I got an email with this question From: "Mike Grady"
"I was wondering why up to 1970 9 pass wagons held 9 people with a rear facing 3rd seat and in 1971-72 it went to 8 pass. with the same apparent seating configuration. I of course am writing about Chevelles. Thanks,
Mike "

my answer was: "To be honest with you i never noticed. where do you see 71-72 being refered to as 8 passenger? i have always seen it nine. but i never even thought about how 9 would fit in there. i guess it was layed out 3,3 and 3? but you would be pressed to fit 3 in the rear. i dont know if there is seat belts for 3 in the rear. if not i guess they expected 4 in the middle? but again i dont recall seeing 4 seat belts in the middle. good question. i would like to forward this qwestion to the team chevelle site. pete"

Pete,

Chevelle wagons were an eight (8) passenger vehicle. Three (3) in the front seat, three (3) in the middle seat, and two (2) in the rear seat. There are two sets of seat belts in the rear seat.

John W.

9 passenger would be big car (Impala wagon).
If a Chevelle wagon was advertised as a 9 passenger, I would think that would be a misprint.

I HAVENT TAKEN THE TIME TO LOOK, BUT I THOUGHT I SAW (opps caps were on) i thought i saw chevelle wagons listed as 9 passenger? oh well. i will pay attention next time i see something. makes sence though. but how do the b-body wagons fit 9 passengers. is it 4 in the middle or three in the rear?

I have a 1964 Chevelle wagon that has the rear facing rear seat and I installed seat belts in the car. I put in 3 seat belts on the rear seat. I know it would not work for adults (although 2 people can fit comfortably) I have little kids and I just wanted the option. I don't think most adults would want to sit in the "barf seat" anyhow. I can imagine they might have listed these cars as 9 passenger back in the 60's, they didn't come with seat belts and you could easly fit 9 people (some kids) in there, rolling around and jumping over the seats.....the good old days, then some liberal had a accident sued everyone and here we are with airbags coming out of the door panels.