Seat belt mystery...

[UFO]

Link to the full page in my post on page 1.

[rarefish]

According to that order form, the "Center Front Seat w/ Arm Rest" was standard equipment on "Charger" (i.e. non-R/T Chargers).  Was that really the case, or is the order form incorrect on that point?  I don't remember reading about such anywhere else, and it's not designated that way on the 1968 Dodge Ordering Information sheets either.

I did some digging through at least part of Hamtramck-Historical/com's 1968 information, and still didn't get a good idea of what 1968's "Deluxe Seat Belts" were.  They did show some brushed aluminum buckle release handles (in lieu of regular color-keyed) in the Accessories book    Does the 1968 Parts Book show different part numbers and/or illustrations for the "deluxe" seat belts?

The rear center seat belt may have been installed as standard equipment on this particular car (and as such omitted from Chrysler Corp.'s invoice), since the car's build date was after 1/1/68 - when seat belts became mandatory.  I'm pretty sure that Chrysler marketed the Charger as a 5-passenger vehicle, and you got 5 seat belts as standard equipment in 1969 (and a sixth belt was added without a separate identified cost if C21 Center Armrest was purchased).  A similar thing happened with head restraints in '69 - they stopped showing up on window stickers and invoices after 1/1/69, although some dealers may have capitalized on the opportunity to make a few extra bucks by leaving those formerly-Optional-Equipment charges on the customer's sales tickets.

Just thinking out loud...

I thinking that the order forms that were used were early model year paper work. I believe that the Center Passenger-Rear Seat Belt "Code 557"  was standard equipment at the time the car was built. Also I believe that the Deluxe Seat Belts- 2 Front & 2 Rear "Code 550" ended up being a discontinued option some time after the production year started.

From The 1970 Hamtramck Registry site Library only the Rear Shoulder Belt "Code 566" is listed as a seat belt option.
So one question would remain. Does anyone have a 68 Charger that has only 2 seat belts in the rear from the factory? Maybe a 68 early production car??
I can also say that the guy who order my Charger got duped out of $17 in options. With that money he could have got the rear seat speaker...

[MoparMotel]

Yes, it's probably the plastic clips that go on the bottom of the back seat to hold the seat belts in place when not in use. My 69 had them, not sure about 68's

my '68 has those as well....wondered about that

[rarefish]

The car did get the center belt in the rear as shown in this photo. I would say that all 68 Chargers had the clips at the base of the rear seat to store the seat belts on.