans I was too poor to live anywhere that had a garage 🙂
my '74 corvette had its seat sensors removed and the interlock override under the hood all mangled up to bypass the system...before I bought it almost 30 years ago...and which *mostly* worked. I found a clean original override which of course caused the car to not start due to the missing sensors, but found online the way to invisibly short the override and now I have an underhood back to looking stock and clean, on a car that starts every time! hard to imagine a time where people had to be forced to use seatbelts...it's so automatic now.
I worked at a Cadillac dealer as a lot attendant in the mid 70's so we had many 1974's coming through on a daily basis. To move them around the lot, we would lift out butts off of the seat to get it to start and then drive it to the destination on-site with that stupid buzzer blaring. I also remember the motorized belts trying to strangle you. Good times.
The motorized seat belts were the manufacturer way to save a few bucks of putting air bags in. Lost more sales due to the Micky Mouse motorized seat belts that always seemed to break early on.
The owner's manual for my dad's 1974 Oldsmobile 98 mentioned the seat belt interlock and front passenger occupancy sensor, but it was only on models sold in the US. My dad's Oldsmobile was made for export to Canada. It did not have the interlock.
I didn't begin wearing seatbelts religiously until I was stationed in Germany in 1983, where it was mandatory by law -- not by some sort of mechanism in the vehicle (1978 Nova). It became a habit and like others have observed, I now feel naked without the belt on -- but I never owned a vehicle that had these silly lock-the-car-out sensors. But my current 2018 Toyota Sienna does indeed have a chime that oh-so-gently reminds me that the belt isn't fastened when I'm driving the car into the garage. I can put up with that, but to lock out my car? No thanks.
I remember those GM door mounted seatbelts on a couple of Olds Cutlass Ciera models my Dad had as well as a Chevy Lumina coupe I owned. We were seatbelt wearers from way back (we wore them regularly even in the early 70's). In our case, we just left the door mounted belts unbuckled and then would just put them on after closing the door. Worked fine for us. We tried using them by design and leaving them buckled full time - hated it!
Seatbelt use was a huge thing with my family from my earliest years. When I was 1 in 1971, my parents’ friends lost a child who’d bounced against a rear door, which opened and ejected the child. After that, my folks traded their big station wagon for a Volvo P1800ES and we did not have another 4 door primary vehicle for many years. Thanks to 2 door coupe backseats and seatbelts, my sister and I were kept pretty safe as kids.
It's weird that belts in the back seat took a long time to be commonplace.
My family was the same. My folks always drove a coupe when I was little so that I was unable to open a door while in the back seat. My earliest childhood memories involve riding in a huge T-Bird coupe in the back seat😁
I sat in my fathers lap....
Thinking back, My parents mostly drove two door coupes also.
The one time we had a four door was when Grandma gave us her '77 Fury and wouldn't you know the one time my little brother was sitting in the back, mom took a turn on a side street and the door closest to him opened up. Mom freaked out. Thankfully little bro didn't fly out the car.
My family had two 1965 Chevy Impalas (SW and Sport Coupe) with optional seatbelts in all passenger positions front and rear, even the third seat in the wagon. They had also had belts in their previous1957 Ford. AND they actually followed the recommendation in the manual that the belts be changed at specified mileage/ duration of use (at least in the wagon, as the coupe was gone by then). The Service Manager at the dealership commented that those were the only belts he had actually ever replaced.
Very intelligent family!! 👏👏👏👏
I remember the first time I drove a car with motorized belts. A family member worked for Saab at the time, and he would always have different cars to drive around. One day, he drove a little white 900S into the driveway and tossed me the keys. He told me to take it out and tell him what I think afterwards.
I was excited, because I loved driving those things (I was 18 at the time). When the belt starting coming at me, I thought I was about to be decapitated. Other than that, It was a fun drive! When I got back I told him about the seat belt, and he made a note of it. I don't think they ever released a retractable shoulder belt version of the Saab 900, and I like to think I was a part of that decision.
I had a 1974 Pontiac Grand Prix and was told the system was hard to defeat but we unplugged the weight sensors on front seats and car started with everything working.
The rental car we had in Hawaii in 1974 had this system and drove my parents crazy trying to get it to work properly. Great vacation for a 8 year old. My 1988 Maxima had those electric seat-belts, I did not like that. We have come a long way since then, cars with 10 airbags, and all the other safety equipment.
I learned from a car salesman that certain metal washers from the hardware store could be plugged into the buckles. Alternatively, those plastic tag style key rings could be plugged in to disable the interlock.
I took driver's training in the Fall of 1969 and seat belt use was mandatory and drilled into us. Once I got my license my 1968 Cougar had the seat belts but that never deterred me. Strapping in was like strapping into a jet fighter. I got to test out how they worked only two months later when a car made an ill-advised left turn right in front of me at 35 mph. I slammed in the shoulder belt while my glasses flew off my face into the windshield. The Cougar did survive and is in the garage now. My 68 Mustang and 73 Polara have those separate belts. My 91 Mazda has the motorized shoulder belt attached to the door where a few times in a hurry I have hung myself and it is two separate buckles. Still works, though. As for my 74 Plymouth Duster company car I really don't recall dealing with the system under discussion.
I took my driver's test in my Mom's '68 Cougar in 1979. I drove it until 1990 when we sold it. I do remember that non-retractable shoulder belt. When you were cinched in, you could hardly reach the radio.
