Original cars

[blackcat429cj]

And to be honest - I do where seat belts 100% of the time - since 1983.   

Car  Admittedly - I do trailer a number of my "early cars" as the towing vehicle is "safer" with better tires, brakes and belts and airbags.

[HJ-ETEX]

Jim B PEI: You are 1 year off. Seat belts weren't strictly required until 1968, but the GSA* said for the 1966 model year that they would not buy cars unless they had seat belts, outside mirrors, back up lights, and a few other items. US automakers decided if these items were required to sell to the Federal government, they would make them standard. Seat belts had been offered as accessories on various US models since the Darrin and Federal vehicles had been bought with seat belts or had them installed after the purchase since 1962 or 63.  
*GSA - Government Services Administration - a unit of the US government that handled purchases, leasing, and temporary assets for other federal agencies.

[HJ-ETEX]

Cars sold in the US were not required to have seat head rests or shoulder belts unless they were manufactured after Jan 1, 1969. A number of 1969 cars that were early production did not have these items, especially the shoulder belts that were turning out to be unwieldy when unbuckled. But here is something amusing: The Federal government decided in 1968 that they couldn't wait for normal turn over of vehicles and decreed that the regular vehicles in the fleet (obviously they couldn't include the roll-over prone M151 Jeep type vehicles) should be retrofitted with shoulder harness. So for several years you might see a 1966 Plymouth 4 door with a big carriage bolt struck through the door pillar as an anchor for the added shoulder belt.

[blackcat429cj]

The "hand-crafted" cars of Kaiser-Frazer (including the Darrin) were Lacquer painted as were cars assembled at the Portland and Long Beach plants (as well as overseas operations).   In the case of the darrin, the high temperatures used at the factory to bake the enamel finish would warp the body; otherwise, the baked enamel process was not workable on the cars for one reason or another.  You can tell this by the paint code number on the cars.

I knew the Darrins, and Dragons, The Other Models and plants that you mentioned make sense too! Thanks for the responce.

[Logan]

And when I was a kid in the 70's-80's I remember we had a Dodge Polara that had shoulder belts the you had to hook up on that bolt on the door pillar.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Since we're talking seat belts...how about the ORIGINAL 1974 model year system with the interlock that prevented the car from starting unless the front belts were buckled; not that you were using them, only that they were buckled!

[Fid]

The old trick was to tie a knot in the belt so it thought it was buckled. I used to do that first thing whenever I got a car.  I don't do that any more! Were it not for a seatbelt, my wife would be dead now. I wear mine and I put them in my cars too. Can't enjoy the old cars if'n you're dead!

[blackcat429cj]

Since we're talking seat belts...how about the ORIGINAL 1974 model year system with the interlock that prevented the car from starting unless the front belts were buckled; not that you were using them, only that they were buckled!

My brother had a 74 Comet - the belts had to be rebuckeled everytime you started the car - the was an override button under the hood - it allowed you to start the car but the buzzer kept going.