Hi,

this is my first post at this forum. I used to own a 1974 914 2.0(my first car, and the only rusty car in california..) and after a 14 year break, I´m thinking of buying one again. This time it would be a six conversion project for the street with GT looks. Here´s my question: Is the middle seat really useable for a child? I´m father of a 10 mo. old daughter, and would like to take the whole family out with my summer toy. How about seat belts?
-Jani

I can't answer that question, but even if it was there is no way in hell I would use it for either of my two boys..

hey and welcome,

i have read a few posts on this.

not the safest way to go for sure.

you can purchase at a junkyard, a lap belt and hook it up to the existing seatbelt bolts.

they did have a factory option at one time i think.

enjoy!

T

BTDT

There is little room for a child seat and there is not much for one adult and two half grown kids. Keep in mind we are big people (my 7 year old girl is almost 5 foot) so if you guys are of small build it may be OK but....

I'd weld in seatbelt mounts and the middle backpad sucks as a seat.

Looks like my memories of the space available are a bit optimistic. I had the car in college and we were able to fit three guys in it, very uncomfortably though.. In matter of fact, people started to question our sexual orientation after they saw us crammed into this small sports car!

In any case I´m going to test drive a 914-6 next week, so I´ll know for sure do I want pay for the expence of an engine conversion to get that six cylinder wail.

Still wishing for somebody to post that the third seat is viable..

In reality lap belts are no good compared to 3 pt. belts.

That middle pad isn’t really a seat and I think the 3rd seat belt is more of a novelty.

If you really want to carry 3 people the center lap belt is by far the best (only) alternative and offers much better protection than nothing or 2 persons in one belt. But the protection for the person in the middle is relativity poor IMHO.

Back in the day when they had lap belts only in the rear seat, statistically wearing a lap belt did you no good. Your chance of internal injuries from the lap belt was about the same as serious head injuries if not wearing one.

Now this statistic does not hold up in the front seats (or 914) where your chances of being ejected from the car are greater. Just using it to show the relative safety of 3 pt/lap belts.

btw. only '70/'71 cars had the provision for the 3rd seat. later cars don't ...

oh, and Andy

No, it's not a viable option. Don't even try to fool yourself otherwise.

A lap belt for a sub-1year old won't do. A child's seat will encroach upon you and your passenger, making for an uncomfortable ride and awkwardness in shifting. Safety will be compromised.

I brought my daughter to work (petit @ 20-months) in a Brittax car seat. That sucker takes up the WHOLE passenger seat and moves her closer to the dash than an adult would be. But she absolutely loves the ride because she can watch daddy's feet and hands movin' all over the place, plus the gauge needles swinging all about, and get a much better view around her compared to the back seat of the Passat

But there is no way the three of us could ride in the car in any sort of comfort, particularly with a child seat 'tween us! And with no child seat I'm sure the local constable wouldn't be stopping me because he wanted to just talk cars

Thank you all for your input. Seems like when the child is small enough to fit in the space available, you´ll still need the safety seat. When the child is big enough to be without the safety seat, he/she will be too big for the space available. I most definately agree on the usefulness of the lap belts. I´ve had three Alfa spiders, that came with lap belts only. Changed them to three pointers immediately. Intresting though, that the lap belt only variants were sold in the U.S. only. European versions had three pointers from the seventies.

At the moment I´m torn between getting GT or a sports car, as my next summer car. If I go the sports car route, I´d like to get something safer and with more range for performance than my Alfa. If I go for the GT route I´d like something exotic, but maintainable with my limited budget.

As of now my options are Porsche 914-6 conversion, or a De Tomaso Longchamp.

-Jani

Hi Jani and welcome
Actually the small child seat takes more room than 6year old kid.
Don't know which part of Finlad do you live, but you are welcome to test fit 3 different kind of child seat to my soon to be "street" car:-)

Mika

Hey, this reminds me... What about this thing where these three guys crashed into a bridge with their 914?



I dosen't say wether the men were dwarfs (uhm, little people), or small adults... I'm sure it wasn't a comfortable ride.