kids in a model A roadster??

hey guys, I've been having a little "discussion" with my wife this summer about getting my 28 roadster capable of hauling around my 2 year old son. He is absolutely in love with hot rods and loves walking around cruise nights with me. the car has no top and I want to put him in the passenger seat, leaving the rumble seat for my wife. I've found some "booster" type seats that are rated for his weight and look like they would fit. I'm getting tired of taking two vehicles and being at the mercy of whether my wife wants to go.

can I get some backup here?? show me some pics of your young kids riding with you!

 

I used to have my son in my lakes T all the time...OK he was 6 when I first took him out in it but the car had no seat belts at all and very slippy bench seat.....he is now nearly 15 since the age of 6 has always been in my rods...usually 3 up with the dog, we had to move on to a 28 A roadster when he got too big but he's still coming with us!!

 

Not really, but I feel that if they are big enough to be buckled in using safety equipment I am ok with it. I know if it were my daughter I would be as safe as I have ever been while,driving with her- And I know it is a worry about all the other idiot drivers out there, but just be extra careful.

There were millions of kids that drove in those cars everyday with NO safety devices at all and they survived!

 

I would LOVE to get my wife into 38-47 tudor or moredoor. unfortunately I've got a 32 to finish and no more room (or money) for another project.

I usually drive the 28 like an old fart anyway. with the price of early ford drivetrain parts nowadays I can't aford to be busting them up! bascially I just want to take him to a couple cruise nights. one in town and the other the next town over down a nice back road. (800+ cars a week there)

 

I used to take my son in my coupe all the time when he was little. I'm a single dad so I had no other choice. He rode in a car seat as a toddler, and a booster seat after that. Always restrained though....
We went to lots of rod runs, even went to Speedweek in '01 when he was 5 years old.

 

Rode in my dad's model A all the time, no carseat no seatbelt. I still love cars and I'm still alive and only slightly stupid.

 

my son rides in a similar car seat to what you have pictured, but there is no way a car seat will fit in a 28 roadster and still be able to swing the seemingly 5 ft long shifter on a 39 trans.....

I found a combo car seat/booster that is smaller and rated for his weight.

 

we won't get into what our fathers did with us as kids! I still remember riding in the back of dads pickup on a bench seat with no belts on the highway. hell, we used to go to swap meets that way and throw sleeping bags back there so we could sleep on the way! I don't think those kinds of stories will help convince my wife I will be SAFE with my son!

btw, riding in the back of the truck was in the late 80's until the mid 90's!

 

I don't have a roadster but haul my grand daughter in my Model A, has lap belts. Make sure that whatever you use meets your state laws, most car seats need shoulder belts.

 

It is a fear that is valid.

Old cars are not safe.

I am not sure how productive a booster seat is in an old car.

I grew up with Moms arm as my seat belt, but times have changed.

I guess you be as safe as you can and realize that nothing in life is safe

Pics Bomber seat with lap belt.

 

I hate to say this like this, but I can't fathom this crap! From newborn to about age 9, summer transpo was either dad's green T bucket or mom's purple T bucket. As long as you're driving responsibly, and staying on top of what other idiots are doing, (as we always have done) why take the pleasure of riding in hot rods and antique cars away from them? I have to admit, I don't have children, but if I did I seriously doubt that I would be part of the safety generation stuff any way...

 

need louvers, in mass they are nazi's when it comes to kids and car seats. kid has to be in a booster till they are like 8 now.....

 

Here's my 4 year old in my 34 pickup. We use a booster seat and the 5 point harness.

 

Amen brother! That was me for the last two seasons. My wife always worked when I had a show or cruise to go to, OR if she didn't want to go I got a guilt trip for "never wanting to spend time with us." I've learned that personal time takes on a whole new meaning when your married with a kid.

My son is two now, and the hotrod just wasn't workin with a baby. It was to loud, smelly, no side glass, and straight up to small to carry a kid in a carseat. I sold the pickup and bought an early '50s moredoor. I hid some clips in the back seat for anchor points to clip the carseat to. Now I can take him anywhere.

But a fullsize custom just aint the same as a small, torquey, loud, smelly, in your face , balls out hotrod.

 

I understand that, They do that stuff here to. And, I have to admit, I'm one of the first people pissed off when I see an infant riding around not in a car seat. But I guess what I'm saying is build your car to accomodate the letter of the law, load the kids up and be done with it.
I lost my mind when about ten years ago when my nephews wanted to go for a ride in my '48 and my former sister inlaw wouldn't let them, citing things like no air bags, no crumple zones, etc... Never mind that the car had already logged about 80,000 miles at that point as my daily transpo. In my mind, if the kids want to ride and share in this thing we do, the question shouldn't be "should we" but "what do we need to do so they can". And if it's legal and some one else doesn't like it... That's what middle fingers are for! (when the kids aren't looking, of course)

 

Will a front facing car seat not fit? Maybe the car/seat booster style. Held in place with a lap belt with the child held in place by the car seats harness.