We had a 74 Pontiac Lemans with the infuriating seatbeat interlock system. It was awful. It seemed like any weight on the passenger side of the front bench would trigger the interlock. I mean, less than 5 lbs of weight. A book 📖 would set it off. My parents had that system deactivated IMMEDIATELY when the law was repealed. They also had all of the emissions plumbing ripped out because of the constant stalling and hard starting problems. The 350/4v had great power
I remember the dark days of the early EPA smog motors (1973-1983). Fortunately, because the engines had pre-smog legacy, they could be retro-engineered back to normal running condition. Even in the 1980's when early computer controls were installed, if the engine existed in pre-computer configuration, it could be retro-engineered back to that.
Case in point. I had a 1985 Olds 88 with the wheezy 307. Numerous annoyances with the electronic Q-Jet motivated me to get some parts out of a 350 Olds in the junkyard and, voila, the 307 was desmogged and decomputerized. The rat's nest of hoses and wiring were gone and the engine ran great.
I later had a 1990 Ford Crown Vic. Same idea (donor was a '75 F-150) but, much more involved. In the end, the fuel-injected 5.0L became a reliable and peppy 2bbl 302 grocery getter and everything was easy to get to.
What about the annual vehicle inspections? When we lived in Texas during the late 1970s and the 1980s, the mechanics were under the explicit order to check whether the emission control system wasn't deactivated, disabled, removed, etc. during the inspections. If they weren't present or function, this was automatic fail. You'd be hard pressed to find the mechanic who could look other way for small amount of "donation".
@@InTeCredo I'm sure some States eased off the enforcement as soon as they were able to. I remember when Florida got rid of comprehensive inspections altogether in 1981.
True story: the Governor's (Gov. Askew) wife had to wait over an HOUR in line to get her car inspected. She fussed to her Governor husband and, lo and behold, comprehensive auto inspections went away.
The 73-75 cars were the WORST running cars ever. Used lots of gas, had little power, and gave lots of trouble.
It seems odd that Ford and GM are mentioned in this video, but there's no mention of Chrysler. Not to change the subject, but during the 1974-1976 model years, GM offered the first airbags for its Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac divisions. And during the early 1970s, Chrysler offered the first ABS sold in the US on the Imperial.
I have a 71 imperial with the 4 wheel "anti-skid" feature! Amazingly, it still works quite well.. better than more modern systems..
Hard to imagine not wanting to wear a seat belt, but it takes all kinds; I remember my parents having to pay extra to have rear seatbelts installed in our early sixties wagons. Great channel, thanks.
My dad's cousin drove off a bridge in a convertible TBird and drowned wearing a belt in the early 60s, so he wouldn't wear one until the late 70s. Fortunately, we never had a major accident. He did have front belts installed in the '56 Olds we kids drove to HS in the mid 70s.
Adam, I am shocked to see you pulled this irreplaceable Colony Park out of storage in the early winter! 🤨
Your imitation of the buzzer was impressive. I still remember that. I also remember that the 1973 Ford LTD Country Squire only had belts around the hips and they would tighten automatically. After half an hour of wearing them, they would ignore your belly and then try to stick to the back of the bench completely killing all blood flow to your legs. And it hurted badly. Only remedy was to unbuckle, get the seat belts to their resting position and buckle up again, after which the process repeated itself. As for security awareness, I know in the Netherlands many people would have told you at the time that it was safer to be slung out of a car in an accident than to wear seatbelts and remain seated inside the crashing car. Seeing the fire risk and the crash tests of these old cars, I can follow that line of thinking, but the statistics told otherwise so that story was less popular after a while.
Best friend had a new 1978 or 79 GMC 4 wheel drive truck. We took it across a frozen plowed field and the bumping up and down, the seatbelts ratcheted down more on each bump until I told him to stop so I could release it. Crushing.
I turned 16 in January of 1974. I had been looking forward to getting my license for a very long time. Unfortunately, it seemed the world was conspiring against me, the fuel shortages with resultant high prices, the idiotic 55 mph limit and what they were doing to emasculate new cars, giant bumpers, detuned engines and that stupid seat belt interlock. Many years later I bought a used 74 Pinto wagon to use as a commuter, it had remnants of the interlock system but it had long been disconnected.
My Aunt had a 1991 Mercury Topaz for several years when I was a young boy with the motorized shoulder belt. When she bought the car new in the spring of '91 she actually got an insurance discount for having them, although she hated them with a passion, as a child I liked them and thought the car was very futuristic dispite being a base model with a 5 speed standard transmission, manual locks and manual windows, AM/FM radio with cassette player 😅
My cousin (her son) became an EMT in the early 2000s shortly after the 9/11 attacks and during his first few weeks on the job told me about a head on collision he responded to involving an elderly woman in her 60s who was decapitated from the shoulder belt of one of these late 80s/early 90s cars with the power shoulder belt, it appeared she failed to fasten the lap belt and the shoulder belt caught her by the throat as she slid under. I was in 7th grade at that time and that's when I realized why this feature lasted for less than a decade and then airbags became standard equipment and actually offered additional protection (for adults and larger teens) provided the seat belt is properly fastened. I was glad my aunt got rid of that car before my cousin told me of that gruesome accident. But I do recall seeing a good handful of cars with the power belt when I was a child / teen, seems many of them were Toyota's, Nissan's and Honda's from what I remember.
I had a 1973 Ford LTD while in high school, and I had to be careful of having to much homework as I always placed my books on the passenger seat next to me. I’d get upset with my homework even before leaving school as my weight alarm would sound because of one or two extra homework assignments.
