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Mon Nov 09, 2009 3:03 pm

I've got a 3 year old and a 5 year old who have gotten to love VW's with me. I'm supposed to be picking up a 72 Super this weekend and the 5 year old definitely likes riding around in it. So here's the question - anyone on here have small kids that they drive around? If so, what do you do about car seats? They are both in a booster, so I don't think it would be that big of a deal, but just curious if anyone else on here has done it or does it.

Thanks as usual!

Mon Nov 09, 2009 3:27 pm

No problem. You can also get adjustable 3-point belts for the rear to make it a bit safer for them (non retracting).

Mon Nov 09, 2009 4:12 pm

Well, I happen to know this car :) and all of the factory seat belts are intact and working. Drive it and enjoy it. Back in the 80s I rode with my sister in the back seat of my Ghia (my Dad owned it then) no car seat at all. We were very little, about your kids age.

Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:04 pm

DeMinimis wrote: No problem. You can also get adjustable 3-point belts for the rear to make it a bit safer for them (non retracting).

X2 my kids ride with me in my super. my girl has the five point chair in the back and my boy uses his booster in the front seat with the the three point stock belt.

i will be putting in the rear three point belts when money allows though

Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:12 pm

Put a car seat in and go. I have a 7 and a 4 year old. my youngest sits in a car seat with the lap belt securing it. When my dad had my 74 sb back then my sisters and I also rode w/o car seats but I guess now you could get introuble if stopped with out a child seat of some sort. My girls love riding around and the attention they get by other drivers. enjoy :D

Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:20 pm

Car seats fit just fine...

Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:48 pm

swhitcomb wrote: Well, I happen to know this car :) and all of the factory seat belts are intact and working. Drive it and enjoy it. Back in the 80s I rode with my sister in the back seat of my Ghia (my Dad owned it then) no car seat at all. We were very little, about your kids age.

Thank you Sean :)

Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:50 pm

Many thanks to everyone else as well!

Mon Nov 09, 2009 6:00 pm

My firstborn rode home from the hospital in my 1970 Beetle, to the cassette of the soundtrack of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Car seat was in the rear, facing backward.

Mon Nov 09, 2009 6:06 pm

Nice!

Mon Nov 09, 2009 6:14 pm

My son loves my super, he is five, and I have a seat with a harness built in that locks in the back with the original seat belt. It sits real high an makes him look like an adult :D We rode over 300 mile round trip and he had a blast...actually sold my bike so he could hang out with me and the bug. He asked if he could get one, i told him yup and he is all for it 8) cool kid

Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:56 am

Cusser wrote: My firstborn rode home from the hospital in my 1970 Beetle, to the cassette of the soundtrack of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Car seat was in the rear, facing backward.

I used to ride in the package area of my Dad's '67 when he came back from "The Nam." Ah, the memories.

Tue Nov 10, 2009 8:43 am

DeMinimis wrote: I used to ride in the package area of my Dad's '67 when he came back from "The Nam." Ah, the memories.
We used to call this area the "way back" we rode there as teenagers when we borrowed Dad's VW and had 6-7 people in the car.

Tue Nov 10, 2009 9:03 am

Rick73Super wrote: DeMinimis wrote: I used to ride in the package area of my Dad's '67 when he came back from "The Nam." Ah, the memories.
We used to call this area the "way back" we rode there as teenagers when we borrowed Dad's VW and had 6-7 people in the car.

That's funny, my cousins used to refer to their '68 as a 7 passenger car. Two in the front, three on the back seat and two in the rear luggage area.

I've driven around in my Beetles with my nieces in car seats. They loved it, the car seats worked well with the lap belts. The only thing I would do is once they are out of car seats I would install the 3-point belts in the back.

Tue Nov 10, 2009 9:37 am

I think these might work well to keep the kiddies secure in the back:
http://www.seatbeltsplus.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Scre...Seat-Belts

I have a msg into these guys to see how much more it would be to have a shorter push-button side (without the plastic covering on the webbing) as 12" is a bit long for a convertible's rear seats (I assume the same is true with the sedans).

Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:15 pm

Thank you, keep them coming!

Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:35 pm

It's possibly a stupid question but one I will ask anyway and no I have not researched it. Would using a 3-point set up from the front of the Beetle work? It is retractible... Would the assembly get in the way of the bottom part of the back seat?

Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:06 pm

the assembly from the front won't fit at the rear worth a darn.

It is almost 1,000,000x more effort than it is worth to try to put retractables in the back of a Beetle. Much easier, cheaper, and just as safe to put 3 point non-retractors in the back for kids and others.

M