As far as interiors go, one of the most popular options is bucket seats. Nothing seems to take a car from family-cruiser to street-bruiser faster than a set of bucket seats. They instantly mean performance, especially when combined with a four-speed shifter on the floor.
Across the General Motors product line, they generally used the same seat with minor differences. For example a ’70 Cutlass bucket seat is the same basic seat as a ’70 Chevelle. But the Cutlass seat might have a different knob, trim, and seat pattern.
1967-1969 Camaro/Firebird Bucket Seats
First off, Standard and Deluxe are different seats. The frames themselves are the same, but the foam is different. So it is possible to convert them from one style to another, but it’s not as easy as just swapping around seat covers. Also to note, for ’69 some of the later versions had a spring embedded into the upper back foam.
For the 1969 model years, they will all have headrests too, while they were optional for the 1967-1968 model years. As far as the seat back covers, ’67 were metal from the factory while the ’68-69s were plastic.
1970-1981 Camaro/Firebird Bucket Seats
The Second-Gen F-body bucket seats were all the same, with one exception. For the 1970 model year, they actually used the same bucket seat as a 1969 Camaro.
In 1971 is when GM released a completely new bucket seat that had the integrated tall headrest in it. From 1971-1981 the Camaro and Firebird bucket seats were the same seat; minus the pattern changes and other small changes.
1964-1972 Chevelle/A-Body and Nova Bucket Seats
From 1964-1972 on the GM A-Body and X-Body platforms, they really only used two different styles of seats. ’64/65 had one version, then ’66-72 had the Strato Bucket Seats. How do you tell the differences?
The 1964 and 1965 seats are much more squared off, with chrome trim running up the sides of them. These were in Nova’s(1962-1965), Chevelles, and even Corvairs.
The GM Strato-Bucket Seat
This bucket seat is by far the most popular bucket seat that General Motors made. They found homes in Chevrolets, Oldsmobiles, Buicks, Pontiacs, and even Cadillacs. They were shaped nicely, worked great and looked even better. While the patterns on the upholstery changed, everything underneath was the same, meaning you could swap them from one car to another.
1966-1972 Bucket Seats For Chevelles
While these are essentially the same GM Strato Bucket seats, there are a few major differences. These are the seats found in the A-Body and X-Body cars.
For starters, in 1966 there were no seat-back releases. This means the seat can be pushed forward without any sort of latching mechanism. Head rests were a factory option, and a rare one that you don’t see much.
For the 1967 and 1968 years, the seat back does have a release, which is on the side of the seat near the shoulder. Again, headrests were a factory option and not one you see a lot of from the factory.
One thing to note as well, the ’66 and ’67 model years the backs and sides were metal, while the newer years were all plastic.
For 1969-1972 the seat back release moved to the middle of the seat. Headrests became mandatory so all these years will have them.
If you’re wanting to swap in a set of bucket seats into your classic Chevelle, Camaro, or Nova, hop on SS396.com for all the parts to do it! From brand new frames, foam and upholstery to the seat brackets themselves. If you still have questions feel free to call our friendly techs at (203) 235-1200!