My mother wanted a small car once her kids were out of the house so she brought home a brand new 1988 Ford Escort with one of those silly automatic seatbelts. It would scare older relatives and friends until they got use to them. They seemed to think it was a trap. LOL
Thanks for your great work in your materials of information in your videos.
I remember that interlock system all too painfully well. I was working part time (summers and college breaks) for a Chrysler-Plymouth-Imperial-AMC dealer and the number of complaints we had about it - and the number of times we were requested to disable it, especially on the big Chrysler products. And I remember the motorized seatbelts too; I owned an '88 Mercury Topaz that had multiple failures of that system over its 356K life. But I've had enough sense to wear seatbelts all my life - my Dad installed them in his '29 Model A Ford roadster when he restored it, on which I learned to drive in the early '70s - and I'm alive because I was wearing one when I was hit head-on by a drunk driver in '79 (he didn't survive, even though he was in a Sedan de Ville vs. my rented LeSabre, because he wasn't wearing one).
Lap/sash combination belts became mandatory fitment in Australian cars in 1967 for front seat outer occupants. Compulsory wearing of them began in 1971-1972 depending on state. They just fined us into wearing them. Retracting belts came around in the very early 70s, and mandatory in 1975.
My ‘74 Gran Torino still had this system hooked up when I got it years ago. It got disconnected real quick haha. Never knew that’s what the red button was for though. Thanks.
I was old enough to have learned to drive during the implementation of these systems and was waiting to pounce on you for the "putting your college books on the passenger seat issue " Personally I never had any of several systems fail on me. Wore both belts my '69 Mach 1 tight enough that in 1977, launching it on about a 50 foot flight resulted in a good landing. As in any landing you could walk away from was a "good landing" (It was January and there were snow banks involved and we'll leave it that)
Adam,you bring back memories of my dad the most pissed off I had ever seen him.He bought our brand new 74 Torino station wagon,brought it home and told my mom that you had buckle the seat belt to drive the car.She didn’t like the idea but went along with it.Well were all set to take a ride and the damn thing would not start,buzzing and Mom and Dad buckling and unbuckling their belts.Dad was cursing in Greek and threatening to throw the car into the Chesapeake Bay. I went with him to the dealer and he laid them out and demanded his money back.Chief mechanic took the car and calmed my dad down and was back in 10 minutes no more seat belts and no more buzzer.Dad was a happy camper,so was Mom.Mike the Greek
Wow Mike! I just had a deja- vu moment while reading your comment, same same.yiasou.
For the Greeks!
Had a new 1990 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS turbo with those motorized seat belts. Worked pretty good and didn't mind at all. That car was all wheel drive and fast as hell. If I recall correctly, it was the fastest 0 to 60 car sold that year, besides exotics. Had a blast blowing the doors off 5.0 mustang etc.
I still have that car - except mine’s a 1991. I bought it new … and the “motorized seatbelts” still work great.
Hi Adam: A most beautiful wagon and I REALLY appreciate you displaying one of your wagons from your portfolio of classic vehicles. More videos or your wagons if you have the availability. Also found this video most informational as to the engineering of these seat belts to the starting of this vehicle. I really enjoy and appreciate your videos!
My father had a 1974 Nova. It was fairly easy to disconnect the buzzer feature. At both the driver and passenger front seats, near the back, bottom of the seat were electrical connectors that snapped together. You just unsnapped these connectors and defeated the buzzer.
I grew up during the 60’s and 70’s, getting my drivers license in 1981. I can remember when the seat belt “law” was put in action. In California, it was a secondary offense, meaning if you were pulled over for speeding, running a stop, that kind of thing, and were not wearing a belt, you’d be cited. Well, the federal DOT didn’t like that and told the states that if they wanted federal Highway funds they needed to make seatbelt enforcement a primary offense.
I wouldn’t say the premature wear on the seat belts was from having to buckle them so often. I think it’s more likely due to lower quality or poorly designed materials in the belts and the guides they passed through. Later years models I’ve owned have never exhibited that kind of wear and have been engaged every bit as often. BTW, that’s a great impression of the warning buzzers from back then.
I agree. I don't see how the interlock would have caused that many more uses of the seat belt than otherwise. His example of having to engage the seat belt for non-trip uses of a vehicle, like solely to back out of a garage? That's a tiny percent of all trips made with a car, not able to add meaningful wear.
Great video as always. My mother had a 1972 Chevelle and it had that loud buzzer that went off if you don’t have the seatbelts fastened. We ended up buckling up the lap belts and stuffed it in the seat.
I remember a lot of people just left the seatbelts fastened all the time and sat on top of the seatbelts....hence another government public safety meggage was issued saying "Don't be caught DEAD sitting on your seatbelts!"
I can give an example of the anti-seatbelt argument. My father was in a single-car accident involving a brake failure that caused the car to go out of control and roll. The car was an old Ford Granada, and as I recall Dad either wasn't wearing a seat belt at all, or was only wearing the lap belt (shoulder belt separate). He was driving and the only occupant. When he lost control, he sort of dived to his right and laid down across the bench seat. The car rolled into a ditch, crushing the driver side roof down to the car's belt line. If he'd been held by the shoulder belt, he'd have been crushed to death. As it was, he received a minor cut on the chin and was otherwise unhurt.
Note that I'm not advocating against seat belts or shoulder belts, and probably more modern cars wouldn't crush so easily in the same way, but there was a time when that argument held some validity.
Adam does indeed imitate the Ford buzzer perfectly. The GM buzzer was even worse. It sounded like a Ford buzzer with a sore throat😂.
Great video Adam. Very interesting.
