As a kid, we had a rusty ford escort and a pontiac station wagon, both purchased used. Both had vinyl seats, which were awful for sticking to your sweaty bum, getting as hot as the sheet metal of the car itself if you failed to park under a tree, and general unpleasantness. However, if we spilled a coke on it, it just wiped right up. Since we couldn't afford leather, it was the kid-friendly alternative to cloth that would stain. When were vinyl seats introduced to car interiors? When did they go away? I don't think I've seen plastic seats since those two cars of ours. It's all cloth and leather nowadays.
Fabric and Leather were the only seat upholstery until after WWII. Then Dupont and Naughahyde started producing automotive vinyl in the late 40's, and were in full swing in the 1950's models. We wore shorts when we were kids, and I can't remember how many times we fried our legs on the vinyl seats in my dad's new 1955 Ford. By the time he took delivery of the 1958 Ranchwagon, he was tired of hearing all 5 of us whining about the seats and he got fabric seats.
I don't know, but I wish they'd bring them back! We had an '05 Ford Freestyle that we were very happy with, but it had light-colored (beige) cloth seats, and you couldn't so much as look at them without them getting stained. Even spill a drop of water and the outline of the drop would seemingly be there forever. It would fade over time, but the Freestyle forums were full with comments about the easily stained seats. Not a good thing for a car that was designed to be a family hauler. But you're right. I can't recall the last car I bought that had vinyl seats.
I had an '04 F-150 Lariat that had cream leather seats in the front, and vinyl seats in the back. You really couldn't tell the difference. It was a very nice feeling vinyl. Ford offered full vinyl only in their base work truck, but it looked and felt wonderful. Yet, fabric was/is? the only thing available on the majority of their truck models. Ford's fabrics are the worst! They stain with water! :confused: I am a fan of vinyl seats, and will be putting pearlescent white vinyl in my wagon. :2_thumbs_up_-_anima David
Yeah...the vinyls of today look just like leather and wear much better. I had an old Chrysler Imperial and wanted to re-do the front seats. The girl that did the work found a vinyl that matched the leather color perfectly and even the grain matched. Cost me considerably less than leather and I could NOT tell the difference. And I am a perfectionist of sorts.I do like the vinyls today. Hey...they weren't bad when they first hit the market.
That is an awesome looking vinyl. One of the best. My dad has his Monaco convertible done with that. Creamy soft naughahyde. But you put a towel down on the seat, if you left the top down.
ill never forget the odd smell the 80's and 90's Chrysler vinyl got after a couple years...yuck! buyer beware, when you see "leather seating surfaces" on the window sticker, that is the only part of the seat that is leather. the rest is a matching vinyl!!
You see, A1.....you are supposed to, at least occasionally, CLEAN the car's interior. Yeah....a lot of furniture is like that too. Leather everywhere you touch. Like I'm never going to touch the sides of the chair or couch??
