Front Seat Nostalgia

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

I had a difficult time coming up with an opening paragraph about what I really wanted to write about today. That said, here goes, with a little help from Artificial Intelligence. 

Sometimes progress in one area might wipe out a lot of good in another. I’ve been thinking about the car I had when I was attending Lee. More specifically, I was thinking about the front seat of my ’53 Ford (a.k.a. The Bomb). Back when we were in high school, the front seat of almost every car sitting in Lee High School’s parking lot was equipped with a “bench” front seat, and most of them had the gear shift attached to the column of the steering wheel. I did not know of anyone who had a car with seat belts back then. If you remember, in a two-door sedan the front seat back would fold forward allowing access to the back seat, but did not involve the lower bench seat part. Four-door sedans did not have the hinged front seat back.

I decided to use some AI and so I asked Microsoft's Co-Pilot to help me out with this subject. This is what it came up with:

Ah, the front bench seat — a symbol of teenage freedom, flirtation, and Friday night cruising.

What Were Front Bench Seats?

- These were wide, continuous seats across the front row of a car, common in American vehicles from the 1940s through the 1970s.

- They allowed three people to sit side-by-side, often without a center console dividing them.

- Popular in sedans, coupes, and especially pickup trucks — think Chevy Impala, Ford Galaxie, or early F-150s.

Teenagers and the Bench Seat Era

- Dating culture: Teens could sit close to their date, sometimes with the driver’s arm casually draped around the passenger. It was a cozy setup that bucket seats later disrupted.

- Cruising and socializing: Bench seats made it easier to pile in friends for a night out, especially in small towns where the car was the social hub.

- Drive-in theaters: These seats were ideal for cuddling up during a movie — a rite of passage for many teens in the mid-20th century.

Why They Faded Away

- Safety regulations: As seatbelt laws and crash standards evolved, individual bucket seats became the norm for better protection.

- Center consoles: These became more functional, housing gear shifts, cup holders, and infotainment systems.

- Sportier designs: Car interiors shifted toward driver-focused ergonomics, leaving the communal bench behind.

 Nostalgia Today

- Some pickup trucks and fleet vehicles still offer front bench seats, especially in work-focused trims like the Ford F-150 XL or Chevy Silverado WT.

- For many, they evoke a simpler time — when teens bonded over music, moonlight, and the hum of a V8 engine.

Now that my daughter is grown and married, I can feel sorry for today’s teenagers. They will never get to experience the thrill of driving a car with your best girl or boy friend sitting side by side with you on those bench seats. The top photo of the front seat of a ’53 Ford above is a picture I got off the internet. You can see (if you can’t remember) what it added to dating in similar front seats in cars. The above photo is also an internet find and I do not know the people in the picture, but this is a common scene during our high school days. She’s sitting close to him with his arm around her. Notice her hand on his knee?

Thinking back, I can’t remember when in the dating process my dates felt intimate enough with me to abandon the shotgun position of my car and instead slide over with her body actually touching mine, but sometime in the relationship it would happen (if I was lucky). That is, if the right chemistry was in our relationship, and it was not just a first date.

Of course the front bench seats were great for dating couples when they cruised the Parkway between Shoney’s and Jerry’s. Some even stayed there on drive-in movie dates, but for some the back seat was much more comfortable – no steering wheel getting in the way.

When I moved to Memphis, the Red Bomb stayed in Huntsville. Instead, my new mode of transportation was a 1953 two-door Chevrolet. I was excited that my new wheels had something very few other cars had. It had seatbelts in the front seat. They were only lap belts, and not the modern across-the-shoulder ones. Back then they were still optional, and my dates back then rarely wore hers.

Then some safety engineer got involved in the design and the bench seats went away and bucket seats became the norm. Six-seat sedans then became five-seaters, and the gear shift moved from the column to between the two front seats. No more cuddling up beside your date anymore. Then seat belts became required and that strapped the date safely in her place. 

I called upon Co-Pilot to give me some information about bucket seats and this is what I received. The photo above is of a 1958 Pontiac Bonneville convertible.

Bucket seats began gaining popularity in the late 1950s and early 1960s, especially in American cars that were chasing a sportier, more European-inspired design.

Here’s a quick timeline of their rise:

- 1958: The Pontiac Bonneville convertible offered optional bucket seats—flat and narrow, but a start.

- 1960: General Motors introduced the Chevrolet Corvair Monza Club Coupe with standard front bucket seats, marking a turning point.

- 1961–1964: The Monza’s success inspired other models like the Ford Mustang, which helped cement bucket seats as a sporty, youthful feature.

- 1970s onward: As cars got smaller and safety features like seatbelts and airbags became standard, bucket seats became the norm in front rows across most vehicles.

Originally a niche feature for performance and luxury, bucket seats eventually replaced bench seats in most passenger cars. 

And that is my thoughts about front seat dating. If you had a car with bucket seats and/or seatbelts while you were attending high school, let me know about it in the comments column.

The more I play with Co-Pilot, the more amazed I am about it's capabilities. I asked it "make me a song about teenagers in the Sixties and front seats of cars." Here is what it came up with. No music, but the words were interesting.