Please definitely do a video of the GM door-mounted seatbelts as one of the worst inventions. Apparently GM (and the federal government) failed to consider that one of the main purposes of a restraint is to avoid ejection from the vehicle... this did the exact opposite and made that a possibility in a crash. A cheap way to meet the passive restraint requirement, and a horrible idea all around. If I recall, I believe Toyota and Honda also used door-mounted belts on their Accord and Camry coupes for a period of time.
I was appalled when I saw those door-mounted shoulder anchors because they "prod" into the space where many of the heads would collide during the side impact collision, causing the extensive injury to the skull, scalp, and brain (if the impact was violent enough to crack the skull). I brought this up to the NHTSA and the senators: they didn't act on it, though. General Motors was world's worst bully when it came to the safety mandates; GM pointed out that Volkswagen had installed the door-mounted shoulder anchors in some of the Rabbits (they were three, not five, doors so the shoulder anchor was further away behind the drivers and passengers).
@@InTeCredo that is a great point, well said.
Yup I had a '91 Corolla GT-S with the door-mounted shoulder belts, loved that car MISS that car dearly for the simplicity, reliability and fun factor but that had to be the WORST seat belt arrangement I'd ever seen! And that's coming from a guy who also owned a 1972 Pinto that had separate seat and shoulder belts and the light and buzzer! To me this was actually a dangerous arrangement. At least with the Pinto you could put on the seat belt with out the shoulder belt (but not the opposite as the shoulder belt hooked into the seatbelt piece), but with the later 1980's to early 1990's design you only had a shoulder belt on unless you remembered to also put on the seatbelt and being in that state in an accident with a shoulder but no lap belt was a very, very bad thing!
I have that seat belt feature on my 75 imperial crown coupe. What a pain in the ass!
It is getting a new vinyl top this winter, and that feature is going away!
Love your channel, Adam!
As a current owner of a “Classic” 1974 Pinto I can attest how annoying and poorly designed the system is, I literally have to put on the seatbelt to move the car into the garage. And I always wondered why my seatbelts are worn out (it has low miles) thanks Adam! I now know why! I also had a 92 Mercury Topaz with the automatic seatbelts and most times I didn’t bother with the lap belt….Safety First!
Many people, including in my family, just hooked the belt up once and sat on them. Later in the 70s, the buckles stood up off the seat in plastic holders so that didn't work, but they were easier to buckle. Our '68 Electra had an entirely separate (large!) buckle on a strap for the shoulder belt, so there 5 buckles on long belts on the front seat (plus 3 in the back) that were all shoved in the crevice.
There was at least one study that found that belted drivers tended to cause more accidents because the belt gave them an enhanced sense of security. I'm one of the few people who liked the door-mounted belts because it didn't dig into my scrawny collarbone like pillar- or seat-mounted belts usually do.
My first car, a 1974 Chevrolet Vega Kammback, had this system and my parents LOVED it…for me…a 16 yo boy. It did get me into the habit of wearing a seatbelt 100% of the time. However, even today, I ride around with the passenger seatbelt firmly secured with no one in the seat! Old habits die hard!
My buddy had a 74 Buick Electra. If you sat in the passenger seat without the seatbelt fastened, it would cut out the starter. If he was in the middle of cranking it and you put weight on the seat, it would kill the starter immediately.
My dad bought a brand new 74 Dodge Monoco. I distinctly remember the sales manager telling him how to defeat that system. It was a simple wire connector under the seat that you had to disconnect, and that was all there was to it on the Chrysler corp cars.
In Canada, we were lucky not to get this system. But cars were still wired to get this system until early in the 1975 model year (they had a black jumper plug next to the brake booster where the defeat button would have been on a car with the seat belt interlock). If you got a car with the airbag restraint, it also eliminated the seatbelt warning light and buzzer, eliminated the standard shoulder belts and the seat belt guided on the headrests of GM cars as well. I've searched for years for a 1974-7) GM car with airbags so I wouldn't have those annoying shoulder belts. Back in 1992, I had offered to buy a 1975 Park Avenue that wasn't for sale and the owner had kept my phone number in case he's decide to sell it but he finally sent it to the junkyard rather than selling it to me as it had been hit in a parking lot by someone who had a heart attack and he thought I wouldn't want it with that damage (it was a high mileage car that needed restoration, more likely needed to be sold to Derby guys as this is what happened to a lot of these cars!). It took me 9 years in those pre-internet and early internet days to find another one! I found a black and white ad in an auto trader magazine of my current 1975 Electra which seemed not to have shoulder belts. I figured I'd have to call for this one! Still have it 22 years later.
Thank you for covering this! The buzzer required for '72 was annoying enough (my parents '72 Dart for example) but this was a whole level above in irritation. As an 8 year old in 1974, even I realized it was draconian! Our '78 Dodge Omni had a 30 second raspy reminder, and the subsequent Toyotas and Mazdas I encountered had pleasant but insistent chimes. 😂
I recall in high school 42 years ago, that the class was called together to watch a filmstrip of car accidents. I can still remember the scenes from the film and when I left in my car that day, I wore my seatbelt and drove about 30 mph. Two weeks later, I stopped wearing the seatbelt in my 1975 Chevy Nova. Safety improvements have come a long way, such as airbags, that many people owe their life to. Today, I could never drive without a seatbelt on because without it, it feels unnatural.
