Hey Guys...I was at a get-together with my Z club a couple of weekends ago and one of the members who's very familiar with 240s (been to many shows for many years) said he has never seen another Z with a backseat like the one in mine. My '72's original owner was an Air Force officer who had a 5 year-old son at the time he bought the car. He bought an optional backseat so he could take his wife and son for drives. The seat is made of plywood with a vinyl and foam covering, and consists of two portions. The lower cushion justs lifts out (no hardware), and the upper cushion is fastened with nuts to the upper shock towers, and also screwed into two of the holes that originally held the forward halves of the luggage straps. It's well made and still in good shape. It's a great place for the Yorkie (see photos) to ride. BTW, the drift wood visible in one photo is there because I read these cars are popular for drifting...I haven't noticed much of a difference since putting the wood in the car, though :sick:.

Edited May 4, 201212 yr by 24 Ounces

That is unique in my experience also. I wonder who made them?

Arne...there is a manufacturer's name on the underside of the lower cushion: "Del Mar Mfg., Box 281, Scottsdale Ariz." (barely visible at the top of the 2nd photo). I read your blog about your yellow and red 240s...excellent info for all on here. I had pondered upgrading my suspension with stiffer springs and shocks, but now will probably keep the original springs and go with Gabriel struts after reading about your travails. In 40 years my 92k mile Z has only sagged about 1/2 an inch at all 4 wheels, so the original springs are still good. Thanks for staying on here after selling your red Z...is there another 240 in your future?

...is there another 240 in your future?

Not that I can see at this time, but I won't rule out the possibility.

I've seen a couple of them - they were well made. One owner here in Clearwater had one, haven't seen him in quite a few years. As I recall there was an article about them in one of the old Z Car Club Of America newsletters. Nonetheless they are rare today... There was also another manufacturer that offered a fiberglass bucket seat arrangement that fit in the same way.

FWIW,

Carl B.

It looks so cramped not even the dog wants to sit back there.

That looks very unsafe but cool

That looks very unsafe but cool

I can't tell you how many times I rode in the back (no seat) of my friends 240Z and/or had a passenger in the back of my 240Z. This was back in the early 80's during my college years. I'd never do it now.

on the drift wood and cute pup smiling in each photo.

The pup is Sassy (rhymes with "pain in the ..."). I bought her 2 years ago for my 13 year-old daughter, and the dog was supposed to go to my place 6 nights, and her mother's place the remaining 8 nights of each 2 week period. After Sassy relieved herself once on the exes' fancy carpet, I was told Sassy was mine all the time. She's a great co-pilot when tooling around in the Z and helped introduce (lure in) my fiancee. The driftwood was found during a trip "creeking" with my daughter. The back seat is actually useable for the 3 block trip to DQ (I take back streets) if Chloe scrunches in sideways...only used when she wants to take one of her gal pals there.

By the location of where someone would sit, you only have about 21" of clearance. This would be ok for a cooler, but that's about it. Very Unsafe in my opinion.

This brings back memories... although I didn't have a seat in my '71, I remember driving from Portland, OR all the way to San Diego, CA with a passenger in the center. It was my GF at the time. My sister was in the passenger seat. We all took turns driving, napping in the back, and sitting in the passenger seat. All I remember is sitting in the middle like that is not very comfortable. You either have to be a kid or a very small adult to sit in a seat like the one on this post. We used to lay down with our feet out the front and our head looking straight up through the hatch glass. There were no seat belt laws or airbags. God, I'm starting to sound like an old guy.

m

Yeah, I laugh when I think of trying to sit back there. That seat appears to be much like the rear jump seats in my Porsche. What purpose do they really serve? The rear buckets in a 911 are about 12-13" across (too narrow for any adult I know), and the head room is only sufficient for people shorter than about 4'6". I clearly remember a line from a magazine years ago about the rear seats in a 911 being good only for small children or adult cats. I suppose small dogs would count, too. Pretty accurate...