Kids in 105/115 GTVs

[Robert_A_Brady@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Robert A Brady)]

Regarding using a '69 GTV as a family car:

It was exactly that same rationale (i.e. GTV's are "family" cars) that drove 
me to buy my first (instead of a spider).  

On my departed '73 GTV, I installed a rear seatbelt, using the pick up points 
kindly supplied by the factory (under the rear seat) and my then daily driver 
Honda's center rear seatbelt.  The main issue I've had with kiddies in the 
back is that you need to move the front seat up quite a bit to accomodate a 
child seat.  As they get older, the booster seats take up less room.  That 
same seatbelt now resides in my '74 gtv.

Often, I have put my children in the front seat (in a child seat) of the gtv. 
(Matthew even diced with a Ferrari at Texas Int'l Speedway while inserted 
into his child seat in my GTV a few years ago)  The '73 style seatbelts (also 
now residing in my '74 gtv, much to the chagrin of the current owner of the 
'73 and fellow digester Bruce Giller) have detachable shoulder belts, which 
makes it very convenient to use our child seats.  Some newer child seats 
require a shoulder belt, but ours don't.  

By the way, you are correct, the shoulder belt mounts are right behind the 
door pillar.  Only the top one is used for the '73 style belts.  The 
retracting style belts use both the upper and lower mounts.

On a related note, I remember when I first went to mount the Honda belt in 
the back, I swore to the hardware man that it was a metric bolt.  Well, not 
so.  Apparantly the bolts used to mount the seatbelts are English threads.  
Perhaps this is a US requirement?  Or, perhaps my memory has faded, and they 
really are metric.....

So, for me, the GTV has made a very nice family car.  It's a tight fit for my 
wife, two kids, and myself (she has to go in the back due to the car seat), 
but it is possible.  Recently, one fellow GTV owner showed up to a car show 
with his THREE kids, wife, and himself in the GTV.... but they are of petite 
build.  

Ultimately, the GTV is probably a lot less crashworthy than any modern car, 
but like the Spitfire ads said in the mid-70', at Triumph (insert Alfa Romeo) 
we believe the best protection from accidents is to avoid them. (as they 
drove around the wall in which other cars were demonstrating their 5 mph 
bumpers).

Keep the GTV.  Drive safely, especially with the kiddies strapped in.

Bob Brady, DVAROC

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