Once Co-Pilot created the words, and I only chaged a few in the first verse. I found another site named SonoAI.AI which would add music and voices to the lyrics. 

I gave it my key phrases like "'53 Ford, Parkway, Monte Sano, bench seats, moonlight, "I Get Around" and love," and asked it to build me a song and it added the style with "low, nostalgic, warm, storytelling, classic rock ballad with a warm electric guitar and steady drumbeat" and it came up with the song below. Click on the play arrow to hear it. This is all automated from idea to words to music to lyrics - all done with AI.

“Bench Seats and Moonlight”

[Verse]

We rolled down the Parkway in my '53 Ford

Three on the tree, not four in the floor

The vinyl seat cracked warm in the summer sun

Radio crooned “I Get Around”, just for fun

[Chorus]

Bench seats and moonlight

Neon signs glowin’

Windows rolled all the way down

We're Monte Sano bound

Her hand in mine

The night felt so right

Bench seats and moonlight

Love in our sight

[Verse 2]

Her laugh spilled like cola on ice

Sweet and sticky it tasted so nice

No center console to keep us apart

Just the hum of the engine and a reckless heart

[Prechorus]

Streetlights flashing in a lazy parade

Two young hearts too bold to be swayed

[Chorus]

Bench seats and moonlight

Neon signs glowin’

Windows rolled all the way down

We're Monte Sano bound

Her hand in mine

The night felt so right

Bench seats and moonlight

Love in our sight

[Bridge]

That old car creaked like a secret it kept

Tires whispered softly while the whole world slept

We didn't care if the seats were torn

Two fools in love where legends are born

The Wayback Machine

"No Particular Place to Go"

Chuck Berry

"No Particular Place to Go" is a song by Chuck Berry, released as a single by Chess Records in May 1964 and released on the album St. Louis to Liverpool in November 1964 (see 1964 in music).

"No Particular Place to Go" was recorded on March 25, 1964 in Chicago, Illinois and features the same music as Berry's earlier hit "School Days".

One thing led to another while I was working on this issue. A lot of the text came from the Artificial Intelligence engine of Microsoft's Co-Pilot. The app seems magical. I ask it for something and almost immediately my screen is full with its answer.

I always think that something I print will result in some comments from you readers, but usually it doesn't. I'm kinda flying in the dark, since I get few comments on the context each week. I continue to strive to offer you items of interest, and hope they are interesting to you as well. I know not everyone can relate to every issue, but hope the majority of you readers can. As I continue to say, everyone is welcomed and encouraged to share your own memories you find interesting.

This week I am trying something new. I want to know what you think about the song that Artificial Intelligence created and I tweeked a little. I'm not asking for name, but I wish you would click on a number between 1-Terrible an 10- Great.

Last Week's Questions, Answers, And Comments

David Mullins, LHS ‘64, "Tommy, I think your latest info  is amazing. I am enthralled by the AI program you mention. I know, or at least believe it can be much fun.  Actually  your Bradley tune is so cool too. I truly appreciate your postings brother. BLESSINGS. "

Craig Bannecke, LHS ‘65, "Speaking of Bradley's Cafeteria, I saw where Skip Cook wrote in to mention that the best $1.00 he ever spent was to get in Bradley's. Now that might not sound like much but you have to realize that Skip, Elbert Balch, John Drummond, Eddie Donnelly and a number of us other Lee High grads worked for a $1.00 an hour back in the day. So that was a lot of money. Since most of us sacked groceries we'd also have a pocket half full of hard earned change from tips.  Also considering the fact that we all worked almost every Friday and Saturday night until Kwik Chex or today known as Winn-Dixie, closed at 9:00. A group of us would get together and say, "hey, let's head downtown to Bradley's and off we'd go. By the time we got there at 9:30 or 10:00 things would be in full swing. WE would look for a few young ladies we knew who might be there without a date and ask them to dance. Good memories and good music back in our day!"

(Editor's Note: As of 2025, $1.00 in 1964 has the same purchasing power as approximately $10.37 today. That means prices have increased more than tenfold over the past 61 years due to inflation.)

Mary Ann Bond Wallace, LHS ‘64, "You bring back so many memories that had faded with time.  I guess I do not respond each week because I felt I might be boring others that read you post every week.  I have very fond memories of the dances at Bradley's and Skateland was my favorite place to be until I could take the family car out and then it was driving around Shoney's another places to see who was out and about.  Skateland was a place where you could feel like you were flying.  I did not have expensive skates, mine were probably the cheapest my parents could afford so the traction of the wheels was very slippery.  I remember one time a guy that was probably older but was one of the popular skaters there each weekend asked me to partner dance.  I was thrilled, afraid, did not want to mess you the deep dips and turns.  I must have not been very good because I was not asked again.  Bradley's memories is going down stairs to a room that did not have a high ceiling and no air conditioning.  I remember dancing the night away and sweating like a stuffed pig.  When you came out to go home and you walked outside to clean fresh air and the nights were silent.  Very fond memories of both places - Thank you Tommy for remembering my preteen and teen years.  GO LHS!