MiddleAgedDirtBag
Member
- Posts
- 22
- Location
- North East England
Hi there, former Stage 1 driver here (I didn't need to pay for the fuel thankfully!). Now have a young family and thinking about maybe getting a Series as a second car, for getting out in the local countryside etc. Don't have one yet though I've been closely following all manner of eBay auctions...
Thing is, like many people I think I'd find the 88 easier to live with than the 109. We already have a seven seat people carrier so I don't need the Series equivalent. But with two kids the seating in the 88 is... workable perhaps, but not ideal.
Looked at some of the prices for forward-facing rear seats from the likes of Exmoor Trim. Nice, but ouch Also not clear if they fit a Series.
Then I had a minor brainwave. Why not mount one or two rear-facing seats at the front of the load area behind the front seats? They could be a couple of the flip-up ones that you normally see mounted sideways, which would give back most of the load area when not in use. They're much cheaper especially second hand. And intuitively the whole thing feels safer than sideways-facing seats. The main downside would be watching the world go by in reverse, which the kids might actually quite like. Could be super fun with a soft top.
I did a bit of Googling around and can't find any examples of such a setup. I doubt I'm the only person to have thought of this. So what am I missing, if anything, that makes it a bad idea?
Bear in mind I don't currently have a vehicle and I'm just going from what I remember. It's quite possible there's an obvious physical reason for not doing this that I can't check by just going out to the garage, so be kind please
[edit]
Further idea: maybe a two-person fold up bench seat would also work... dimensions look appropriate and it'd fit with the "look" of a Series.
[/edit]
Thing is, like many people I think I'd find the 88 easier to live with than the 109. We already have a seven seat people carrier so I don't need the Series equivalent. But with two kids the seating in the 88 is... workable perhaps, but not ideal.
Looked at some of the prices for forward-facing rear seats from the likes of Exmoor Trim. Nice, but ouch Also not clear if they fit a Series.
Then I had a minor brainwave. Why not mount one or two rear-facing seats at the front of the load area behind the front seats? They could be a couple of the flip-up ones that you normally see mounted sideways, which would give back most of the load area when not in use. They're much cheaper especially second hand. And intuitively the whole thing feels safer than sideways-facing seats. The main downside would be watching the world go by in reverse, which the kids might actually quite like. Could be super fun with a soft top.
I did a bit of Googling around and can't find any examples of such a setup. I doubt I'm the only person to have thought of this. So what am I missing, if anything, that makes it a bad idea?
Bear in mind I don't currently have a vehicle and I'm just going from what I remember. It's quite possible there's an obvious physical reason for not doing this that I can't check by just going out to the garage, so be kind please
[edit]
Further idea: maybe a two-person fold up bench seat would also work... dimensions look appropriate and it'd fit with the "look" of a Series.
[/edit]
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