Automobile: Where is the mother-in-law's place?

With the arrival of the automobile, came the time of freedom and family walks. However, the first automobiles did not have as much passenger space as modern cars; they only had two or three seats placed according to technical constraints. If the driver had a seat designed to be the safest and most comfortable possible, the next question is, where is the passenger's seat, more commonly called the mother-in-law's seat?

The mother-in-law had every interest in maintaining good relations with her son-in-law!

Kills Stepmother

The first motor vehicles were rudimentary, they were tricycles or quadricycles. They were very difficult to handle and very insecure. To allow drivers to have maximum safety, the engineers positioned the driver's seat at the rear of the vehicle, because the front was not protected, this made it very dangerous, in the event of an accident, to be found in front.

Obviously you can guess who gets the front seat.

And yes, mother-in-law, when will you come for a ride in my car? :)

It was therefore in 1896 that Léon Bollée created the Voiturette and at the same time the dream of many sons-in-law. Its front seat is aptly named: kill stepmother.

Times pass and so do mothers-in-law.

Different times, new techniques, mothers-in-law take a back seat.

Mother-in-law's Seat

Perhaps out of remorse or constraint, between the two wars the mother-in-law's position changes. Bodybuilders are offering larger, more comfortable and, above all, safer vehicles. Exit the front seat for the mother-in-law; it is now the driver who is the master on board with the front seat at his side; his wife. We then see the mother-in-law's place at the back. Yes, but there’s no question of being in the same space as the lovebirds. The vehicles of the time being mainly convertibles or fake convertibles, we will create a retractable trunk at the rear which will act either as luggage storage or incidentally as a seat for the mother-in-law. Difficult to access and narrow, the seat is in an unprotected environment (unlike the front seats) from bad weather and wind, not something to please mother-in-law. This place is downright annoying.

The Second World War passes and Amnesty arrives... in families.

Cars these days offer interiors that bring together the whole family, including mother-in-law. However, once again thanks to technological developments, in the future, there is no need to take mother-in-law out with you, send her an autonomous car without a driver. Technological evolution is beautiful!