My wife brought back an old memory from my childhood in the '70s that apparently is still around in some trucks, like some pick-ups and possibly the Suburban. She happened to mention in casual conversation that my son, in recent years, used to carpool with a friend who had a Ram pick-up. And, our son sat in a front row, middle seat that could fold up to become a “center console” or storage compartment with two cup holders. I hadn’t thought about such a seat in ages, but I do recall it was quite common when the gas guzzlers ruled the roads.
Boy, what a blast from the past! Does anyone recall what this type of seat is called? Could it have been called a “jump seat”? Just a WAG on my part.
Pretty sure they’re just called jump seats. Some pickups had sideways ones in the behind the front row so that you could have more than 3 people but not have an actual crew (sized) cab. I can’t imagine they’re comfortable.
I also remember milk/bread trucks that had a fold up seat that was just about hanging over the steps to get in/out.
If you want to count it as a jump seat, the old Ford Country Squire had seats in the way back that folded down so you could piles stuff on top of them and flipped up (two seats, sideways, facing each other) for kids. Looked like this. But again, I’m not sure if that’s considered a jump seat.
Airline flight attendeants still have them, mainly used during take off/landing and for turbulence.
ETA, wiki calls Jump Seats, any seat in a vehicle that can be folded up and out of the way when not in use.
And, if it’s what’s throwing you, don’t confuse it with ejection seat, which sounds like the same thing but, obviously, not…at all.
There were also jump seats in the back of well-equipped Checker Marathons and big Cadillac limos back in the day. They folded down onto the floor between the front and back seats.
When I drove cabs for Checker in Chicago in the early '70’s, the Cheker cabs we used had what everyone referred to as “opera seats”. I assume that was because it allowed the whole party of swells to attend in one happy group.
Even up to today, typically lower trim level (cloth interior) double and crew can pickup trucks still have this type of a combo jump seat/center console. Upper trim level trucks with leather interiors usually get a fixed console which eliminates the jump seat.
We used to call it the bitch seat. As opposed to shotgun. Usually because if a female was in the group, that is where she sat as they typically were the smallest and did not crowd the driver as much. Important when the vehicle had a floor mounted stick shift.
It’s not. But that’s the *exact *same car my parents had when I was a kid, right down to the color. That brings back memories…
Yep. I drove a yellow cab in New York City in the early eighties, which were the last days of the Checker cab. They had jump seats. The back seating area was huge in those cars. The back seat proper could hold three adults, and then there were two jump seats that folded up when not in use. I remember them fondly.
Yup, we had it too (red interior), that’s why I thought of it. My brother and I sat back there (I had the right side).
They weren’t even all that uncomfortable for two small kids. I remember when we found a small drain hole under the carpet. We could entertain ourselves on long trips by dropping little pieces of paper (I know, I know) through the hole and watching them roll down the highway.
ETA, we learned a bit of physics too. If the back window was rolled down a little, you could hold something lightweight in just the right place and instead of going out the window, it would blow towards the front of the car. Also, if the back window was cracked, the cigarette smoke would fill the car instead of going out the driver’s window.