Back in 1973-1974, GM did a two year experiment with offering optional airbags in its B-body cars. They came and went without fanfare UNTIL in the mid-1980's, when a Reader's Digest story showed up and told how two cars had a head on collision (drunk driver). One of the cars was a 1974 Olds 88 with the airbags and the other didn't (can't remember what make and model). The driver of the Olds 88 was also wearing his seatbelt and he walked away (bruised a bit) from the crash because of the airbag. The drunk driver died and the body looked pretty bad from the impact.
THAT story got Congress's and the media's attention and it wasn't long before public pressure caused the NHTSA to tell the automakers to start offering airbags again. Later on, airbags became mandatory.
@BlackPill-pu4vi airbags were first made mandatory on driver's side only, around 92 or 93. I think 1994 was first year for dual airbags. Who knows if they are better than seat/shoulder belts alone, though I suspect they do reduce fatalities somewhat. As long as they don't explode suddenly during a quiet Sunday drive like the Takata airbags did.
@@johnlandacre767 it definitely wasn't 1992 when a driver's airbag was mandatory although my mother's 1991 Mercury Sable station wagon she had for about 4 years in the early 2000s when I was in middle/high school had a driver's side airbag, but not for the passenger side. My first car was a red 1992 Pontiac Sunbird convertible , 3.1L V6 5 speed standard transmission, no airbags but the front seatbelts were mounted on the door, drove it for about 2 and a half years when I was in college, paid $1000 for the car in 2013 and parted it out in the fall of 2015 a few months after I graduated because the body was rotting out, the top leaked like a sieve when it rained and was having some electrical problems as a result. Engine and transmission ran like a champ and it still drove and handled well, but I was concerned about the door popping open in a crash and that was a large factor in my decision to get rid of it. But I was the popular one in college, driving with the top down wearing aviator sunglass in the summer and got my money for nothing and my chicks for free 😎 Good times. Currently drive a 2014 mustang convertible, V6 automatic, and a 2011 Toyota Tacoma 4 cylinder 5 speed manual for work.
@@Sparky-ww5re I am mistaken. Internet info lists 1998 as first year for mandatory dual airbags. But I sold cars in 97-99, and remember several early 90s cars had driver side airbags. We bought a 1994 Nissan Altima, and it had dual airbags. So I guess I was extrapolating info from that. Let’s say the farther into the 90s one goes, the more common airbags became.
Nice wagon.
I think that it's great you featured this system on your channel, Adam. I'm sure many of your viewers have never heard of it. I agree with you (and most Americans of the time) this was a stop too far. FYI, shoulder belts were required by law in all cars manufactured for sale in the US effective January 1, 1968. The buzzer wired to the seat belts/passenger seat was required beginning January 1, 1972.
I had a 1988 Ford Tempo GLS company car. It had the motorized seatbelts. One night I was staying in a hotel and the temperature dropped to 18 below zero Fahrenheit. That morning, in addition to the engine cranking extremely slowly the motorized seatbelt would not retract into driving position, but stayed way forward. A few gentle tugs produced nothing. I wound up driving the car for at least 15 minutes before it ssssllllloooowwwwlllyyy began to creep across the door sill. When I arrived at my destination, it wouldn’t release. I had to crawl under it to get out.
Right around that same time I rented a Dodge Spirit I believe it was, it also had the motorized shoulder belt. I had flipped the sun visor over to the side window to block the sun. When I arrived at my destination, I opened the door before I flipped the sun visor back. The motorized belt caught it and literally ripped it off of its bracket. When I returned the car I carried the visor into the desk along with the keys. The desk clerk asked, “what’s that?” I told him it was the sun visor from the drivers side. The clerk said, “what made you decide to take that off of the car and bring it in here?” I said “the car decided it didn’t want it anymore I guess.” I then explained what happened. They did not charge me for any damage.
when I was looking at my first car, I got a 1990 Ford Tempo, I made sure to dig and dig for one with the optional driver's side air bag(option since 86), this way it did not have the motorized seatbelts. Great video!!
I was surprised you didn’t mention that the early seatbelt retractors in 1974 would lock too easily, for reining you in when in sudden stops. Only problem is if you pulled the belt out too quickly it would lock! Repeatedly! Until that belt was connected you weren’t going anywhere and the connection was iffy requiring multiple insertions, so good luck!
Yup those early belts were not inertial, they were just plain RATCHETS, soon as you gave 'em slack they locked and they could only get tighter not looser! But I'll give you one even worse, I remember putting on the seat belts in my friend's '68 Camaro or grandparents' '66 Cadillac, not even a ratchet---you had to pull out the side of the belt on the retractor fully and cinch up the other side of the belt in the buckle until it was tight, if you just put the thing on and let it retract you weren't doing it right and had way too much play in the seatbelt!
@@terrybeavan4264That was better than one way ratchet, in fact..
I bought a new 75 Mustang II in early 75. It had the seat belt interlock, that I actually disconnected in a parking lot just outside the dealership. The buzzer had to wait until I got home. My car was an early production model, because most 75's didn't have that 'feature'. As for those motorized belts, as a mechanic, I would often reach in thru the window to start the car or just turn the ign on, only to get strangled by that stupid motorized belt! Glad all that garbage is behind us now.
I remember as a kid of the 1960s rarely buckling up until the government mandated it. Our family’s ‘73 Impala featured that constant, irritating buzzer that forced buckling, although many like my dad just buckled the seat belt and sat on it when driving. Later, my ‘91 Ford Escort wagon featured those odd automated belts that ran in a track along the upper door frame. I knew an older guy as late as 2002 who still resented governments ticketing people for going beltless, just as many states require motorcyclists to wear a brain bucket. Offering safety features is one thing, but mandating their use is another. I wonder how many car safety mandates are driven by insurance lobbies. Yes, I always buckle up, but I believe people should have the right to not do so. I don’t want to end up being cocooned in government-mandated bubble wrap because Washington has decided I’m too stupid to walk down the road without it.
