Brings back a memory from my childhood .
When we were young , we had a few Welsh Corgis , plus at times the German Shepherds who were guard dogs at my dad's business , and when they got old , came up to the house and became family pets .
Anyway , none of the dogs were ever restrained in cars in any way back then , early 1960s , and the family car was the W110 Fintail . All Mercs of that era either had separate front seats or a front bench ( the car in question had separate seats , plus the optional cushion which fitted between them , effectively turning it into a front bench ; no seatbelts front or rear , and there was no centre console , with the car being column change and umbrella handbrake under the dash ; other than the W113 Pagoda SLs ( with floor change and handbrake lever on left side of the tunnel , which was not moved for RHD ) , this was standard setup in 1950s and 1960s Mercs ; very rarely some cars had floor change , but floor change was rarely specified .
I can still clearly remember the Corgis used to sit either on the front passenger seat , or on the lap of whoever was sitting there , and with the front quarterlight open , often stuck their nose there to get air . On the occasion I recall , said Corgi jumped down off my lap into the passenger footwell , then without warning , over to the drivers footwell , and stretched out behind the clutch and brake pedals ! My mum got into a bit of a panic over this and tried to kick the dog out of the way , no luck ; I shouted to her to turn off the engine and use the handbrake - fortunately the road was clear and we came to a stop without hitting anything - but it would have been a very different story if there had been anything in front .
After that , the dogs were usually left at home , or someone was put in charge of them .
Back in those days , seatbelts , child restraints and dog restraints were unheard of ; I remember my sisters , when they were babies , being in a carry cot that just sat on the back seat , not secured in any way . Front seat belts started to be fitted around 1964 , but we still had that Fintail with no seatbelts until 1970 , and I never had a car with rear seatbelts until my first W123 which I got around 1980 , but they were never fitted to the W114/W115 series , other than as an optional extra after the facelift circa 1973 . Airbags were never thought of even then , and ABS was only introduced in the W116 6.9 , before percolating down the ranges , but lots of W123 and W201 cars never had it , which included my first W201.
The German Shepherds never went in the car , mostly going in the back of one of the Land Rovers if being taken anywhere , some had a bulkhead between front and back , some were open right through .
dtboxes.co.uk
And I don't remember reading that bit originally, either.
. Inward opening ones (sometimes called 'Police doors') are good as they can't get blocked by seat backs or anything in the vehicle.
