Re: What was the first Packard to have seat-belts, if at all?

Posted by Craig the Clipper Man On 2016/4/8 11:40:04

I would say, however, that my real point was to emphasize the importance of seatbelts relative to automotive safety. I stand corrected that Packard did offer seatbelts as an option in its cars, but the significant word here is options. Very few cars during the 1950s were equipped with seatbelts, with the exception of some sports cars.

My 1960 Ford Sunliner had all of the options offered by Ford that year except for seatbelts. Here I was, a crazy teenager driving a big, powerful car at excessive speeds with nothing to keep me inside of the car in the event of a wreck. Smart.

I recall that my father's 1966 Lincoln Continental and my mother's 1967 Ford Country Squire came with seat belts and shoulder straps that were clipped to the headliner. I didn't use either.

I remained dumb about using seatbelts until 1979 following an accident in which I was a passenger. The driver, who was wearing his 3-way seatbelt, walked away from the single-car wreck without a scratch, while I had a bad cut on my forehead that required stitches. I like to think that accident knocked some sense into me.

Just like I feel that our cars are safer riding on radial tires, I also believe that if Packard (or its dealers) offered seatbelts, then it is not only acceptable, but advisable, to install lap belts in those model year cars.

Wikipedia notwithstanding, this is my opinion and I stand by it.