Who do you think pushed for those 5 mph bumpers? They didn’t have anything to do with safety.
@@Marklin15 - Damn, those early ones were hideous …
My first car in 1974 was a 1974 Honda Civic hatchback which had the seatbelt/starter interlock.
I removed one fuse and disabled it.
I always wore my seatbelt on the road but not to back out of the garage!
I could be wrong but as I recall the government regulation was for a "passive restraint" system. I think it was actually about air bags, which were newly available at the time, but I believe the manufacturers found they could install a Seat Belt Interlock System to meet the requirement for much less money than what an air bag system would cost and being always cost conscious the Seat Belt Interlock System is what the manufacturers went for. It was truly a terrible system and as you said it didn't last, the legislation was revoked and it took another 20 years to bring in the air bag specific "passive restraint" requirement we have today.
Adam, your verbalization of the seat belt buzzer was superb! Thank you,
Thank you Adam. I remember the buzzers and how loud they were. They were replaced with chimes and bells. I recall the GM cars in the 80's and early 90's with the passive seatbelt system. There is a MotorWeek video here on You Tube where they show it. I think it was 1987 or 1988 Pontiac Bonneville where they displayed this. They talked about how easy it was to defeat it.
I have a 1983 Mercedes 380SEC Coupe that has those mechanical seat belts, or what they term the "seat belt presenters". When you turn the ignition on a mechanical arm extends from the side of the chopped B-pillar, prompting you to take the belt; once it is clicked into the buckle, the presenter arm retracts back into it's housing. By the time I bought the car used it had already had both of these mechanisms replaced due to prior failure.
Had a motorized belt in a 90 Plymouth Laser. Once in a while, I would put my head to the left and open the door to see where I was in a parking space or something, and the belt would move back and wrap around my neck!
I remember the motorized belt primarily in small round fords. Escort Tempo etc. I have had numerous GM models with the passive belt. Admittedly in that time I was very passionate about keeping the car 100% as the owners manual intended and using every feature of the car as designed. I tried really hard to keep the seatbelt buckled I didn’t like the drag it put on opening the door, more than I disliked sliding under it. By the time I made it to my 92 Brougham which was the last car I had which employed this two striker door mounted seatbelt I had stopped leaving it latched. If I was to add one to my very modest collection today I’d probably leave it buckled as part of the experience. Much like I leave twilight sentinel on max delay or like I have memory seats and columns set on max lower (or raise) and retract on exit.
I was around in those days and I had a 74 Cutlass and everybody just kept their seat belts plugged in and tucked in
My ‘74 Pinto Squire, same color, same wood, had all that you just showed, including the bypass button under the hood. All the interlock stuff was already disconnected when I got the car in ‘81, but the modem lap / shoulder belt setup was easy to use, and that’s when I started wearing the belts. Six years later I got hit across the front, and the belts kept me where I needed to be.
My 91 Plymouth Colt Vista/Mitsubishi almost strangled me with the motorized seatbelt. Just lost that little gem last year to hurricane Ian. 😢
My father bought a new 1974 Chevrolet Vega. He lived with the system for about a month until a friend of his (who worked at a car repair garage) disconnected it for him. If you were mechanically inclined it was not difficult to defeat.
There's a Paul Newman movie with a 1974 full size Ford sedan that opens with comic relief where Newman is introduced as Harper and then starts the Ford ad his rental car from the airport and hears the seat belt buzzer and gives a smirk, and the buzzer sounds and he disconnects it and smiles with approval and relief, many identified with him.
Been driving since 1976. In 1980 I worked with a guy who was a huge seatbelt advocate. He got me in the habit then and Ive worn them religiously ever since.
We bought a '74 Plymouth Scamp from my great uncle's dealership and he disconnected it for mom before she took it off the lot.
In 1974 my grandpa {who ran a MOPAR dealership from 1946-1979} had a '72 Chrysler Newport 400 4bbl & my dad had a '73 Plymouth Fury III 360 4bbl, my aunt had new '74 Cadillac Fleetwood, my uncle was still driving his '70 Dodge pickup 440 4bbl! I remember so many times me & my brothers would ride on the tailgate of uncle Terry's truck even going down the interstate at 60-65 mph & dragging our shoes on the pavement with cars right us & funny thing is we never felt scared ✌💖☮
I ordered a new 74 Mustang II while deployed and I ordered the Factory Service Manual at the same time before I returned from WestPac to pick up my new car in Reno. While I was on the Ship, I studied the manual and about an hour after we picked up the new car, that system was by-passed. I did keep the buzzer as we always wore out seat belts.
My mother had a '74 Custome 500 (Ford Galaxie) wagon similar to that Merc. At first we'd hook the belts on the window cranks; pulling it partway out was enough, you didn't have to buckle it. Within months we found the plug under the seat and disabled the seatbelt alarm. When I was in my teens I got an early-production '74 LTD, and the alarm and the interlock had already been defeated on that car. I started wearing my belt in the late 80s when I nearly slid out of the bucket seat during an abrupt collision avoidance maneuver in a company Ford Aerostar van. I also had one VW Rabbit with the shoulder belt attached to the door, and a Saturn with the "mouse" belt. The Saturn belt shuttle got sticky and unreliable.
