Shows the rare use of those early 3 point seat belts. My grandfather bought a 73 Electra and I as a teenager was probably the only kid that buckled up back then. I ended up with his 1970 Electra that he kept when he bought the 73 Electra. In the 70 Electra, I buckled up both the lap and separate shoulder belts. In that car, the lap belt had its own buckle and the shoulder belt had another buckle. Wearing both belts back then was a dedicated effort, but as I found out in a head on collision with a drunk driver one night, it was well worth the effort. I walked away with only minor cuts, scratches and heavy bruises from the belts.
@@ralphl7643Those belt buckles were huge. My 70 Electra had the deluxe belts which meant the buckles were chrome and the lap belt had a smaller buckle than the shoulder belt. I always thought that was reversed as the smaller buckle on the shoulder belts would have been more comfortable. I have been told that the reason for the smaller lap buckle was that most people that buckled up back then only wore the lap belt and the smaller buckle would cause less internal injuries in a collision. Somehow I was smart enough to wear both belts when I drove back then.
@@ralphl7643 In the 70 and 73 Electras that my grandparents had, locally and around town my grandfather always wore just the lap belt and my grandmother didn't wear a belt. However, if they were going out of town my grandfather wore both the lap and shoulder belts and my grandmother wore her lap belt. Any grandchildren in the back seat were unbelted. I always wondered what their rationale about distance they were going versus which seat belts they thought were needed and why kids in the back didn't need to buckle up. I guess they thought they could only be in a serious collision out of town and around home it would only be a minor fender bender. I just figured that if I was going to bother to wear the lap belt, I ought to buckle up the shoulder belt also. I always thought that in a collision the lap belt would keep me from being ejected but would hold me squarely in place to eat the steering wheel, hence I wore both.
Nice footage, vintage, with all history flavor as well. I live at Bogota, Colombia, and I could read in a 1973 Popular Mechanics 1973 Spanish edition the Mike Lamm`s poll owners survey about this particular sedan, and everybody there said this one was a clever selection rather than a Cadillac, and may be they were right, because its lower sticker price with almost similar equipment of the Caddy as well. But.... gas, oil embargo came, and changed every thing. GM at its top of the game, leading US car manufacturers.
Shows the rare use of those early 3 point seat belts. My grandfather bought a 73 Electra and I as a teenager was probably the only kid that buckled up back then. I ended up with his 1970 Electra that he kept when he bought the 73 Electra. In the 70 Electra, I buckled up both the lap and separate shoulder belts. In that car, the lap belt had its own buckle and the shoulder belt had another buckle. Wearing both belts back then was a dedicated effort, but as I found out in a head on collision with a drunk driver one night, it was well worth the effort. I walked away with only minor cuts, scratches and heavy bruises from the belts.
The old buckles were huge, too. Our '68 Electra had 5 on the front seat, and they were all shoved into the crevice. Now I feel creepy unstrapped in.
@@ralphl7643Those belt buckles were huge. My 70 Electra had the deluxe belts which meant the buckles were chrome and the lap belt had a smaller buckle than the shoulder belt. I always thought that was reversed as the smaller buckle on the shoulder belts would have been more comfortable. I have been told that the reason for the smaller lap buckle was that most people that buckled up back then only wore the lap belt and the smaller buckle would cause less internal injuries in a collision. Somehow I was smart enough to wear both belts when I drove back then.
@@ralphl7643 In the 70 and 73 Electras that my grandparents had, locally and around town my grandfather always wore just the lap belt and my grandmother didn't wear a belt. However, if they were going out of town my grandfather wore both the lap and shoulder belts and my grandmother wore her lap belt. Any grandchildren in the back seat were unbelted. I always wondered what their rationale about distance they were going versus which seat belts they thought were needed and why kids in the back didn't need to buckle up. I guess they thought they could only be in a serious collision out of town and around home it would only be a minor fender bender. I just figured that if I was going to bother to wear the lap belt, I ought to buckle up the shoulder belt also. I always thought that in a collision the lap belt would keep me from being ejected but would hold me squarely in place to eat the steering wheel, hence I wore both.
Nice footage, vintage, with all history flavor as well. I live at Bogota, Colombia, and I could read in a 1973 Popular Mechanics 1973 Spanish edition the Mike Lamm`s poll owners survey about this particular sedan, and everybody there said this one was a clever selection rather than a Cadillac, and may be they were right, because its lower sticker price with almost similar equipment of the Caddy as well. But.... gas, oil embargo came, and changed every thing. GM at its top of the game, leading US car manufacturers.