To really take it up a notch, weld a anchor behind the seat somewhere and use the anchor belt that all modern car seats come with.

 

agree 100%, my son does too! he loves the noise of the flathead with open pipes! fire up a drag pipe harley, he'll run for it, hell even a lawnmower is cool to him lol

I take my friends kids for rides all the time when we have parties at my place. lots of 8-12 year olds have gone for short rides in it even without belts. I've never had a parent worry about their children's safety with me driving. unfortunately the first one to worry is my wife!

 

Well, as a kid I rode into town (22miles) in the back of a 1 ton international almost every Saturday evening and we had wood benches on each side where the field hands sat so they could do there shopping and visit local town folks. We usually got home around 10:00pm or so. This was common practice in the 40,s 50's. Today you would be arrested on site. I let my son ride in the back of the truck only while on the ranch property and also where he learned to drive at 12. Its sad that we can't do what we use to but then we didn't have the traffic and paved roads we now have today linked with the speeds driven.

 

the front facing seat I have is way to big for a 28 roadster. no way. I was eyeballing a booster/car seat combo that is smaller than his car seat but still has the harness in it. no way for me to attach the anchor as the "pillow" over the top of the seat blocks any access that way.

I am looking to just put in lap belts to hold the booster in place.

 

I am also building a '29 roadster and would like my 3 year old son to ride with me. My wife and I have this discussion and are aware that the car is not as safe as modern cars. I plan on installing lap belts for adults and anchor points like in modern cars for the car seat we use. My wife likes this idea. Has anyone else used/installed anchor points for their car seats?

 

I have two kids (3 & 6), and have gone through the same thing you are going through. I sold my '30 roadster pickup and built a '30 tudor sedan on a '32 frame. I like roadsters a LOT, but now we can go whenever we want and it doesn't matter if the wife is working or whatever. And we do, they go with me all the time. They stay in car seats in the back seat.

It is not as safe as a modern car, but I feel like it is as safe as I can keep them in an antique car. I looked hard at both a rumbleseat and a phaeton and decided if I was gonna have the kids with me often that it had to be a sedan of some sort.

Will Kimble

 

My kid is 5 but has been riding in hot rods since he was a year old. Tend to be a little more careful and aware of my surroundings when he's in there but never had a problem. He's probably been at 60mph with me in my current roadster. Just a booster seat and a lap belt.

 

Great topic. We went for a ride the other night in our o/t '68 Caddy Convert and took the Grandson. (15 months). It was cool for him but scared the hell out of me cause of the top being down. He was in his car seat just like in a regular car. The whole time I had a different mindset about our surroundings, just worried about some other dumbass doing something stupid.

TMONEY, Your ride is just Bitchin Cool! ^^^^^^


Mike

 

They didn't have booster seats when I was little and the Ol' Man always owned a roadster for his main mod of transportation. I don't recall it being a problem.

Of course we were not babied as kids either.

 

It can be done. Spotted at the Model A swapmeet in Placentia, Ca a couple of weeks ago. Regular toddler car seat.

 

I guess i'm chicken, but I no longer ride my kids in my roadster, with the exception of around the parking areas at a show. and I went to a lot of extra work keeping the rumble seat in mine, no small task with the 32 frame and stock 32 gas tank. I thought it would be cool to putt around with them, but I think the kids have been in the rumble or even the seat next to me only a few times, and that was only around the grounds at a car show. The thought of being hit in the rear or side by a soccer mom in a suburban is scary enough without the worry of my kids being in it. In a roadster there's VERY little between you and the bumper of another car.....

My opinion is probably tainted by the fact that my wife was stopped at a red light last month in her daily and the guy behind her lost his brakes and crashed into her. She had minor injuries, Bad enough in her car, but probably death in mine.

 

My daughters grew up in the rumble seat of my roadster. Used to motor along with two car seats strapped in back there for long distances. Need lots of sunscreen, a scarf of some kind to help manage the hair-in-the-wind thing, and we used Kroop's goggles for eye protection. You can get them online, or anywhere they sell stuff for skydivers. They do the job, available in dark or clear, adjustable to fit anybody.

My seven-year-old granddaughter rides with me sometimes these days, but since my wife and daughters have diminished enthusiasm for roadstering, she gets the front cockpit.

Any time you get into one of these old cars, you assume a bit more risk than if you get in, for example, my wife's late-model Crown Vic. You have to do what you can to manage the risk, and accept some of it. If you can't do that, sell the hot rods.

 

I put two long 3/8s eye-bolts through the floor in the back of my car, they serve as great anchor points just like in new cars. I also fabbed up a little tab for a third anchor point and bolted it to the package tray. If you put your knee in the carseat while installing the clips that sucker aint gonna move.

Like most old cars a big part of the suspension is in the seats. The tighter you get the car seat in, the rougher the ride your little tyke is going to get.