Hi Adam. Very informative. Just brought me back to youth/teens in the 70s. When I was young. Rebelled against any laws and kinda stupid. Street race in my 70 RS/SS Camaro. Not wearing any seatbelts. And ride my motorcycle with no helmets. Ohhhh how’d I survived. On my 74 Trans Am. I just clicked all the seatbelts together and just sat on them. Yes. Young and stupid.
I owned a 1974 Mercury Cougar. I remember the system well. I never disabled it .
That brown interior is gorgeous.
I was born in 1968 so I was just a wee tyke in the 1970s. Therefore my job was to crawl under the dash to find the buzzer and disconnect it.
I remember this on my parent's 1974 Buick LeSabre, and yes, it was unplugged within days... a simple plug under the seat.
A Blast From the Past. Yes, I'm old enough to have owned a 1974 car with the seatbelt interlock (bought new). It was every bit as annoying as you describe. On maybe the third visit to the dealer for service, they offered to defeat it and I accepted without "Much" glee.
But, as you point out, that's not all that was screwed up in 1974. After I'd owned the car for 3 years I went to graduate school (700 miles from home). A couple of months into the academic year, the car started to hesitate badly and sometimes just fail to start. I tried a number of diagnostic tests and got nowhere -- being an engineering student I tried to avoid taking it to a dealer. Finally I had a brainstorm: it was driving as if there was no spark advance. I read in the shop manual that there was vacuum advance (no microprocessors in those days) and I traced the hose from a diaphragm on the distributor to the intake manifold. Well, what's this white and black plastic thing inline with the hose? I looked it up in the shop manual and it was a "Spark Delay Valve." I took it off and connected the hose direct to the distributor. The engine roared into enthusiastic life. Problem solved. Hesitation gone when I drove around the block. I later bought a new SDV and the engine ran "Almost" as well as without it. My theory is that the SDV had a finite life and eventually became plugged. Emissions controls in the 70's depended heavily on a retarded spark.
On the other hand, my latest car (2022) has a truly annoying alarm that goes off if I try to drive without the seat belt buckled. If I ignore it, it gets twice as loud after the first 20 seconds. We're "Back To the Future."
My first car was a 1973 Chevy Impala from my parents and it had that dreaded "brzzzzz" seat belt buzzer you described, along with that two-piece shoulder/lap system.
To defeat it was a simple matter of unplugging the harness under the front seat. Thank goodness.
My parents had one that required us to buckle up. My dad was a fan of seat belts so we always followed the procedure. Oh yes, that sound of the buzzer is pretty unforgettable.
My second car was a '74 AMC Hornet Sportabout D/L wagon with factory 304 v8. No seatbelt interlock. It had the one piece shoulder/lap belt, no buzzer connected to seatbelt. Had this car from '93 to '97. It was a fun sleeper😁
I recall my aunt and uncle had a 1972 duster. I learned what they had done to defeat the buzzer was to tie a knot in the lap belt such that it would not fully retract. This was enough to fool the system into thinking it was buckled
I was a kid in 1974 but what I remember almost everyone doing was just leaving the front seat belts buckled and stuffing them under the front seat back. This made getting in the back seat of a 2 door car a lot harder especially in certain models.
I was thinking, he lives in a pretty nice place, I wonder what state that is, then I realized that none of the leaves on the trees are swaying in the breeze. He must have a shop, that he's painted the wall so he can green-screen and drop in some lovely background. Well played, sir.
A Ford salesman showed me the trick to starting my (at the time) girlfriend's 1974 Mustang II. Just pull the seatbelt out a few inches and that would allow you to start the car. Eventually I found the warning buzzer and disconnected it. Problem solved until she rear ended someone and then started to always wear a seatbelt. Who would have thunk it!
Glad to hear she responded to a mistake with wisdom, though.
My 1974 Maverick has this system, although it only detects when the belt is pulled out of the retractor, not when its buckled. I kept the system working cause I thought it was neat, but I eventually disabled it cause it was so annoying. Great video!
Maverick was a great little car!
The interlock was well-intentioned, since only about 10% to 20% of people wore their seat belts regularly at the time, but poorly implemented. It also didn't help that the seat belts in many 1970s American cars were hard to reach, cumbersome to fasten, and uncomfortable to wear. They also loved to use metal buckles that could burn you if you grabbed them after the car had been sitting in the hot sun.
My first car was a '74 AMC Javelin, and the interlock system failed. So, whenever I wanted to start the car, I had to open the hood and press the button. In hindsight, I absolutely should have overridden it!
My "daily" driver was a '90 Ford Tempo with automatic shoulder belts. Luckily, I never had the typical issues with them. My friends used to get a kick out of pulling the retractor lock lever on the center console while I was driving, which would cause the seatbelt light in the cluster to flash, a big red light on the console to flash, and then the dreaded "ding ding ding" noise.
My oldest sister bought a Ford Maverick when they first came out, the shoulder harness would not allow any movement forward o ce you had it adjusted and buckled. If you needed to lean forward for any reason you had to unbuckle it, or you had to llatch it very loosely, a lot of slop, which meant you are probably going to hit the steering wheel anyway.
I remember the motorized belts but thought they were in order to pass the Feds new regs that there had to be a passive system in the car by a certain model year. The idea was that it would mean standard airbags, but manufacturers of cheaper models that were near the end of thier life cycle could stick in motorized belts until the new model that had airbags designed in would come to market.
Hey Adam, thanks for another great review. I'll start by saying Ford's wagons were always great looking and performing cars. In the late 60s, Ford earned the title "The Wagonmaster", as well they were. It only got better from there. The 1973 through 1978 Ford and Mercury wagons were the best-looking, best-looking running, and most comfortable of any full-size American wagon. Yours is beautiful, and not surprisingly, it's in excellent condition. I had a 1975 white with medium Prarie tan tuck and roll vinyl seats and interior door panels with dark Sable brown dashboard and thick shagg carpet the same as yours. It also had a 460 cubic inch engine with a Motorcraft 4300 4 barrel carburetor. It was completely optioned with all available accessories avaliable, including ATC and a factory locking hood release, I thought was very cool. That wagon was the go to car for my family and friends. Everyone loved it. At the time, Ford made heavy use of engine vacuum to power all the accessories, including the headlight doors and the ATC system. There were vacuum motors. Canisters, check valves
and about 47 miles of vacuum hoses that were all color coded to identify what system they were a part of. Even the headlight switch had to have vacuum routed through it to operate the headlight doors, vary complex. I always thought powering the headlight doors with vacuum gave them a very nice, slow action as they opened and closed. A very elegant touch. And the ATC system seemed alive. As the system would adjust the temperature and fan speeds, all eight speeds by the way, you could hear the vacuum operating the various doors and motors under the dash. It would tick, and whezz as it would release the vacuum. I'm sure yours does the same thing. I learned a lot about how it all worked maintaining the system. I would lose vacuum when I drove it in the High Sierras because the air was so thin, especially on hot days. It suffered from High Density Altitude syndrome, just as aircraft does. I drove all my friends crazy troubleshooting that problem. I added extra storage Canisters, vacuum motors to increase available vacuum. Ford recommended downsizing the jets in the carburetor, but that would effect the performance. I had to separate the ATC from the rest of the system and add a Cadillac vacuum motor they used for their door locks. That 460 was great, a perfect fit for that big wagon. I could climb the steep Sierra grades with a full load and 6 passengers and it never let me down. It got 10 mpg no matter what the weather or road conditions. By the time I got that wagon, we all had been dealing with those nasty seat belt sensors so I we knew how to disable them from the system. I remember on the late 60s Fords there were two separate belts. The shoulder belts didn't retract, they clipped to the headliner with big clips. The buzzers and lights were easy to bypass. Interestingly enough, as we got older, and the restraint systems got better and easier to work with. But as you mentioned, once you lived through an intense accident and saw how the belts saved your life, it became second nature to wear belts every time you got it the car. Now I wouldn't think of not wearing my belts and I won't move the car unless all passengers have their belts fastened tightly across their hips and chests, no matter how much they push back. I look forward to watching your next review. I saw one on a 73 black Imperial that looks interesting.
As I vaguely recall our 1972 Chevy had some kind of system where if you did not buckle the seat belt, the buzzer would stay on until you buckled it. The workaround was just to keep the seatbelts on the front seat buckled at all times even if you did not use them. And the sensor did not know if you used the separate shoulder belt. So that thing just hung in place on the roof.
What changed things for us after a few cars, was that seat belt use became mandatory by law and if anyone got caught they were subject to a large fine that graduated on repeated offenses. The law is still in effect today, but for the most part I am used to driving with my seat belts fastened at all times whenever the car is in motion.
My 1980 Rabbit had a motorized shoulder belt, and a padded knee bar instead of a lap belt. In a crash I guess it would keep you from sliding under the shoulder belt, but your knees would be wrecked. I couldn’t understand how such a thing complied with regulations.
My dad brought home a few year old Pinto Squire trade in for my mom to drive and consider for a family car. I remember sitting in the passenger seat and lifting my little butt on and off the seat to hear the “ehhh, ehhh, ehhh” of the seatbelt buzzer due to the weight sensor in the seat. We didn’t buy it. We got a 1 year old Honda Civic instead.
Years later my wife had a ‘94 Saturn SC2 with motorized seatbelts. A few months into her ownership, while Driving down the road, the front seatbelts suddenly started motoring back and forth on the track. Off to the dealership. Fortunately the astute service writer at the Saturn dealer observed her iced tea wedged in between the seat and the e-brake ( no cup holder in this car). What we didn’t know was that Right underneath the sweating cup of cold tea was the control unit for the seatbelt motors. He advised her the put a towel under her drink to catch the condensation. She never had the problem again. I will say Those seatbelts were pretty good about ripping the sunglasses off your face if you tried to exit the vehicle too quickly before they had completed their trajectory when you shut the car off. Good times!
In 1974 - 1977 I worked at a gas station, while in high school. More than once I got into a 74 customer's car to pull into the bay for service work. I would turn the key and nothing, not a thing would happen, no sound, nothing. I would have a "what the hell" moment until I realized, it's a 1974 car. On went the seat belt for the at most, 30 second drive into the bay. Putting on the belt was probably a good thing, as I could of reach speeds as high as 5 MPH when pulling in. The same thing happened now and again when I went to pull the car back out, but more times than not I would remember I was dealing with a 74 and just go ahead and put the belt on before turning the key. As a side note, I had a 72 Olds Cutlass that had the buzz forever system with no belt on. It was easily defeated by opening the floor seat belt retractor on each side and unplugging it. I am sure it was set up that way on purpose so it could be so easy bypassed.
Got an odd safety rule for you.
If you bought 1974-76 Oldsmobile, Buick ,or Cadillac with the ACRS ( airbags ), the shoulder seat belts were deleted!
In hindsight, kinda counter-productive
I love your videos, Adam!
My brothers 74 Camaro had that seat belt interlock system on it. That would drive Dad nuts any time he would drive it!